Cause and Effect - the Testament of Jesse Lamb

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Cause and Effect In The Testament of Jessie Lamb, Rogers’ protagonist, Jessie, is living in a world where women are dying in their millions. Some blame scientists, some see the hand of God, and some see human arrogance reaping the punishment it deserves. However, the virus responsible is the result of an act of bio-terrorism. The terrorist attack has profound effects on Jessie’s life. Jessie struggles with the reality that the human race is expendable, there is civil unrest in England, and she is faced with considerable conflict within herself as well as her family and surrounding society. If a terrorist is planning to wipe out an entire species, targeting the females is a good place to start. This is exactly what happens in The Testament of Jessie Lamb. Jessie’s world has changed dramatically due to bio-terrorists having unleashed a virus. A strange airborne contaminant has emerged that infects both males and females. By the time it is identified, the virus has already spread and is latent in everyone. Triggered upon pregnancy, it causes rapid progressive brain degeneration and is invariably fatal to both mother and child. “On the news last night they showed what MDS does to the brain. It kind of makes holes come in your brain. They said women who get it, their brains will look like Swiss cheese…They gradually lose bits of their brain, they stop being able to balance, and they forget stuff.” (Pg. 7). MDS is an acronym for Maternal Death Syndrome, aptly named because of the effects it has on expectant women. Research suggests it was genetically engineered deliberately by combining Creutzfeldt - Jakob disease with the AIDS virus, but no one knows why or by whom. “It’s triggered CJD. Prion disease. They’ve married the AIDS virus with CJD, that’s what researchers reckon. So the AIDS gets a hold and makes the woman vulnerable to

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