Typhoid Mary Essay

1550 Words7 Pages
After watching the movie Typhoid Mary: The Most Dangerous Woman in America, please answer these questions with well thought out responses, not just in one sentence. Explain your reasoning behind your answers. 1. What prejudices existed against Mary? The fact that Mary was not just a woman in the lower class, but also an Irish immigrant whose occupation was a domestic servant are just a few reasons that contributed to the prejudices against her. People who were of Irish ethnicity were thought to be dirty and were not well respected by anyone in New York in the early 1900's. Her lack of rank within the social class and her ethnicity played a huge role in the way she was treated. Had she been a man from a wealthy family in New York, things would have been much different. 2. A. Did people believe Mary was a criminal for wanting to be free? B. In what instances should people be charged with crimes, if at all, in relation to quarantine? A. People did not think she was a criminal for wanting to be free, in fact they felt sorry for her that she was seemingly healthy and was being kept against her will because she was a "healthy carrier" of the disease. B. I do believe however that once Mary knew she could spread disease through food preparation, she should have stayed away from that occupation completely, even if it meant less pay. I believe it became a crime when she was found working in a hospital preparing food for the people there. At that point, she knew what she was doing and did it with no regard for anyone else but herself. 3. A. How do you feel about the use of isolation as a form of protection from the spread of infectious diseases such as typhoid or tuberculosis? B. What forms of isolation, if any, should be used? A. I feel that the use of isolation is necessary when trying to protect the public from harm. At least until some type of
Open Document