The Great Trouble

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains depictions of death by illness.

The epigraph to Part 2, “The Blue Death,” contains an excerpt from the real Dr. John Snow’s 1855 publication, On the Mode of Communication of Cholera. He discusses the origin of “the most terrible outbreak of cholera which ever occurred in this kingdom” (70). This quote is followed by an 1854 quote from Reverend Henry Whitehead about the fortitude of Londoners in the face of this outbreak.

Eel returns to Mr. Griggs’s house after washing off at the Warwick Street water pump. He sees Dilly but not Mr. Griggs, and he worries what will happen to the Griggs family if the patriarch does not recover. As he is steeling himself to enter the house (which he doesn’t want to do), he is approached by Florrie, Betsy, and Reverend Henry Whitehead, the local junior curate who is kind to everyone in the neighborhood. Although Reverend Whitehead quietly tells Eel that he “fears the worst” (73) for Mr. Griggs, he allows Betsy to see her father because her presence may comfort the man. Eel is horrified to find Mr.