The Year of the Flood

A threat to Human society is the next pandemic. What will this Pandemic bring? How will the Human society prepare, or eventually do to prevent the Pandemic. The Gardeners from Margaret Atwood’s novel “The Year of the Flood” are a group of eco-subversives that prepare for a Pandemic. The Gardeners use different religions to make up their beliefs. In both “ The Year of The Flood” and the article by David Shenk “ How to Survive the Avian Flu, Smallpox, or Plague” tell the reader to grow food, stock pile food, and live an isolated life. In the article by Jared Diamond “ The Ends of the World as We Know Them” summarizes that: the people themselves have influenced all the past fallen Human societies. The Gardeners in Margret Atwood’s novel “ The Year of The Flood” are using their beliefs and putting them to use to help prevent a pandemic.

The Gardeners from the “ The Year of the Flood” have many beliefs from different religions. They have believed that all animals are sacred and should not be killed for food. The Gardeners have roof top gardens in view of the fact that “ By covering such barren rooftops with greenery we are doing our small part in the redemption of God’s creation from the decay and sterility that lies around us” (11). The Gardeners have the feeling of obligation to restore due to the fact of other humans that have willfully destroyed god’s other creations for the finer good of themselves. The Gardeners live by the way Adam one states “ we are one with the animals and part of the earth, not the ruler of it” (10).

The Gardeners from Margret Atwood’s novel “ The Year of The Flood” have different beliefs of different religions forming their own religion. They take many beliefs from Christianity in similar ways as in: the Gardeners believe in a god, They have saints in their religion which give the Gardeners a person that took their beliefs and went above and beyond in a certain belief. (Page 61 “ The Year Of The Flood”) The Gardeners also take