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Analysis Of The Hot Zone By Richard Preston

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Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone, narrates a “terrifyingly true story” about the menacing Ebola outbreak of 1976. Ebola is named after the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in West Africa, and when Preston’s book was published people would base their knowledge about Ebola upon the information introduced in his book. Although he researches his topics thoroughly, Preston’s inaccurate descriptions, exaggerations of the virus, and the unnecessary characterization of his characters throughout his book make his sources unreliable and have been disproved by many scientists.
Communication is important when it comes to a disease or virus outbreak. As Preston’s book falsely describes the Ebola symptoms, the reader could get the wrong idea of Ebola. Additionally, if there were to be an Ebola outbreak, the readers of …show more content…

In The Hot Zone, Preston explained where Ebola originally came from within one of his characters: Charles Monet. Preston says, “Monet and his friend wandered through the cave… Monet and his friend continued deeper,” (9). The fact that Monet and his friend went through a cave shows their carelessness about the potential dangers that would have arisen. Additionally, people who haven’t contracted the virus see those who have Ebola as threats, not victims according to Bill Albertini in his article ‘Rhizomes: Issue 19: Bill Albertini’. Albertini argues that Preston understates the effects Ebola has on people while comparing it to other types of viruses. Albertini goes on to point out that Preston has a reputation for writing novels as entertainment. It shows Preston’s lack of knowledge of Ebola victims. Furthermore, those who read Preston’s novel also see Ebola victims as threats due to the way Preston portrays them in The Hot Zone. All in all, those who haven’t experienced Ebola, or any other virus, need to be aware of those who do and treat them as a victim, not a

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