The Second Life of Mirielle West

The novel portrays the sentiments held in the early 20th century about people infected with leprosy. The first indication of the stigma occurs when Charlie informs Mirielle that the Los Angeles hospital to which she has been admitted has a leprosy patient (whom Mirielle quickly realizes is herself). That an illness would be newsworthy shows just how strong society’s negative attitude is toward it. Hansen’s disease was considered extremely infectious and “disfiguring”; there was even a moral judgment made on those who had the disease. Due to this belief, Mirielle keeps her distance from the other patients on the train to Louisiana and in her early days at Carville. Not only does she fear the contagious nature of the disease, but Mirielle also does not wish to associate herself with others who have it.

The belief in leprosy as unclean comes from Leviticus 13 in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. In 59 verses, the Lord instructs Moses and Aaron how the community should deal with someone suspected of having leprosy. Notably, it is a priest who serves as the medical authority: “And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean” (Leviticus 13:3).