Question

Which effect of the plague does the narrator in “The Decameron” describe as “even worse, and almost incredible” as he tries to convey the horror of that time period?

Parents refused to care for their dying children.
Burials occurred without solemn religious rites.
People died within hours of the onset of symptoms.
Large estates were left empty when all their residents died.

Answer 1

The correct answer is "Parents refused to care for their dying children".

The situation to which the narrator is referring to as "even worse, and almost incredible" during the plage, is that parents were abandoning their suffering children. This is what he found to be the most poignant and striking image that conveyed the extent of the horrors brought by the plague. Mothers and fathers refused to care for their dying children or even visit them in innumerable cases.

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