This is why I say that it is perhaps not a coincidence that I spent my time during the pandemic engaging in storytelling. Perhaps it is natural for us to create a world for ourselves, one where we are in control, when the uncontrollable world around us becomes too difficult for us to cope with. Throughout The Decameron, the brigata members are able to ponder over, laugh at, and be stunned by stories that are shared among one another. These emotions are exactly the temporary bouts of escapism that is necessary when trying to survive the tragedy and sorrow that lingers over their sick-ridden world. 

As much as these stories are escapes from the real world, stories are also a way in which we can synthesize and understand what is happening in reality from a safe, clear-headed distance. For example, my three COVID-19 books were all written for me to process and commentate on what was happening in my real world:

• Conversations about Loneliness was written when I was struggling with the consuming loneliness that seemed to absorb me during quarantine and self-isolation. 

• The Society of Complete & Utter Equality was written for me to think about a science fiction world where complete baseline equality was possible after reading countless news stories about Black Lives Matter and Asian Hate. 

• Renovo was written as the Internet, more alive than ever with everyone at home, became hotly hostile and invested into “cancel culture.”

If I can hypothesize, I think this is exactly the reason why The Decameron is a framed narrative, composed of what Professor Shemek referred to as diegetic levels. 

Each narrator, at each level of the story, has something that they want to escape from, and something they need to process. 

The “Author” figure tells the story of the brigata perhaps as a way of escaping his lovesickness. However, the stories he tells (through the brigata) also contain themes of lovesickness and affliction that are explored and synthesized. The brigata members take turns telling stories as an escape from their Plagued world. But these stories contain themes of compassion, honor, and humanity, all of which turned to the wayside in Florence as it dealt with the sickness. 

Professor Shemek pointed out an interesting nuance in the word  “recreation.”  In one sense of the word, storytelling is a recreational activity— in that it is “an activity or pastime which is pursued for the pleasure or interest it provides,” as the OED defines. However, she stated that it is also a “re-creation” of the world around them, in that the brigata members are recreating or restoring a world that has crumbled to chaos. 

This, I think, captures the essence of storytelling as a space of escape and comfort. 

The brigata find their locus amoenus in the garden of their countryside getaway. This is a space where they can tell stories, laugh, and escape the woes of the Plague-stricken Florence. 

Much like them, I have started to find my own locus amoneus within UCI.