A Life to Be Lived, Somehow: Overcoming Paralysis in Four British Postpandemic Novels

Mobility is one of the key forces shaping the contemporary world. Within a global society built around movement, individuals can feel compelled to be in constant motion. The restrictions on movement imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic thus came as a profound shock, leaving many with a sense of paralysis. This paper explores how four British novelists use the motif of pandemic-induced paralysis as a tool that allows them to explore other crises with which their protagonists are confronted. By engaging with the subject of the pandemic, the four novelists try to devise new ways of coping with the compound disasters which are confronting the contemporary world.