Plight of parted lovers

The third major point the narrator dives into during Part 3 is the  "plight of parted lovers". In the early days of the plague people had strong recollections of the ones that they were separated from. People could recall almost everything about them, but as time went on, no matter how strong the bond the memories began to fade. The people were "wasting away emotionally as well as physically" (180). They had lost the ability to imagine what it was like to " live with someone whose life is wrapped in yours" (181). The plague cuts even love out of people's hearts and leave them bare. This is yet another way in which the plague is forcing people to conform, forcing them to give up the things that they once cherished in order to survive. This sort of reminds me of Maslow's "hierarchy of needs". First comes physical needs, then safety, then love, then esteem and then self actualization, and as we can see through the story people have slowly been giving up each level. First it was self actualization because people gave up their careers, next esteem because in the confines of the city everyone is equal and subject to the same problems, then now love because they are giving up their lost love ones that they can no longer see.