The Scarlet Plague is one of the science fiction books that brings the epidemic to literature. The story begins in 2073, sixty years after an uncontrollable epidemic called the Red Death. Sufferers would turn scarlet, particularly on the face, and become numb in their lower extremities. Victims usually died within 30 minutes of first seeing symptoms. Despite the public`s trust in doctors and scientists, no cure is found, and those who attempted to do so were also killed by the disease. James Smith is one of the survivors of the era before the scarlet plague hit and is still left alive with his grandsons Edwin, Hoo-Hoo, and Hare-Lip. His grandsons are young and live as primeval hunter-gatherers in a heavily depopulated world. Their intellect is limited, as are their language abilities, therefore Smith telles them the old life before the pandemic when he was an English professor. 

Smith worries that he is the last to remember the times before the plague. He reminisces about the quality of food, social classes, his job, and technology. As he realizes his time comes to end, he tries to impart the value of knowledge and wisdom to his grandsons. His efforts are in vain, however, as the children ridicule his recollections of the past, which sound totally unbelievable to them.