Defoe and Ethics of Plague-Morality and Sickness.

I'm afraid I'm not as connected to Defoe's novel as I was to Behn's Oroonoko. Journal of the Plague Year strikes me as a sort of fever dream, in which Defoe
wanders through plague-stricken London, observing the ravages of the disease. Amazingly, despite wandering here and there throughout the stricken areas, he never contracts the plague. (Convenient, no?) I think there are some interesting observations to made about Defoe's treatment of what he views as ethical violations during the plague-time. Defoe reports snippets of hearsay and rumor, as well as bits of pronouncements and news article, and he often mentions the crimes he has heard rumors of. Defoe relates hearing of houses plundered, servants left to die, and neighbors turning against each other, but he is quick to reassure the reader that these are only rumors, and besides he has known of many instances of kindness and goodwill. He relates an incident in which he returns to check on his brother's property and finds a group of women trying on hats from his brother's warehouse of goods. Although Defoe's narrative is rather detached for the most part, a sense of incredulousness and indignation seems to permeate this event. Defoe seems to shy away from acknowledging the breakdown in public order that occurred with the first wave of plague to hit London. (The plague returned to Europe repeatedly over several decades, but not to this extent.)
Another question I would like to ask of Defoe's novel is, what exactly was his purpose in writing it? An historical account? Defoe mentions God often in his work, but I have a hard time accepting Journal as a testimony of God's mercy, considering the ravages of the plague. I haven't entirely finished the work, but I read the stanza Defoe includes as H.F.'s parting words. Is H.F., after all, just delighting in surviving the plague unscathed? He seems to make no deeply emotional connections to anyone affected by the sickness. He mentions no family members or friends killed by it. Perhaps he is merely serving a journalist to record this extraordinary historical event.