Scan barcode
A review by shrutibhati
Illness as Metaphor by Susan Sontag
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
An acerbic critical treatise about the metaphors and misconceptions that surround illnesses such as TB and Cancer, the book was written by Sontag during her first battle with Cancer. Extremely well researched, you can feel Sontag’s determined anger as she analyses various pieces of literature, right from ancient texts to the more contemporary, to show the reader how language has slowly changed to convolute the understanding of horrible diseases much to the distress of the patient.
“My point is that illness is not a metaphor, and that the most truthful way of regarding illness-and the healthiest way of being ill - is one most purified of, most resistant to, metaphoric thinking.”
.
.
The metaphors often trivialize their trauma, sometimes haunts their struggle and often places the blame back on the patient themself. As finished reading the book, my mind immediately jumped to draw a parallel to the treatment of mental illnesses today, specifically depression, in our conversations and speeches. Think how often derisive words such as “crazy”, “mad” or “nuts” come up either to insult someone or denote something negative. Their prevalence in our culture can no wonder prove all too consuming for anyone actually suffering from mental illness.
“Any important disease whose causality is murky, and for which treatment is ineffectual, tends to be awash in significance. First, the subjects of deepest dread (corruption, decay, pollution, anomie, weakness) are identified with the disease. The disease itself becomes a metaphor. Then, in the name of the disease (that is, using it as a metaphor), that horror is imposed on other things. The disease becomes adjectival. Something is said to be disease-like, meaning that it is disgusting or ugly.”
.
.
The work is incredibly important because it offered an analytical angle to examine our beliefs, attempt to remove the dogma surrounding them and urge you to treat an illness from a scientific perspective.
“My point is that illness is not a metaphor, and that the most truthful way of regarding illness-and the healthiest way of being ill - is one most purified of, most resistant to, metaphoric thinking.”
.
.
The metaphors often trivialize their trauma, sometimes haunts their struggle and often places the blame back on the patient themself. As finished reading the book, my mind immediately jumped to draw a parallel to the treatment of mental illnesses today, specifically depression, in our conversations and speeches. Think how often derisive words such as “crazy”, “mad” or “nuts” come up either to insult someone or denote something negative. Their prevalence in our culture can no wonder prove all too consuming for anyone actually suffering from mental illness.
“Any important disease whose causality is murky, and for which treatment is ineffectual, tends to be awash in significance. First, the subjects of deepest dread (corruption, decay, pollution, anomie, weakness) are identified with the disease. The disease itself becomes a metaphor. Then, in the name of the disease (that is, using it as a metaphor), that horror is imposed on other things. The disease becomes adjectival. Something is said to be disease-like, meaning that it is disgusting or ugly.”
.
.
The work is incredibly important because it offered an analytical angle to examine our beliefs, attempt to remove the dogma surrounding them and urge you to treat an illness from a scientific perspective.