By close reference to “More Than Just The Disease”, show what feelings you have for Neil in the course of the story. What lessons do you suppose he has learned by the end of it?
In the story, “More than Just the Disease”, Neil who was away from home for a holiday with the Middleton family experienced and learned much. The best part was how Neil managed to take the first step of overcoming his shyness, not to “suffer from more than just the disease”.
At the start of the story, we come face to face with the dominance of Neil’s mother. “Be tidy at all times, then no one can surprise you” and “A little too ornate for my taste-vulgar almost” shows that Neil’s mother does not just exist in planning everything for him(“although he had been reluctant because of this very thing, she had insisted he could not turn down an invitation from the doctor’s family”), she had embedded herself in Neil’s thoughts, even to the end of the story like, “Close your mouth when you’re eating, please. Others have to live with you” and “ It will teach you how to conduct yourself in good society”, all highlighted in italics. This brings about irritation and annoyance as Neil is really a “Mama’s boy”. He does not seem to have a mind of his own and lacked the moral courage to be his own personality. This is worrying as this dominance of his mother may stay with him all his life. I am, to a certain extent, angry with Neil, for being so easily dominated by his mother, and not by his own self. It is rather disappointing of a protagonist.
The continuous excuses given by Neil (“Too cold”, “I told you I can’t swim”, “No, it’s too cold”) shows his defences to cover up his disease, psoriasis as he is inferior about it. This is understandable as he is fearful of being found out and shunned by everyone. (“If there is one thing he couldn’t abide it was to be laughed at”) I sympathize with him as it is indeed unfortunate to have the disease and desperately trying to hide it. However, when he gave his final excuse “I’ve got my period”, the whole situation changed. Besides the readers getting some entertainment, they are fairly amused and laughed behind his back. “There was a long silence” and “Neil heard her (Anna) make funny snorts in her nose”.
Although illness narratives are not novel or new, their prevalence in modern popular literature could be attributed to how these stories can be relatable, empowering, and thought-provoking. Susan Grubar is the writer for the blog “Living with Cancer”, in The New York Times, that communicates her experience with ovarian cancer (2012). In our LIBS 7001 class, Shirley Chuck, Navdeep Dha, Brynn Tomie, and I (2016) discussed various narrative elements of her more recent blog post, “Living with Cancer: A Farewell to Legs” (2016). Although the elements of narration and description (Gracias, 2016) were easily identified by all group members, the most interesting topics revolved around symbolism as well as the overall impression or mood of the post.
Lou Gehrig's disease is often referred to as Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), this is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons come from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the entire body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS would eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is also lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, for this reason patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed (Choi, 1988).
Charlie’s story began with the surgery, the biggest decision he made in his life. Although he was a guinea pig in the procedure, he wasn’t worried at all about the surgery, but rather on becoming smart as fast as he could. Supposedly these doctors were doing Charlie the greatest favor he would ever receive, and he was so eager to learn as much as he could. Soon however, Charlie would encounter challenges he never faced with the intelligence of a 6 year old. Before his surgery, Charlie had great friends in Miss Kinnian and the bakery workers. After the surgery the relationships between Charlie and everyone he knew would take a drastic turn.
From the beginning the narrator distinguishes himself as an older medical student and later it is learned that he was a teacher. He says, “the older you get the more you know, and after a certain point you know too much; you can envision the pitfalls.” In the first experience mentioned in the book, the narrator describes his hesitation in starting a conversation with a quadriplegic patient. He struggles to figure out what to say to the patient. However, when he observes a colleague he realizes that, “the doctor is not entitle to be reluctant,”
I believe disease was a key factor if not the primary factor in the depopulation of Native Americans in the Americas. Throughout time, there has always been inequality during the evolution of humanity. Over the course of evolution, different cultures as well as races have progressed more rapidly and at a stronger rate than others have. The depopulation of Native Americans happened because Europeans had better and more efficient supplies as well as immunities to the diseases that they brought over with them.
Throughout the novel, readers were exposed to many factors that engage with a physician’s life. Humans value love, respect and honesty in a relationship. No matter the hardships, a relationship is indeed the resource to overcome a conflict. Conflicts may also arise from the relationship itself, however, it does not mean to give up. Perceptions of others change an individual’s decision-making process and in turn may lead that individual down the wrong road. It is evident on a daily basis that relationships often become obstructed as the desires of an individual becomes conflicted with the perception of culture and family views. "Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures" by Vincent Lam displayed to the reader, in-depth, that life has its struggles. Never give up, because giving up will lead to a dead cause.
This compels Neil to believe that either something happened to him or the boy finally realized that he will always be different and there was no point in dreaming of a place he will never be able to go, which is why Neil says, “No sense carrying dreams of Tahiti in your head, if you can’t afford the fare” (120). This changes Neil’s perspective on how he wants to live his life. He may have wanted to be in the same social class as that of his girlfriend Brenda, but, after seeing how stuck up and superficial her family really is, he sees them in a negative light. For example, Neil spends the weekend at Brenda’s home which upsets her mother, Mrs. Patimkin. She gets into an argument with her daughter and says to her, “This is not the Salvation Army!” (64). In some way, this builds another bond between Neil and the little black boy. Just like how the little boy was treated for being a black boy in the library, that’s how Neil is treated; he is lower than they are,
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is an adult onset neurodegenerative disease. It is characterized by the death of motor neurons in the motor cortex, brainstem, and spinal cord. 90% of all cases of ALS are sporadic with no familial history, while 10% of cases of ALS have familial history. 20% of cases of familial ALS cases are linked to mutations in the SOD1 gene. Currently, the pathogenesis of the disease is unknown. However, multiple studies show that there are several mechanisms contribute to the progression of the disease. These include mitochondrial dysfunction, glutamate excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, axonal dysfunction, reactive astrocytosis, protein aggregation, and mutant SOD1 expression.
Neil White was living a luxurious lifestyle filled with expensive clothes, extravagant dinners and nice houses. He had it all, until one day he is caught kiting checks by the FBI and is sent to prison. Although, the prison he is sent to is unlike any normal federal prison. The prison Neil serves his time in is also a home for patients with leprosy. Through his encounters with the patients and other inmates at Carville, Louisiana, White takes the time to reflect on himself and learns a series of life lessons.
Weir, however, has Neil undergo emotional suffering as a result of continual conflict between Neil and his father about life choices. Neil wears a prop from a play atop his head before his suicide creating imagery of a crown
The narrator talks as if she is angry with her own mother. She says that she preferred her fathers company. The narrator calls her mother a “A plump woman with a loud jolly laugh” she then continues describe her as “Fat, let’s be honest. Terribly vulgar, always saying the wrong thing then laughing.” Apparently, the narrator has a kind of hate to her mother and that hate becomes an insecurity when the narrator realizes that her mother loves the granddaughter more than she loves her own daughter. The narrator obviously disapproves of her own mother. She neglects her mother with a pride in learning and in a close relationship with her
Lou Gehrig’s Disease or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a collection of rare neurological diseases that affect the motor neurons that control the voluntary muscle movements. ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative illness that affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. ALS is a disease that belongs to a wider group of disorders that are known as motor neuron diseases. This is caused by gradual deterioration and the death of motor neurons. ‘Amyotrophic’ comes from the Greek roots that mean ‘without nourishment to muscles’. ‘Lateral’ means ‘to the side’ and refers to the position of the destruction in the spinal cord. ‘Sclerosis’ means the hardening of the spinal cord.
The character Neil’s father dreadful, excessive parenting led to Neil’s death. Although strict parenting is beneficial, overdoing it has dire consequences. In this case it leads to the death of Neil Perry. Parents not communicating with their child results in a bad connection between the parent and the child with a higher chance of blatant disobedience. How Neil’s father treats him when throughout his life causes his disobedience and later demise.
...tentially be cured with a one surgery. He uses this story of death to share that life is short. “Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by Dogma. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” He uses repetition and parallelism to drive his message home.
The pain was with him thirty years, the length of his adult life. Until he found its healer. At first he did not know this would be the healer of the pain. For many weeks, they talked. They talked about the fears, the insecurities, the longings, and the needs. They talked about the rage he had carried with him all his life. They talked about his weakness and his strength. Some of these things he knew, some he didn't.