More Than Just The Disease In ‘More Than Just The Disease’ by Bernard MacLaverty, Neil Fry, the principal character, is influenced by a minor character called Mrs Wan. Neil has a skin condition called psoriasis which has caused him to have low self esteem because his mother is ashamed of it and has made her son ashamed of it. However, Mrs Wan is the catalyst for the change and by the end of the story Neil has grown in confidence. Neil is in Scotland with his school friend, Michael, and his family the Middletons. The conflict between Michael and Neil is caused by Neil not wanting to go swimming because he is shy about his psoriasis. Michael accuses Neil of being “a useless bloody mama’s boy” which greatly upsets Neil leaving him desperate to return to his mother. Mrs Fry controls Neil. She is controlling Neil by sending him to a private school that he does not like where he is bullied by pupils and teachers, and insisting that he should go on holiday with the Middletons because Mr Middleton is a doctor. She does this because she has huge expectations for Neil to climb the social ladder and mix in with the middle class. MacLaverty uses italics to create Mrs Fry’s voice which Neil always hears; he constantly thinks about what his mother would say. From those comments we get the impression that Neil’s mother likes order “Be tidy at all times”, she does not like fancy things “A little ornate for my taste – vulgar almost”, wants the best for Neil “Now you’ll be at school with sons of doctors and lawyers”, and demands good manners “Close your mouth when you are eating please”. Neil is very reliant on his mother’s opinions. We can prove this by “he wondered if he should wear a tie to breakfast but his mother’s voice had nothing to... ... middle of paper ... ...chael walks in on Neil and Mrs Wan talking he sees Neil’s psoriasis and unexpectedly is not horrified. Mrs Wan proves that Mrs Fry has been wrong by not being what a middle class person would be like and showing Neil that his psoriasis is not a bad thing which his mother has been unable to do In conclusion Neil is a very shy boy who is brought up by his mother to think that all middle class people are posh. But when he goes on holiday with his friend, Michael, he meets Mrs Wan who makes him believe that his skin disease is normal and not to be ashamed about it. Neil is on his first step of independence but still has a long way to go. This is proved by Neil suggesting that Michael and him go down to the sea and swim. As Michael swims further out, Neil stays in the shallows which shows that he has grown but still has a long way to go.
These two essays are about two dissimilar disabilities. Nancy Mairs and David Sedaris act as examples of how an author’s writing can change the tone and meaning of a narrative. Mairs message was educational and encouraging as she explained her life with MS and how society sees her. Sedaris use of experience and memories portrays his life with obsessive-compulsive disorder; what he calls “tics”. These two writers take similar topics and pitch them in ways so the reader can see the illustration behind them.
Findley expresses his theme through Neil by firstly, making him fragile. Secondly, Findley also creates a stubborn characteristic for Neil. Finally, the aggression that Neil has towards his father defends Findley’s theme. The audience can take away Findley’s message, that characteristics of a person are hugely impacted by how the person’s feeling on the inside, their inner conflicts and
Neil tries to make sense of why Effie would become so emotional upon seeing him, and tries to discover more about this mysterious person for whom she is waiting...
With this in mind, Brenda cleverly obuses Neil’s open mindedness in formulating a scenario to enable a source of faith and new level of relation to develope among themselves. Once brought into action, she uncovers the other side to her integrity. Respectively, Neil shows benevolence to that part of her that seems to understand him deep inside, “There among the disarrangement and dirt I had the strange experience of seeing us, both of us, placed among disarrangement and dirt: we looked like a young couple who just had moved into a new apartment; we had suddenly taken stock of our furniture, finances, and future [...] ” (68) However since she has grown accustomed into a new rank of social status, and away from “the disarrangement and dirt” of Newark, she has become more attracted to life she occupies anon in Short Hills. This knowledge disillusions her that wealth advantages come with power, and that power is her responsibility. She through her selfish and noble heart feels the need to improve Neil, because it’s her past for a reason. Meanwhile, he interprets “the strange experience of seeing us” as a gateway into a compromise of “furniture, finances, and future” in their relationship. In this case, Brenda is unable to welcome the real and raw elements of Neil, distorts the possibility for them to experience love for one another. Thus, the misinterpretation and
on how to manage the girls. In the end he decides to get Alice and
She tried to do many things to be “better” than she had been. Showering everyday to be the cleanest version herself made her feel that it enhanced her quality of life. She was doing this day in day out and even sometimes twice a day as part of her “cleanliness”. While she did not have much money, she spent her extra cash on what she felt was its place to be spent in. Herself. Her appearance. Edith had bought the nicest and most soothing scent of perfume along with a flashy wristwatch and admirable dresses in an attempt to boost her self-esteem and self-image. Amidst the scent of roses and nice clothes Edith tried to change her attitude. She refused to gossip anytime Mrs.Henderson would endeavour at gossip. Edith read beauty magazines and books about proper etiquette one of many customs she had adopted. She did this daily and accustomed to it believing that she needed to it to be the more proper version of herself as the way she wanted to execute her plan of a changed woman. Edith altered herself and the way she did many things. Although she still knew who she really was and where she came from, she refused to accept it. Along with many things were done Edith’s decisions were overthrown by her self-image on her role of a daughter
Nothing really happens at the meetings other than the reading of poetry for inspiration in life. Neil, perhaps the most perplexing character in the movie, discovers his dream in life is to be an actor. His father, for a reason none other than...
I read and essay called “The New You” written by Kit Reed. The story revolves around Martha a character that is unhappy with her appearance with an inner voice that she calls Marnie. Martha is intrigues by an ad in a fashion magazine that promises a complete physical transformation. The ad says “Watch the Old You Melt Away” (Reed) this is an irresistible idea to Martha. Martha sees herself as a frumpy overweight woman with an internal identity named Marnie. Marnie is Martha’s inner diva. She is all the things that Martha wishes she could be, taller, slimmer, chic and witty. With the inner voice of Marnie in her head, Martha cashes stock her husband Howard gave her and orders the New You package.
It can be seen in chapter 7 when Neil goes into the cathedral to basically ask god what he should do with his life, He received his answer supposedly exiting the church from fifth avenue stating “Which prize do you think, schmuck? Gold dinnerware, sporting-goods trees, nectarines, garbage disposals, bumpless noses, Patimkin sink, Bonwit teller.” (100) This was the moment that Neil thought that he finally realized what his American dream was and what he had to do to achieve that dream. One thing that is crucial is that Neil was never planning this, he had no vision nor has a vision for his own future and even stated “What is it I love, Lord?” This meant that Neil didn’t know if he actually loved Brenda or if he only loved the perks for showing love towards her. This can be tied to Don Draper’s happiness speech from “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” Mad Men when he states that “Happiness is the smell of a new car and freedom of fear.” And to Neil, gold dinnerware and garbage disposals are his new car smell which is supposed to make him
Different people define success in many different ways. What is considered success by one person may be viewed as failure by another person. Randy Shilts, a homosexual newspaper reporter / author, attempts to make fundamental changes in America’s opinion on AIDS. In Randy Shilts’s essay, "Talking AIDS to Death," he speaks of his experiences as an "AIDS celebrity." At the core of Shilts’s essay is the statement, "Never before have I succeeded so well; never before have I failed so miserably"(221). Shilts can see his accomplishments from two points of view- as a success and as a failure. Despite instant fame, Shilts is not satisfied with the effects his writings has on the general public. Shilts’s "success" and reasons for failure can both be considered when one decides whether or not his efforts were performed in vain.
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.
Firstly, in paragraph 2, line 1 of the extract, the modal “must” is used by David Leavitt to show one of Neil’s traits indirectly – “The last item puzzles him: Pedro. Pedro must be the gardener.” Here, as Neil read through his mother’s daily list found on the kitchen table, he came across the name “Pedro” which he was unfamiliar with. Eventually, he expressed an assumption which he believed was true. However, instead of using “could” to indicate possibility, the writer chose to use the modal “must” to reveal Neil’s inner self which was lacking in confidence and even probably having a strong need of self assurance despite the fact that the modal is meant to express certainty. Thus, the readers are able to know more of Neil’s character as the modal is used to create a reverse effect on the readers as an irony.
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.
Matt Damon in the movie Contagion plays Mitch Emhoff, a man whose wife, Beth Emhoff, dies suddenly after returning to the United States from China. As well as his wife, his stepson passes away from the same disease. His character in the movie initially reacts as if it was just the common cold or any of the seasonal sickness. As the movie moves along you can see his feelings toward the disease change. This is the common theme of the movie, as everyone seems to down play the severity of the vastly spreading disease in the start of the outbreak.
He is infuriated when his son tells him that he is to join a theatre group for acting, and believes that it is “not good enough.” Even though Neil is a straight A student, he believes that he can do better and can perform tasks to a higher level if he was not distracted by “less important” involvements.