Chapter 24 …And Rarely Just Illness

1. Chapter 24…And Rarely Just Illness 6th 9/28/11 Isoke Burnett

2. A Quote from HTRLLAP • “The unnamed young narrator mentions that his old friend and mentor, a priest, is dying. There is no hope… A priest with no hope?” (Foster 213).

3. …And rarely just illness • Foster begins the chapter using an excerpt from a book about a boy who examines a priest dying and not even God can save him. • It seems to be a contradiction to what a priest preaches and that God is all-powerful and can save anyone, even a priest.

4. …And rarely just illnessCont’d • This story was used to set-up the chapterwhich introduces the reader to ways in which literature wrote about diseases. • What is interesting about the literature is that not only did the writers lacked knowledge about maladies but doctors lacked knowledge as well.

5. Foster’s Four Principles • According to Foster, there were four principles governing the use of disease in works of literature: • Not all diseases are created equal. • It should be picturesque. • It should be mysterious in origin. • It should have strong symbolic or metaphorical possibilities.

6. Not All Diseases Are Created Equal • Foster argues that Tuberculosis took precedent over other diseases like syphilis, gonorrhea, and cholera among writers because it was safer in terms of perceptionsabout the diseases. • For example, prostitutes only got venereal diseases and cholera was such a nasty and gross way to die. • Tuberculosis was “public relations” friendly.

7. It Should Picturesque • Foster argues that while TB is a deadly illness, there is a certain acceptance as to how one looks when they are suffering from it as opposed to the other diseases. • For example, Foster described the look of a TB sufferer as, “the skin becomes almost translucent, the eye sockets dark, so that the sufferer takes on the appearance of a martyr in medieval paintings” (p. 216).

8. It Should Be Mysterious In Origin • Foster argues that TB was a clear choice for writing about the mysterious disease because of the description I provided in an earlier slide, “medieval painting.” • For example, no one really knew what caused TB or how one would acquire it but, it was very clear how one could obtain a venereal disease which was through sexual transmission and that was morally unacceptable during those times.

9. It Should Have Strong Symbolic Or Metaphorical Possibilities • Tuberculosis could easily be described metaphorically because the death was slow and the body did not display signs of disfigurement. • Whereas, other diseases modifiedthe appearance of the body which made it difficult to use “positive” metaphors to describe it. • For example, TB was described as, “wasting away.”

10. Comparing Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS In Literature • I will take a look at the four principles governing the uses of diseases in the works of literature as it relates to HIV/AIDS • Not All Diseases Are Created Equal. • AIDS/HIV was separated from Syphilis and Gonorrhea in the 1980’s because it was considered a “Homo-sexual” disease. If you obtained VD, you may have contracted from your “heterosexual” partner. • It Should Be Picturesque. •Writers would promote the fact that it was only “Homo-sexual” men who were contracting the disease. It took years to conclude that “heterosexuals” were contracting it as well. • It Should Be Mysterious in Origin. • It came from an undeveloped country??? The disease came from an animal??? • It should have strong symbolic or metaphorical possibilities. •Heterosexuals didn’t want to be perceived as homosexuals so metaphors were used to describe HIV/AIDS.

11. ● Illness is reflected in the novel Great expectations. ●After Magwitch dies Pip catches a fever statingthat—”I ought rather to write that I should have been alarmed if I had any energy and concentration enough to help me to the clear perception of any truth beyond the fact I was falling very ill” indicates that pip was ill, and wasn’t really able to focus (Dickens 491). http://www.lucreid.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/great-expectations.jpg

12. How “….And rarely just illness” relates to everyday life in general • Cancer as an example relates to this chapter by being perceived as not so negative as it really is. • Usually, the doctors would say “you would have 6 months to live” rather than “6 months until you’ll die”, which is metaphorically turned around. • In movies, Cancer’s perspectives are usually lightly negative, but rarely you would see the movie getting deeper into the situation.

13. WORKS CITED • Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. New York: Bantam Dell, 1986. Print. • Foster, Thomas C. How to read literature like a professor. New York: Harper-Collins Publishers, Inc., 2003. Print. • Publisher’s Weekly, 2008