Philip Roth's Everyman relives the story of the unnamed protagonist who is faced with every person's fear of illness and their inevitable death. Everyman's fear began at the age of nine when he was admitted to a hospital for a routine hernia surgery. It is this fear of illness and death which slowly became a crippling fear, driving wedges between him and people he cared about in his personal life. The fear almost becomes an obsession; he begins basing his life off how healthy he is. Because of him basing his life off his health, he starts to compare himself to his older brother, Howie, who has never been admitted to a hospital or had any surgeries in his life. All of Everyman's comparisons led him to eventual resentment and envy of his brother. This envy and resentment would have probably never happened if the little boy next to him at the hospital was still in his bed when Everyman woke up.
When Everyman was admitted to the hospital as a child for a routine hernia surgery, he didn't believe that anything would go wrong. While he was asleep the night before his surgery, he was woken up by the sound of doctors and nurses at the bed next to him. When he woke up on the morning of his surgery, the little boy was no longer in his bed next to him. “In that moment of terror when they lowered the ether mask over his face as if to smother him, he could have sworn that the surgeon, whoever he was, had whispered, 'Now I'm going to turn you into a girl.'” (Roth 29). His first thoughts were that the doctors had killed the little boy and were going to give him a similarly unpleasant fate. This was the first glimpse of death he had had in his life thus far and it terrified him. Many years later, when he was in his fifties and needed to have s...
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... much like the average human might experience it. Therefore, Everyman's contradictory love and resentment for the “perfect” life that his brother lives is indeed a natural reaction to which most people, when faced with the troubles Everyman has, would agree with.
Despite leaving his first wife and two sons, cheating on his second wife, and physically isolating himself, Everyman was most isolated by his poor health. He had everything he needed to live a full and happy life, but let it slip away out of the perpetual fear of his own demise. His fear is what disabled him from living a life like Howie's, not his heart surgeries or divorces. No amount of sports or sex could quell the lingering fear death imposed upon him. The Everyman's pessimistic, fear-centered attitude is realized in every human being as an inexplicable fear to which Roth has provided an explanation.
The Dangers of Fear Irish Playwright, George Bernard Shaw, once said, “The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity.” Inhumanity is mankind’s worst attribute. Every so often, ordinary humans are driven to the point where they have no choice but to think of themselves. One of the most famous examples used today is the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night demonstrates how fear is a debilitating force that causes people to lose sight of who they once were.
Popular television paint a glorified image of doctors removing the seriousness of medical procedures. In the non-fiction short story, “The First Appendectomy,” William Nolen primarily aims to persuade the reader that real surgery is full of stress and high stakes decisions rather than this unrealistic view portrayed by movies.
There is an old cliché that talks about how life isn't a bowl of cherries and that it presents hardships to everyone. Thomas Hobbes takes this cliché to another level when he says, "The life of man [is] solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." To most this quote is depressing and dismal, but in many literary works, it portrays the plot that develops throughout the work. From Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye, to Hamlet in Shakespeare's play Hamlet, and even Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby, the life of man doesn't seem all that it's cracked up to be. These characters face struggles that lead them to become depressed, lonely, senile, and even mad. Whether they are losing their fathers, the love of their lives, or themselves, these characters are a part of a story that shows very little light. The themes of these various works are fall across a similar spectrum as they deal with the misery that life can bring.
The two characters come to the realization that they do share a brotherly bond, and that the narrator cares deeply for his brother even after all the time apart. The narrator says, “I don’t give a damn wh...
Lewis Blackman was a fifteen year old boy whose death was triggered by the numerous errors caused by his healthcare professionals. He was suffering from a Pectus Excavatum, a non-life threatening condition. His mother, Helen Haskell, was attracted to an advertised surgery that boasted all the benefits of the procedure without proclaiming the risks. He checked into the Medical University of South Carolina Children’s Hospital on November 2nd, 2000, to undergo this “safe and minimally invasive” procedure. Complications arose following the surgery, but they were not communicated effectively within the nursing co...
which was a high profile topic at the time it was written. The play is
In The Brothers Karamazov Fyodor Dostoevsky said, “…fear is simply the consequence of every lie.” Dostoevsky is stating how people are afraid of what will happen when their lie(s) is/are put out in the open. Fear is a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined. This line suggests that people are afraid of the truth, which inevitably is the consequence of every lie. Even though this quote was written by a 19th century author it can still relate to texts that were made centuries prior. Both Sophocles and Shakespeare’s plays support Dostoevky because both plays deal with the act of lying and its consequences as a major motif.
...the narrator and all people a way of finding meaning in their pains and joys. The two brothers again can live in brotherhood and harmony.
They needed healthy men, and I am somewhat healthy, so I just had to do it. I had to talk to others to see what is happening in their point of view, and I also had to see their opinion about these things. I figured that I needed to talk to a man named Dr. Waldo. Since he was a doctor, I asked him what was happening, what he saw. The look on his face was unbearable to stand, anyone who looked at him would be terrified at what he was about to say. He told me that it was a terrifying experience, and that 1,800 to 2,500 men were dying in December-June, he also said that there were many diseases such as smallpox ( when Dr. Waldo was experimenting, I was one of them to be experimented on, and now I’m immune to it), dysentery, typhoid, and pneumonia.(Busch, 147) By then, even I was shaking, I knew that it would be hard, but it was a risk that I was willing to
...is interactions with his wife are filled with tension and he is saddened when he reflects upon the men lost during war and the death of his brother.
“In my mind, they seemed happy together, in the bantering, ironic manner of sitcom couples, and their arguments seemed full of comedy, as if a laugh track might ring out after their best put-down lines.” (p.54). It’s all a part of an elaborate fantasy he’s created in order to ignore reality. There are also times in the story where the Narrator’s doesn't comprehend the situation--at one point he describes his mother’s drunkenness, “She looked sad, and for a moment lost her balance slightly as she reached down to run a palm across my cheek” (p.59-60). Whether his lack of comprehension is because of his youth, or intentional is unknown. His relationship with his brother is also indicative of a troubled youth. In the imaginary city, the Narrator’s brother is his “nemesis”. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue--there’s nothing strange about sibling rivalry, however, in this case the Narrator never really grows out of it. He doesn’t actively hate his brother, but he does seem to carry a certain amount of disdain for him. When describing how their family went in
In the words of Bertrand Russell, “Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom” (Russell). Fear causes many problems in our lives. Fear influences many of a person’s actions and decisions. However, people usually regret the decisions or actions they made out of fear. Also, these actions and decisions can cause problems for those people in their future. Fear is a harmful emotion, for it clouds people’s judgement, disables them from taking action, and causes them to make decisions that they will regret later.
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" (Roosevelt 93). In Franz Kafka's The Trial and The Man Who Disappeared (Amerika), the nature of terror is exposed to the fullest extent. The main characters in both works, Josef K. and Karl Rossmann are both used as pawns in the chess game also known as society. The dramatic impact from the major turn of events would create a tremendous change in both characters. Josef K., who was arrested for no apparent reason would have his life totally dominated by the judicial system. The road that Josef K. is forced to journey on became a one-way street and he was never able to turn back. Karl Rossmann, who was also used as a scapegoat, was sent off to America for something that was not his fault. Because he was new to the country, people immediately took advantage of him and treated him as an outcast of society. The so-called "American Dream" that Karl often heard about became only an illusion. The terrifying situations that Josef K. and Karl have to go through brought the best and worse of the characters but most often weaknesses and flaws in the character are exposed. The nature of terror is based on reactions from human instinct and often cannot be controlled by mind or thought.
For as long as I could remember I have had a chronic fear of crashes at high speeds and that my best friend Joseph has never feared anything. He would jump off the Eiffel Tower if he got the chance. On the day that I would finally conquer my fear I was in the back seat of Joseph’s uncle’s Ford Expedition with the whole seat to myself. If I were to turn my head around I would see the large speeder boat the car was pulling behind it. We were on our way to the Delta Marina. Our plan was to go tubing in the water. The only way we would end our turn on the tube was by flipping over and crashing into the water.
“Primal Fear” (1996) is a masterfully crafted film based on the novel written by William Diehl. Aaron Stampler (the main character) was on trial for the murder of an archbishop. He cunningly convinces his psychiatrist as well as his defense attorney (Martin Vail) that he suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder. Stampler then plead for insanity successfully and was transferred to a mental institution for “help”. In the end, the audience shockingly discovers that Stampler had been lying the entire time about his alter ego; he manipulated everyone and clawed his way to freedom. “Primal Fear” provides excellent insight into psychopathy and contains subconscious themes the writer projects through the actions of the main characters.