Malik Hyman

Professor Geoghan

FIQWS 10113
6 October 2022

Metaphors are not only literary devices, but vital tools used for the reshaping and updating of shared mental images of social, political, and health issues. In Susan Sontag’s, “Illness as Metaphor,” the negative connotation of cancer is underlined by metaphors describing it as an agonizingly painful disease, with far-reaching and dreadful health consequences. Phrases like “Cancer is a demonic pregnancy,” amplify the idea that cancer essentially means impending doom for patients. Other uses of cancer in the text, including when the author collates cancer to a “slow” and “insidious” disease, implies that cancer is something with downstream negative health consequences. In a like manner, the article, “‘We are living in a racism pandemic,’ says APA President,” by Kim I. Mills, further informs the reader to this exact point. This text, though, delves more into the socio-political aspect of health disparities and outcomes, by expressing that racism causes health issues to be more exacerbated throughout people of color and minority groups of people.

Sontag’s interpretation of cancer and its effect causes the patient to feel more dehumanized, strictly by the use of words and phrases that give this disease a “character.” Cancer, by definition, is described as an illness in which abnormal cells divide uncontrollably and destroy body tissue. In this manner, Sontag attempts to utilize this definition metaphorically. During one of her first encounters with cancer in the text, Sontag describes cancer as a “demonic pregnancy” (Sontag 14), indicating that this “lump is alive” and a “fetus with its own will.”

Dissecting both words in the phrase harbors an interesting finding for the reader. “Demonic” connotes something evil, menacing, or fierce, implying her belief that cancer can be described can be thought of in this very manner. The latter half of the phrase pregnancy characterizes something of growth and development, showing a likeness to the actual definition of cancer; abnormal cells that proliferate and multiply. When brought together, this phrase likens cancer to what it actually is; an uncontrolled and excessive growth of cells, but the use of ‘demonic’ as a term adds another facet to the meaning. It provides room for the barbarizing of the patient, by signifying that the disease is evil and somewhat giving an ultimatum; that there is no coming back from the illness. Throughout the excerpt, Sontag goes on to use metaphorical language to show how cancer treatment is also interpreted through a lens that implies that fighting cancer is a ‘war.’ On page 57 of ‘ Illness as Metaphor, Sontag alludes treatment to a “fight” or “crusade,” further reiterating the war-like terms being used to express cancer. Using this metaphor to describe cancer, the larger war theme is conveyed. Just like in cancer, as stated, in a war there is a “fight” or “crusade” to take down a “killer” (Sontag 57). In this instance, the killer is cancer, and the ‘fighters’ and ‘crusaders’ are the treatments against cancer. With this being kept in mind, actual cancer patients may be thought of as pawns at the mercy of the disease, in which they need treatment to help fight the disease for them. This may be a problematic inclination because the ability to utilize human emotion may be taken away from the person, as this war-like connotation takes away from the actual feeling of raw human emotion.

In comparison to the militaristic terms utilized in Sontag’s representation of illness, Mill’s article, ‘We Are Living in a Racism Pandemic,” conveys another fight, but in this way one in a more socio-political spectrum. In this article, the saying “racism is a pandemic,” resonates strong and true. By utilizing this metaphor, the author collates two significant concepts; racism and a pandemic. Racism, in general, often does not take the form of one definition. By textbook definition, racism is described as prejudice and discrimination directed towards a person or group of people on the basis of their identity or background. A pandemic is described as an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region. By combining these two definitions, we get a bigger and more powerful statement; one that showcases that racism is involved in something more than the socio-political spectrum. Like the connotations of cancer in Sontag’s piece, the fight against racism can also be characterized in this metaphorical context. Racism has historically been known to be a driving force for the social determinants of health, such as housing, education, and employment, and is a barrier to health equity. With that being said, according to the article by Mills, we are “living in a racism pandemic,” which is causing “dire” health consequences within the African American community. Racism and its internal effects on social health cause a host of these psychological problems, including “depression,” “anxiety,” and other serious and debilitating illnesses.

All in all, the use of metaphors likens terms like illness and racism to other contexts that help give the reader a further understanding of broader comparisons. By characterizing a disease like cancer, we are metaphorically giving it a persona, which can potentially leave room for the dehumanizing of a patient, as we compare the disease to a fight in a war-like situation. In a similar manner, equating racism to a pandemic gives the issue a largely negative connotation, which can be related to other forms of health consequences associated with it.

Works Cited

American Psychological Association. (2020, May 29). ‘we are living in a racism pandemic,’ says APA president. American Psychological Association. Retrieved October 6, 2022, from https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2020/05/racism-pandemic

Sontag, Susan. Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors. PDF ed., New York, Picador Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1988.