Sickness in Literature

Author : Mary Anne Winslow
Addie is the main character in the "As I Lay Dying". She is sick in the beginning of the novel and later she dies. Even though each person in the novel views events differently, through their own perception and believe system, we can still observe the common for each character dissatisfaction with the life. Addie uses her sickness as a weapon to put guilt on each one of the family members. She is not happy with her husband and children. As a woman she should have loved her children. However, it can be observed that her attitude toward her family is quite unexpected and uncommon. She doesn't love her husband and views children as a duty to him. Children are always fighting for her attention, even when she was sick they were trying to please her in every possible and to receive special attention. They are not sincere in their love to mother though. Making coffin in front of a dying woman is not what a loving child would do. The whole family is not actually loving Addie or emotionally supporting her. The only acceptation is Jewel, Addie's child with from her true loving relationship, an affair she had.Addie feels unhappy and blames her husband for creating this kind of life for her. She makes all her family to feel guilty. Addie asked for her body to be berried in Jefferson, which is a long way to go for her family members especially in the hot summer time. It was very problematic to transport Addie's body to town. It seems that even after her death Addie wanted her family to feel even more guilt. On the road to town only miscommunication and insincerity of the family is exposed.In the novel when the doctor was visiting Addie he said "She's been dead for 10 days" meaning that mind left her body. I think that she's been emotionally dead for much longer than that. A person dies when his faith in himself and others dies; when his wish to find the inner love disappears.In the play "Long Day's Journey into Night" a Tyrone family is depicted. All family members are portrayed as emotionally not healthy people. They are not satisfied with their lives and their psychological instability is reflected in their habits, addictions and in health and emotional condition in general.Men in the family are alcoholics. Jamie, the older son, has no goal in life and is only spending money on alcohol and women. Edmund is sick on tuberculosis and is also drinking. The father is drinking as well and is not satisfied with his life. The family is constantly fighting and it seems from the play that there is no love in their relationships at all. Mary, as a woman, should be a loving and caring mother. But she is a morphine addict and seems to be very disappointed with her life and children. Through the whole play she is on morphine. She became an addict because of regrets and mistakes she has done. She feels that her dreams and goals have not been reached. Mary blames her husband for not being able to become a pianist or a nun. She wants her family members to feel guilty for things she hasn't done, for things she feels guilty of herself. Also she blames James, her husband, for a cheap doctor she had after Edmund's birth; for the Eugene's, her other son, death. She uses morphine to make her family feel guilty for their own dissatisfaction and alcoholism. She blames everyone and everything she possibly can. Mary even blames her hands that were constantly shaking for revealing her nervousness and instability. She is living in the past and brings the past time into the family life. She refuses to face the present and the reality. The high hopes she set for her sons never came true. So she chooses the morphine to help her close the eyes on the reality and to bring her back in the old happy and idealized times and dreams. Mary wants her family to feel guilty. But as we can observe it results only in the suffering of all family, including her. Mary's life in the past is not letting anyone in the family move forward. The only person who has a chance to leave a constant circle of misery is Edmund, as he has a chance to actually leave the family. However, living with the problem and constant replaying it in the mind is not the way to solve it. All people make mistakes, our life is not perfect. But we can make it better by simply forgiving others their mistakes and moving on. Also what is even more important and is often even harder is to forgive oneself. Mary, just as Addie, was simply transferring her own guilt and feeling of dissatisfaction on to others. Instead, she should have stopped for a moment and thought about the problems in her life with the clear mind, without alcohol and morphine. Every person has love deep inside his heart. It only takes a desire to look inside and search for that inner love. With love the forgiveness and understanding will come along. The key for happiness after all is in each one of us, we just need to find it. And no one else can make us find it. We need to do it on our own. And once we do, no mistakes and no life circumstances will ever matter.People are not satisfied and blame others for it. They get sick, trying to put guilt on people around them without realizing that it is not other's fault and even if it was, they should forgive them. Truly forgive people, deep in the heart. Let the past go and let the future begin. And most importantly forgive yourself. People are ready to die, when they loose sense of life and only see it in punishing others, taking a victim position. We need to appreciate each other and learn to understand that love and strength is all in us. This is what both families in the books truly need to realize and start a new life, with no regrets and no fears.I don't recall any cases of me manipulating anyone using sickness as a weapon. However, even if there were any, I'm now confident that I will do my best to never let this take place again as these two books help to realize the importance of forgiveness and made me think about the true values in the life.The article was produced by EssayCapital expert writer. Mar Anne Winslow has a vast experience in Dissertation counselling and term paper writing services for several years.
Keyword : as I lay dying,william faulkner,Addie,Long Day Journey into Night,Edmund,sickness,psychology