The Topic of Cancer by Christopher Hitchens

Topic of Cancer starts off with Christopher Hitchens waking to a feeling of immense pain.  In his own words; “Feeling as if I were actually shackled to my own corpse” (Hitchens 85.)  He is rushed to a hospital were surgeons performed emergency surgery on his heart and lungs to save his life.  Even though he almost died that very morning Hitchens continued with his evening plans were he was interviewed on The Daily show with John Stewart and made an appearance at an event where he was to converse with Salman Rushdie.  This is due to his new book that was recently released that he was promoting.  Later after visiting the hospital again he was diagnosed with a form of cancer called Carcinoma.  Throughout the essay Hitchens uses rhetorical devices such as metaphor to explaining his growing cancer.  He doesn’t simply refer to it as cancer but as an alien that is invading his country (his normal life) and transforming it to something foreign (his life with cancer.)   Even though his death seems imminent Hitchens continues to do what he can to survive, referring to his extra years of existence do to chemotherapy as a trade off with his hair, taste buds or overall well being.  This conveys his purpose to encourage others who are facing similar danger to be brave and to fight on no matter what the cost because there is always a chance.  These other people with cancer and similar ailments are his main audience in his essay.  Hitchens certainly achieved his purpose of encouraging his readers to fight on by his grueling experiences and positive attitude despite imminent death.  Hitchens strong words and powerful rhetorical devices motivate the reader to do what is necessary to survive.  Hitchens was a well-liked public intellectual who was known for debating politics and appearing in talk shows and for publishing his own work before he died in 2011 because of the cancer described in this essay. 

There's Always a Chance

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