Tag: George Orwell
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Heroes and alcohol
Cal BartleyPenarth, South Wales, United Kingdom It would seem that literary heroes cannot function without alcohol, as so many great books reference alcohol in a positive light. Even if it does not lubricate the plot, a glance at many classics suggest that a stiff drink is needed for the hero to successfully reach the final…
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Starvation as metaphor
Michael Shulman Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States The mystery of FoodIncreased till I abjured itAnd dine without Like God— Emily Dickinson Susan Sontag’s 1978 essay Illness as Metaphor,1 published in serial form in The New York Review of Books, was a cultural event that continues to stimulate reflection and analysis forty years later. Based on an examination…
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George Orwell and the ethics of dealing in or dealing with cigarettes
Lynn T. KozlowskiBuffalo, NY, United States Early in World War II, George Orwell wrote the essay “England, my England,” commenting that as he was writing “highly civilized human beings” were flying overhead trying to kill him: They do not feel any enmity against me as an individual, nor I against them. They are ‘only doing…
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Connecting literature with medicine
Rubina NaqviKarachi, Pakistan There is a need for increasing the education of medical students through the use of literature, so that physicians can become knowledgeable about and eager to confront the social, economic, and cultural contributors to illness. This is particularly important when one considers the great differences in economic, environmental, and health-related resources between…