Topic of Cancer

Before his death, Christopher Hitchens wrote about his great “struggle”. This “struggle” was him being diagnosed with cancer. Christopher described his denial to be short-lived as he tried to continue to make the appearances he had scheduled and continue to sell his books. Christopher described his fate to be ironic; just like the way that his career as a writer is based on irony, his fate was also decided by irony. On the day that his book hit the best-seller list, he found out that he had cancer. Christopher described the pain he experienced during his treatments. He felt as if he was “shackled to his own corpse”. He was not expecting the awful side effects that came along with his treatment. After describing his treatment as “chemo-poison”, he talked about the two different groups that were formed. Based on his writing and the way he lived his life there was a group that wished him to be ill, and another that was formed by physicians and prayer groups that prayed for his health. Christopher ended the essay by saying, “On both of these I hope to write next time - if as my father invariably said - I am spared”(89).

Christoper Hitchens wrote this essay with intent of sharing about his experience during his cancer treatments. He wrote this in hope to be spared, and have the chance to write again. Christoper achieved his purpose as he did a great job using figurative language to help describe his experience, as others are not able to directly relate to his pain. Christopher’s choice to write in first-person helped the reader understand his emotions even deeper. He had the ability to express all of his thoughts as he began to face new experiences, helping the reader understand his feelings. Christopher Hitchens left the reader with the exact emotions that he intended them to feel, while achieving his purpose of writing the essay.

The Man Behind the Essay

NANCY KASZERMAN/ZUMA

Christopher Hitchens was a controversial writer. He wrote on many topics such as politics, religion and history.  He received many awards on his writing. He died at the age of 62 (1949-2011) due to complications from esophageal cancer.