Book Critique: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Culture creates morals, values, and beliefs within an individual, and these characteristics must be understood and respected. Anne Fadiman brings this issue to light in her book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. Common culture-barriers in the medical field can cause medical malpractice, disagreements on necessary procedures, and religion malpractice. Throughout her novel, Fadiman explains that the difficulties in cross-cultural treatment is due to two cultures having different morals and beliefs, and of course a language-barrier between the doctor(s) and patient(s). The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down accentuates the misunderstanding between cultures, and how society can learn from these misunderstandings. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is a
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Because American is a pluralistic society, it is important that everyone takes interest in learning about other cultures. This in turn benefits the respect one gives and receives, and allows people to relate to everyone in their community. This story shows the importance of this idea through examples in the medical field. The American doctors, Neil and Peggy, have to adjust the way they communicate in order for the Lees to fully understand what is happening with their daughter. After Lia’s treatments were finished, even though she was not healthy, Neil had a few regrets in how he handled her case. When asked if there was anything he would have done differently, he said, “I wish I’d accepted that it would be easier for the family to comply with one medicine instead of three, even if three seemed medically optimal” (Fadiman 257). As diversity grows in America, it is only common sense that society must adjust in order for people to understand one
Because American is a pluralistic society, it is important that everyone takes interest in learning about other cultures. This in turn benefits the respect one gives and receives, and allows people to relate to everyone in their community. This story shows the importance of this idea through examples in the medical field. The American doctors, Neil and Peggy, have to adjust the way they communicate in order for the Lees to fully understand what is happening with their daughter. After Lia’s treatments were finished, even though she was not healthy, Neil had a few regrets in how he handled her case. When asked if there was anything he would have done differently, he said, “I wish I’d accepted that it would be easier for the family to comply with one medicine instead of three, even if three seemed medically optimal” (Fadiman 257). As diversity grows in America, it is only common sense that society must adjust in order for people to understand one