Blind By Susan Sontag Analysis

Today, blindness can be scientifically defined in many different conditions from partial blindness to complete blindness (nlm.nih.gov). Despite the fact blindness is medically defined, society continues to enforce creative and limitless metaphors with the condition in forms of stereotypes that goes beyond the medical knowledge. In the novel illness as Metaphor, the American author Susan Sontag critiqued how speaking of a disease like blindness metaphorically has many consequences to people’s afflicted with the condition such as the feeling of dehumanization as results of an incapability and loss of anonymity. Sontag notices that, “Subjects of deepest dreads (corruption, decay, weakness) are identified with the disease and leads to the transformation of people afflicted with the disease in …show more content…
The words blind and blindness are immediately put in a negative context as metaphors. In particular, this can be seen in the song lyrics call “Blind” by Korn, which is an American metal band in California. In Korn’s lyrics, the band sings, “A place inside my brain, another kind of pain: You don't know the chances... I'm so blind”. In other words, Korn emphasis how being blind cause another kind of psychological pain of confusion. In this line, the condition of being blind is associated with a metaphor as an abnormal suffering that only the blind will understands. Another striking lyric from Korn is “Deeper and deeper and deeper as I dream to live a life that seems to be a lost reality that can never find a way to reach my inner” . This lyric stereotype the condition of being blind is far worse than a lack of sight, but the lack of identity and reality. Sontag teaches us when we stigmatize disease through language we are able to associate a disease or condition in many negative contexts. This act of giving meaning to blindness in culture may distract us from understanding the