Theme Of The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat

Decent Essays
The novel The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, written by physician and neurologist Oliver Sacks, displayed different patient cases that involved some sort of neurological disorder, be it genetics or accident induced. Sacks, a professor of Clinical Neurology at Columbia, sheds light on patient stories and their experiences in an comprehensive, understandable narrative. He not only shows the hardships that the patients endured, but also the sacrifices that their loved ones had to make on their quest to conquer the patients disability. This novel is a compilation of 24 different case studies which look at the lives of those affected by such neurological disorder. Since there are 24 different case studies, Sacks decided to divide them into …show more content…
Each of these chapter titles give a representation of a reoccurring theme throughout each story and how it pertains to sed title. By establishing an underlying theme for every chapter, Sacks was able to reach a wider spectrum of people and raise awareness on the toll of each neurological disease. In the first chapter titled Losses, Sacks talked about how some patients either lost or lacked function in part of their brain due to sever injury or diseases. Some diseases, such as “Aphonia, Aphemia, Aphasia, Alexia, Apraxia, Agnosia, Amnesia, Ataxia” produce the tell tell signs of such trauma (Sacks 7). One of the first patients that showed symptoms was Dr. P. Titled The Man Who Mistook His Wife for A Hat, Dr. P was a great musician who had a difficult time with visual images. Dr. P could …show more content…
In the case of Rebecca, a 19 year old girl who loved poetry, stories, and the arts, showed the maturity of an adolescent child whom could not perceive right from wrong. One example of her child-like tendencies was that she would put her gloves on her feet, and her shoes on her hands. Her caretaker, her grandmother after her parents passed away, soon passed away leaving Rebecca alone to fend for herself. As she struggled to take care of herself, her mental and physical state slowly started to deteriorate. When she found theater, however, her tendencies started to fade as her talents started to shine in the arts. Similarly, in a case called Walking Grove, a 61 year old man whom had both Parkinson 's and Meningitis, had an unbelievable brain for music. Even though his actions mirror that of a child, such as diction and actions, he had the incredible ability to memorize many different operas. This chapter showed how even though some people can be burdened with many different physiological problems, they could still posses amazing gifts that people could only dream of possessing. Some of these individuals cannot live by themselves, as they are dependent on others for their survival, but they can accomplish things that some can only

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