Topic of Cancer by Christopher Hitchens

            Topic of Cancer by Christopher Hitchens, is a memoir of the author and his ongoing battle of cancer. He woke up one morning and could not even get out of his bed. He struggled to get up and call 911 because he knew that he was diagnosed with cancer, he just couldn’t come to terms with it. He had just launched his best seller the night before, and now he was going to have to be in the hospital. The author describes that he has not been in denial about cancer and he writes this in order to explain the life of someone with cancer. He wants to show the reader the struggles that a cancer patient faces. This essay was written for people who have cancer because the author is very courageous while writing this. It is also written for people who do not have cancer, but know someone with cancer and can understand what they are going through. The author knows what is going to happen to him, so instead of denying it, he is just upset that his life is going to waste because he has so much he wants to do.

            The author does a good job with his diction describing how powerless he feels when he receives treatment, “I feel upsettingly denatured” (Hitchens 88). The tone is also portrayed really well because the reader can sense Hitchens’s attitude. The author also uses vivid imagery to describe what he looked like during his cancer treatments and the way he felt about it.

            Hitchens is very credible because he is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and a visiting professor of liberal studies at the New School.

            I believe that the author did a great job achieving his purpose because his work is very personal and touches the emotions of the reader. The reader can understand how the author is feeling and how hard it is for those with cancer.

This image from The Southern News symbolizes the things that cancer patients need to win the battle against cancer.