The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat Essay Questions

How does the author comment on the importance of identity? Cite from multiple essays in your response.

Sacks writes about identity from many different angles, but he always highlights that identity is a fragile and individually constructed phenomenon that patients must always retain ultimate control over. The story of the man who “loses” his leg while taking a nap illustrates that the brain is constantly forming and reforming its sense of what “belongs” to us–where our personhood begins and ends. In “Witty Ticcy Ray,” Sacks highlights that Ray is a faster, more creative, more spirited person because of his Tourette’s. Although his disorder can sometimes be alienating, it also constitutes a large portion of who Ray considers himself to be. Here, Sacks is put in a different position than we’ve seen up to this point: he is not really acting as a doctor, but as an arbitrator between Ray’s identity and the expectations of conventional society. Ultimately his decision is to compartmentalize his Tourette’s into a subset of who he is–“Witty Ticcy Ray”– who he only lets out on the weekends. A final example of the power of identity would be Rebecca, who starts on the road to development and healing after joining a theater group. Here the author presents a paradoxical perspective on identity: the best way Rebecca finds to present herself to the world is by acting like other people. By engaging in the craft of storytelling, like Sacks himself does as the author of this book, Rebecca solidifies her own place in the world.

Describe some of the narrative and literary elements used to enhance Sacks’ stories. Is the use of these elements justified in this kind of writing? Why or why not?

Although we don’t know what details have been intentionally altered by the author, it seems clear that archetype and symbol are used to enhance the dramatic situation of the characters. For example, of all the cases of Korsakoff’s available to him, Sacks chooses a man who perpetually believes that he is a sailor in the Navy. By including (or perhaps endowing Jimmie with) this detail, the author evokes an image that is likely familiar to us: an Odysseus-like sailor, lost at sea as he returns from war. Christina once spent her days as a computer programmer, sitting still as she interfaced with a complex inner-world of algorithms and data. Now her body has become like a computer, able to operate and execute specific commands, but unable to feel and physically intuit. Whether these details are true to real life or not, they add valuable symbolic connections and situational irony to Sacks’ stories, allowing us to emotionally engage with Jimmie and Christina on a level that might otherwise be impossible.

Reconstruct Dr. Sacks’ argument about the value of The World of the Simple. How do his patients’ stories support that argument?

Sacks argues that a concrete understanding of reality is more elemental than abstract thought. Those who live in The World of the Simple understand better than most the elemental aspects of existence that make reality "real." Sacks writes that his goal in this section is to highlight, as science almost never does, the graceful command that the simple-minded possess over the concrete, symbolic dimensions of existence. Rebecca, for example, does not test well in the clinic, but as Sacks gets to know her better he notices on multiple occasions that she has a very compelling way with words. She has an innate sense of symbol and metaphor–one of the basic building blocks to stories and language itself. Other subjects, like José and Nadia, demonstrate an innate sense of form and character when they draw. Although John and Michael don’t know how to divide numbers, they have an uncanny perception of indivisible quantities. The author’s express wish in telling stories about the simple-minded is to lift them up as perfectly whole, capable, and even profound human beings. Ultimately, these stories are meant to express the importance of unequivocal self-acceptance and self-expression, regardless of the flaws and setbacks one might have.

Why is it important for neurologists like Dr. Sacks to use narratives when helping their patients recover? Cite a few specific examples to illustrate your point.

The author demonstrates in his stories that patients sometimes need new narratives about their conditions in order to realize their potential. In “The Autist Artist,” José’s severe cognitive deficits have foreclosed the possibility for most clinicians to see anything in him at all. He is considered a plain idiot who can’t read, write, or speak. After completing the drawing test, Sacks easily could have continued along with this narrative. José’s drawing of the watch is proportionally quite off, and the numbers on the face are crude and childlike. But instead, Sacks finds details and intricacies in the drawing that allows him to formulate a new narrative about who José really is. When he returns to test José again, José is visibly excited to see him, eager to have the opportunity to rewrite the opinion of everyone around him. Eventually, he becomes the resident artist of the hospital. Similarly, when Madeleine J. visits Sacks, she initially believes that her hands have no sensory function and are totally useless. However, Sacks proposes a different narrative: that her hands feel useless just because she had never needed to use them. After a year Madeleine is not only able to use her hands, she becomes a sculptor. In both of these essays, Sacks uses the power of storytelling to transform his patients and inspire them to realize their potential.

Dr. Sacks borrows the words of Charles Sherrington when he calls the brain an “enchanted loom.” Describe an example of a “magic” or unexplained mental event in the book, and discuss why the author might have left the event unexplained.

One of the most “mysterious” stories the author tells is “A Passage to India.” As she begins an extended process of passing away, Bhagawhandi becomes “dreamy,” experiencing vivid, sweeping visions of landscapes, gardens, and homes from her childhood. The nature of her visions baffles Sacks and her other doctors. Sacks wonders if the visions are due to temporal lobe seizures, or if perhaps Bhagawhandi is hallucinating from the massive dose of steroids in her bloodstream. This does not seem to be the case either; her dream-states don’t appear to be excited or over-cathected. Gradually, her visions occur more often and grow deeper, until they occupy most of Bhagawhandi’s day. Although she remains lucid, she holds “a faint, mysterious smile” all day (155). This is a beautiful, touching story, and there are a few reasons that the author might choose to withhold from fully explaining Bhagawandi’s experience. First, the story has more significance because of what it can’t (or chooses not to) explain. The mystery of her visions lends itself to the “passage” back to India that the author uses as a symbol of death. It also emphasizes that a clinician like Dr. Sacks does not need to diagnose and explain neurological disorders when his patient’s passing is imminent. As long as these visualizations seem to help Bhagawhandi go through this experience, there is no good reason for science to dispel the mystery.