“I began to realize that coming in such close contact with my own mortality had changed both nothing and everything.”
The cancer diagnosis places the certainty of death much closer than Paul has experienced in his life. The inevitability of death is something every human deals with subconsciously however when faced with one’s mortality it feels much more immediate. This is the feeling Paul harbors, thus the assertion alludes to how facing his mortality has not necessarily changed anything since we all know that will die at some point. However Paul knowing the actual time he has left to live, it changes everything since the awareness and lack of power over it is disconcerting.
“Death may be a one-time event, but living with terminal illness is a process.”
The novel is essentially a battle with cancer and how it affects the victim in terms of their general outlook and life purpose. Paul charts his progression from the time of diagnosis through to the treating of the illness while his health gradually deteriorates. The statement captures this experience in that the hardest part of a terminal disease is not the eventual demise but going through it. Paul expresses how his priorities oscillated depending on the period in finding a way of dealing with his illness while trying to do the best he can with the time left.
“There is a moment, a cusp, when the sum of gathered experience is worn down by the details of the living. We are never so wise as when we live in the moment.”
The quotation encompasses the philosophy that Paul adopts in living his life to the fullest despite battling terminal cancer. He is aware of the specifics of his illness being that he studied medicine thus this prompts him to take a chance by taking control of his present. Rather than dwelling on the uncertain future he dwells in the present learning more about living in the moment through his newborn daughter.
