Simplicity is the tool for understanding. Understanding requires metaphors. Metaphors are the tools of simplicity for understanding complex ideas, situations, etc. They’re utilized in different fields, ranging from the strokes of a writer’s pen to the convoluted sentences of a medical practitioner. Their use is justified, with the ability to turn anyone’s maze of thoughts into an unornamented statement of children’s words. Metaphors are powerful figures of language, much more than can be superficially gauged. Society realizes its capacity to simplify difficult cases but its true power lies in how it can change a human’s perception of their situation. One idea can make someone feel like they’ve won a championship or make them feel like they’re in the face of an enormous wall of adversity. This conversation of its virulence versus its compassion is seen in the thoughts of Susan Sontag’s Illness as Metaphor. Her stance on metaphors is evident – that they shouldn’t be used. But it should be noted that she argues this point using metaphors, one focusing specifically on cancer, almost as if her story forces her to utilize metaphors. Her true feelings cannot be expressed without metaphors because of how complicated the issue truly is. This expression of feeling is not a unique feeling to Sontag, it’s almost a universal sensation, an emotion common to all cancer patients, survivors, and victims. A metaphorical idea so ubiquitous that it can be found in the writing of a mystery poet from the common people, FU Cancer by Annie. By reflecting and analyzing the literary use of the metaphors in the works of Sontag and Annie, the universality of metaphors can be seen from two different pieces, revolving around the idea of cancer as a being different from ourselves. 

Cancer’s description is a never-ending sentence, a way of life almost for its victims. This is seen in Sontag’s use of multiple metaphors to describe cancer. Analyzing her background further shows that she once had cancer, breast cancer. Even with having cancer and being able to give a specific description of what it’s like to have this disease, she feels the need to use metaphors to describe her experience. Sontag sees cancer as nothing “other than as a scourge” and “metaphorically, the barbarian within” (Sontag 61). In this specific metaphor, Sontag compares cancer to a barbarian, an uncivilized and violent being. Barbarians ravage everything in sight, never allowing for peace and silence. Sontag herself has felt the wicked power of cancer, going as far as to compare it to the vileness of a barbarian. Its unending journey to destroy your body, its wrath being felt all over the body, is a description fitting for cancer. Sontag recognizes that surface-level details aren’t enough to express the real feeling of cancer, she needs to use metaphors to allow her audience to understand that this disease is one that fights your insides, it creates war inside you, it is a barbarian. 

Whether it be gender, age, or life, cancer does not discriminate against its prey. It’s a quality that all victims have that connects them to each other, no matter their age or gender. This is seen in the writing of Annie, seemingly like it was written by someone reaching their adult years. This poet uses simple words like “evil” and “deadly” to introduce their ideas (Annie, Line 1). However, the diction this poet used dictates the message that they try to express. Annie writes how cancer is seen as “a beast of the night” (Annie, Line 9). Though it can be assumed this poet may not have as much experience in this world as many other poets, Annie knows that a disease as intricate and complex as cancer cannot be plainly described without metaphors. This poet sees cancer as a beast without a “heart and no soul” and something that can “steal away love”. Beast denotes a creature with no boundaries. A creature with only savage tendencies. A creature with no care for anything else in its path. Annie sees cancer as a beast, having its way with their body and their life – running its course through the body without any care for its effects. 

Two different works of literature: a novel and a poem. Two different authors, who may possibly be in different age ranges and born in different countries. The two motives are clearly dissimilar: one to prove the metaphor’s ineffectiveness and one simply to express. The differences in these two pieces are apparent but their qualities of similarity triumph their variance. Both authors describe their view on cancer, using both “barbarian” and “beast” (Sontag 61; Annie, Line 9). Two nouns describing the same disease, these words create a metaphor of similar effect. They show the foul strength and force of cancer. However, they show more than just a similar description of cancer. These metaphors show how universal the feeling of living with cancer is, how cancer patients feel every single day as they remember their life with this debilitating disease. Both Sontag and Annie aim to convey this notion to their audience to allow understanding of the pain and suffering felt by this disease. They accomplish this through metaphors; it can only be done with metaphors, allowing both writers to share their apathy properly. However, an important difference shines through their alikeness, that makes their similarities even more powerful. Sontag seems to resent having to use metaphors but Annie’s use of this literary device seems purposeful. Their usage of metaphors come from completely different backgrounds but they point to one goal, to show the wrath of cancer. Though experience may differ between individuals, society connects in many ways than one. These aspects of life cannot be recognized by simply just observing, but by analyzing and learning using the tool of simplicity – metaphors.