Essay-Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Alice grew and evolved objet dart everybody else heightend Before reading Still Alice, I did non know this is what Alzheimers patients went through. I had no clue. I thought they were fundament ridden and depressed, secluded in a unlit room. But, for Alice this was life and plot of land she grew and developed, some other(a)s around her spayd. Her relationships with her family and colleagues changed. Lisa Genova could non check picked a better disease. I conceive it was a blessing in disguise for Alice. Of course non to theorise that she should have gotten it.But, if she had cancer or amyotrophic ulterioral sclerosis like what Morrie had in Mitch Alboms Tuesdays with Morrie, Alice would have been a hero. On the contrary, she was repulsed and repelled by her parliamentary law and her husband failed to understand her. This made her a stronger woman. She grew because she had dementia. Through issue the book, Genova reiterates that we view of success in terms of c arer a nd credentials. I am non impervious to that either. A someone who is apparently really advanced in his or her life story is deemed successful and the people, who lay down behind the scenes for example, being a mother, are not.Of course, Alice had a very successful career at Harvard. But, when she no semipermanent wore the fanciful blue ribbon, she was no longer worth the respect and attention she utilize to look at. Almost everybodys billet changed towards her. Alice had recalled them as people who supported each other through slumps of negative data and tolerate rejection, through waves of crippling self-doubt, through illness and divorce. Only this illness was any other but Alzheimers. Not only do some people have this attitude towards the disease, I realized that Alzheimers patients do not have many resources to sustain with.As a society we have not paid attention to inventing some slap-up gadgets for patients that will allow them to recall grievous information for example, the directions to their house or the prat they could not rein. Plus, she could not even find a support group for herself. Strangely, they had a support group for caregivers but, not for patients. So, she met Mary, Cathy and Dan. They in addition complained that their reputations had suffered at work. People associate the change in behavior of Alzheimer patients with substance make fun or a result of domestic help problems.Eric Wellman thought like that. Dan, Alices seek student was the only person in her academic circle, who respected her and demonstrated her enormous finish in career. aft(prenominal)ward all, she was subject to inspire him to carry on her work. The changes in her society did not stop at her career. Interestingly, as Alices disease evolved, her face-to-face relationships did as well. rump, with whom she had spent her entire life, grew further from her. His lowly with the wedding ring in the concerns office showed his weakness of trust in the ir marriage after Alice was diagnosed.The f wager that he could not see her change when she had learned to be less mulish ab turn out what she gets from Jerris was a compress that he urgencyed to live with and confounded the old Alice. I take he had cried more measure than anybody else in her family. It was hardest for him to debate with her illness. Perhaps because he was too mutually beneficial on herthe moment when he could not find his glasses, he exigencyed Alice as Genova delightfully elaborated in the depression paragraph. But, if Alice, the master of recalling things, were to lose that quality, how was he to proceed in that marriage? This was ironic.As John grew obscure from her, I think the void was fill by Lydiathe child Alice knew the least. Where John reckoned with her moral capabilities and loved her for that, Lydia connected with her mothers renewed emotional intelligence. Thats wherefore I think she decided to touch base college after Alice had broug ht up the subject again. After all, she could trust her mother now. But, I was strike when Lydia ref utilize to get tested for the disease. I think there are pros and cons of knowing. I would want to know. So, that I can get my act together and accomplish what I need to in the beginning I am no longer able to.It is like what Morrie verbalise everybody knows they are going to die but, naught believes it. I would want to at least know that I whitethorn get Alzheimers and get used to the point before it is too late. Even though Alice knew her other children more, they played a petty role in her life after her diagnosis. I think since Anna was diagnosed with the mutated gene, she was more metrical and empathetic towards her mother but I did not like her attitude. She was more touch on rough herself than Alice. Tom sparingly showed up. I wonder why Genova kept him out of the picture most of the time. May be because he was busy studying and because he was a guy.And Alices progress ion was generally emotional. So, knowing myself and a little go about both genders, I think that emotions are mainly a distaff department. Alices role had metamorphosed from a apprentice to a mother. And the fastest growth of maternity was shown through communication via emotions between a mother and a daughter. For example, in the stand up paragraph Lydia asked her mother to relay her disembodied spiritings after witnessing Lydias acting and Alice successfully communicated in just a few words. Alice connected beautifully with the language of emotions at a time when language, which made up her hale career, began to part with her.She frequently remembered her mother and sister. I wonder if it was Alzheimers or she ask comfort in remembering her family more. Similarly, the coquet necklace became more important to her. It was a computer memory of her mother but, also signified a butterflys short but, beautiful life. I think Alice related to the story and so did I. But, it was intriguing when she had called on to divinity fudge whom she had never called on to. In times of need I also feel the urge to be more spiritual. This reminded me of Morrie, who admitted that he talked to God for the first time during the later stages of his illness.Also, Alice felt the need to rattle on her familys graves. Reminds me of a time when I went to visit a cemetery with my friend. I had a hard time trying to think about mortality like Alice. She was not concentrating on death in the cemetery. She was view about John and their relationship. All in all, Genova did a great job of good-looking us a picture of what an Alzheimers patient may go through. She pointed out Alices inner thoughts and feelings and how she had matured in so many ways spot keeping her personality intact. Like before, she used cognitive exercises to remember items.She was smart about the use of her blackberry and coming up with appraisals to test her memory. She kept herself in an superior physica l condition. Which makes me want to get up and exercise every morning before I become senile. She also had a brilliant career and a family. Therefore, her initial decision to commit suicide came as a surprise. I think her family would not have approved of it. But overall, I think Alice grew in the process and others reacted accordingly. For instance, Lydia see past the disease while John and Alices colleagues only saw what was shown to them.Therefore, I do not think Genova did referee to what other people might be feeling and thinking. Especially, I would have like to read about Johns perspective. Ironically, even when Dr. Davis had initially said that Alices accounts may not be too reliable, Genova kept the story going from Alices point of view. This made me biased towards Alice while not having a clear idea of what John and other people may have been going through. But at least, now I have a better understanding of Alzheimers and its manifestations.