The predominant cancer metaphor is war. We fight cancer, usually valiantly. We attack tumors and try to annihilate them and bring out our arsenals to do that, and so on. It's us against cancer. This metaphor has come in for its share of criticism within the ethical, psychological and even oncological disciplines. A main concern is that when someone dies of cancer, the message that remains is that that person just hasn't fought hard enough, was not a brave enough soldier against the ultimate foe, did not really want to win. The cancer-is-war metaphor does not seem to allow space for the idea that in actual war, some soldiers die heroically for the larger good, no matter which side wins. War is death. In the cancer war, if you die, you've lost and cancer has won. The dead are responsible not just for getting cancer, but also for failing to defeat it. .Alanna Mitchell
About This Quote
People often speak about their loved ones in terms of war. This is because the world is filled with conflict, and conflicts are often fought using weaponry. Many people speak about their loved ones using weapons like guns, knives, swords, etc. But, when it comes to talking about death, many people will also use the word “war” to describe it.
This is because in war, when one side loses or dies, this means that they have lost the fight against the enemy side. The enemy has won! This means that when a person dies of cancer, especially if it is in battle against the disease, this person did not win their fight. They lost their battle against the disease and died too soon.
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