English | Summary | Unit Six: Life and Death
In Bed | John Didion
“In Bed”
is a personal essay; however, there are some traces of public concern. Didion describes
migraine headache in general and her own in particular. Thus the essay hints us
that ordinary/personal feelings are fit for artistic creation. She has talked
about migraine in such an effective way that both the sufferers and
non-sufferers can know something on migraine. Migraine headache is a part of
her life.
Didion suffers
from migraine 4-5 times every month. When it is on its way, she feels irritated
and flush of blood on her. In the past, she would take drugs to avoid it. Else she
would not perform any jobs.
When she
was young she was afraid to reveal that she had migraine. She thought that she
would miss opportunities of jobs and scholarship. She took migraine as a
disease of imagination and was caused by her bad attitudes, unpleasant tempers
and wrong thinking, but not as a chemical problem. The pain was a shameful
secret for her.
Actually,
she had no other problems like brain tumor, blood pressure, eyestrains. She ignored
migraine and kept on working. When it caught her tears would run down her face.
She threw her up in a bathroom, went home and put ice pieces on her head to
lessen the pain. At times, she wished for neuro-surgeon and cursed her
imagination.
Later she
came to know that migraine is a hereditary disease, it transfers into children
from parents. Her parents and grandparents suffered from it. She had it first
time when she was eight and was studying in a school.
Things that activate migraine are
stress, allergy, fatigue and sudden change in pressure, accidents etc. a hormone
named serotonin causes migraine. People take medicines like methysergide that
have some side effects.
Effects of migraine in general are
hallucinations, short time blindness, and stomach pain, pain in sense organs, serious
fatigue, and loss of speech and problem in hearing. One becomes even unable to
perform common routine jobs, very much painful.
Effects of migraine on her are she
drives through red lights; sometimes she loses house keys, spills whatever she
is bolding; she cannot concentrate on her jobs and write coherent sentences. She
feels as if she had intoxication of drugs or alcohol. However, she says that
one does not die of migraine.
Misconception on migraine: People do not take migraine seriously. They
think that a couple of aspirin tablets can cure it. Migraine is an imaginary
disease for them. People have migraine because they don’t want to have
medicine.
Migraine personality: He/she tends to be ambitious and is shrewd looking,
intolerant of error, rigidly organized perfectionist. But when things don’t go
the way they imagine them to it can cause migraine to be effective. But it does
not mean that all migraine people are perfectionist and all perfectionists have
migraine.
Her ways to cure migraine: In the past, she would to take medicines
and even had injections. But now she has learned to live with it. Migraine has
been her friend because she connote avoid it. When it is on its way, she lies
in her bed. She concentrates on it. She stops worrying about any other
anxieties. She lets migraine happen. When pain goes away, she feels better;
appreciates the beauty of nature and thinks her to be lucky.
Good Summary of in Bed
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