Rhetoric Analysis of The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression

            Andrew Solomon is a highly recognized writer (“Andrew Solomon”). He has written essays, speeches, and novels that have received national attention. He has been a member of several councils in support of mental health awareness, gay and lesbian studies, and medical research.  Solomon has also recently entered the field of psychology at the University of Cambridge.  The Noonday Demon will attract readers that are interested in social or medical sciences, as well as people that have been affected by depression.  As a Pulitzer Prize finalist, The Noonday Demon will likely to gain attention from a wider audience. Solomon has given lectures on depression around the world. The Noonday Demon is yet another effort Solomon has made to increase our understanding of what depression is.

            In “Depression”, the book’s first chapter, the reader learns about what depression is through explanations of how it is categorized, diagnosed, and described by both pharmaceutical science and Solomon, someone who has been afflicted by depression.  Solomon aims to persuade the reader of his view of depression, a complex mental disease, and dismiss the perspective taken by pharmaceutical science, a state of chemical imbalance in the brain. Solomon relies heavily on the use of rhetorical strategies such as metaphors, analogy, and repetition, to express his argument: depression is a complex mental disease that is a “personal” and “social phenomenon” (Solomon 29), therefore it cannot be overcome with the sole use of pharmaceutical drugs. Solomon advises society, the people affected by depression and those who are not, to take an active role in treatment and prevention in order to eliminate it.

            Solomon begins the chapter by introducing love, pain, and anger as human passions which make us conscious of ourselves. The author uses the abstract diction in order to point out to the reader of the limitation of pharmaceutical science to that which is intangible- our emotions. With this claim, Solomon is able to make the logical argument that medicine can therefore only “contain” depression (2).

            Solomon’s first description of depression is that of an “emotional pain that forces itself on us against our will, and then breaks free of its externals” (2)like a “tumbleweed distress that thrives on thin air, growing despite its detachment from the nourishing earth”. Later, Solomon relates the depression that was “asphyxiating the life out of [him]” (5) to a vine that has completely wrapped itself around an oak tree.  Another analogy used to describe the feeling of depression is the uneasiness and naseau felt when “drawing too close to the edge”(17) of an abyss. By his consistent use of analogies to describe depression as a debilitating illness, Solomon can make the reader conform to the idea that depression is complex in that it is not easy to diagnose due to the varying ways in which he and other  patients may describe their depression. Although Solomon describes the difference between major and minor depression as psychiatrists would categorize them, Solomon keeps true to his claim at the beginning of the chapter, that depression can only be described by the use of figurative language. Solomon’s use of imagery is another tool used to describe how depression is a process of decay. Minor depression begins as a “soul of iron” (3) that begins to collapse with the onset of major depression. “This section collapses, knocks that section, shifts the balances in a dramatic way” (4), Solomon describes. Unlike the rusting iron structure that weakens and collapses, science describes depression as a “chemical” imbalance (8), a description that Solomon criticizes for being overly reductionist and simplistic. Solomon points out that every process can be thought of as chemical , from reading books to remembering, and that the “brain’s chemical effect are not well understood” to lead to the logical conclusion that a singular chemical basis for depression is not  what makes up depression. Solomon gives evidence for a more complex basis for depression than simple chemistry and genetic basis. In doing so, Solomon establishes ethos in his writing by supporting his argument with quoted statements. Steven Hyman, the director of the National Institute of Mental Health states, “There is no such thing as a mood gene. It’s just short hand for very complex gene-environment interactions” (11). An academic at Columbia University also states, “ The serotonin thing is part of a modern neuromythology (10)”.

            The diagnosis of depression by the medical profession as a score determined by a formula given by the Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry is also something Solomon detests. The sarcasm behind his inclusion of the “helpful” (9) mathematical formula sways the reader to believe that assigning a score to a patient to determine their diagnosis cannot be helpful because what is needing to be quantified, varying subjective feelings described by metaphors, is subjective and vague. Solomon critiques the diagnosis of depression as an arbitrary set of symptoms. He leads the reader to think that the diagnosis of depression in this way is logically arbitrary with the counter argument that two severe symptoms can be worse than five minor symptoms, yet the severity of the symptoms is not taken into consideration in diagnosis, something Solomon obviously believes is important diagnosis.

            Depression cannot be treated with the simple use of SSRIs, the drug prescribed by psychiatrists for treatment of depression. As Solomon says it, “once help is provided [to the depressive patient], it must also be accepted [by the patient]” (19). The patient has a part in the treatment of their depression. Solomon uses repetition to communicate what the depressive patient must do to “help”(19). “Listen”, “Believe”, “Seek”, “Be brave” (19) are among the few things depressives must do to fight against their depression. For Solomon it was talking and appreciating love which helped him rebuild himself against his depression.  Solomon gives an entire paragraph filled with the use of the word “love”(20) to demonstrate his appreciation of the passion that has helped him continue drug treatment. For Solomon, his SSRIs and appreciation of love is what kept him moving forward in treatment.

            In order to promote awareness for the treatment that is needed by depressive patients, Solomon again uses an analogy. He uses the environmental movement as a metaphor for what is lacking in our society today-a movement that aims to reduce the of “social emotional pollution” created by “modernity” (21). Solomon relies on the use of statistics which show that only 1 to 2 percent of the population of depressed patients is getting proper treatment. He further claims that we should be “terrified” (22) by them and purposes the role that society needs to take in order to reduce the occurrence of depression in the population. He uses repetition, once again, to cry out to society, just as he did to depressive patients. “ We must look for faith in anything”, “We must practice the business of love”, “We must hold out against violence,” (22) are a few of the recommendations Solomon to society.  What Solomon proposes will best treat depression will come from efforts made by the depressive patient, society, and pharmaceutical science in combination. 

            Solomon dedicates the last few pages to tell the story of Phaly Nuon, a Cambodian woman that lived through horrific consequences of the Pol Pot Revolution. The details shared by Nuon of physical and sexual abuse endured by her family and herself is sure to capture any reserved emotions from the reader. Following the traumatic details of Nuon’s experience, Solomon includes the details of how Phaly Nuon has recovered from the experience and what she does to help other Cambodian women to overcome their depression. Once again, the reader learns of how depression can be successfully treated with compassion and friendship. For Phaly Nuon, overcoming depression is about practicing ‘forgetting, working , and loving’ (28), a treatment that is similar to the rebuilding process that Solomon advocates (19-20) as what must be practiced by those taking Prozac, a drug prescribed to treat depression.

            “Depression” increases the reader’s understanding of mental disease through the personal accounts given by Solomon and Phaly Nuon. This first chapter includes the use of metaphors, analogies, repetition, and other rhetorical strategies in order to gain the reader’s empathy from the start of the novel. Solomon will likely depend on the use of metaphors and analogy throughout the novel. 

Works Cited

“Andrew Solomon.” The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression. n.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb.                          2012

Solomon, Andrew. The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression. New York: Simon &                                Schuster, 2001. Print.