Megan
Smith
Professor
Stephanie
RHE
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25
February 2012
Rhetorical Analysis of The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of
Depression
Andrew
Solomon, born in the 60’s, graduated magna cum laude from Yale University and
is now a writer on politics, culture, and psychology. He has written for The New York Times, The New Yorker,
and other publications on a range of subjects, including depression, which is the
basis of the first chapter of his novel, The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of
Depression (Wikipedia). In chapter one, Solomon dives into the pool of
depression, using his own life experiences to highlight the ways in which this
terribly sad disease can take over a person completely. He talks about his own
fight with depression and how he continues to deal with it taking over his day
to day life.
The
audience that Solomon intends to target with this piece is an older adult
group; however, those who have experienced depression are more likely to feel a
deeper connection to it. In his first chapter, “Depression,” his main argument
is not so clearly stated; it is buried throughout the 30 pages of the chapter
as a whole, which may pose as a difficulty for certain readers who are
expecting it to be simply stated in the first few paragraphs. Solomon does,
however, begin this chapter with an immense appeal to the emotions of the
reader. Starting the chapter off with such strong pathos allows the author to
pull his readers in from the beginning; thus, keeping them interested in what
he has to say in the following 29 pages of text.
As the chapter unfolds, Solomon’s main argument begins to
come together. Simply put, Solomon does not agree with how depression has
become defined in our world today. According to Solomon, popular culture,
science, and the pharmaceutical companies define depression as something much
more vague than it truly is, blindly deeming it a “single-effect illness” such
as diabetes. He argues throughout this chapter that such reductionist
explanations for this disease cannot begin to cover the vast complexity of what
depression truly is, which may result in incorrect treatment methods. In this
chapter, Solomon shows a wide-range of depression by examining it through
personal, scientific, and cultural terms.
It
seems as if Solomon disagrees with what popular culture and science believes
depression to be. He mentions how people in today’s society talk about
depression being a vague emotion; they attach it to something—a feeling or a
response—that is so incredibly vague, so much so that it degrades the emotion
itself. In reality, it is so much more complex than a “single-effect illness,”
as the pharmaceutical industry labels it. There are multiple ways in which
depression can be treated but it all depends on the individual and the severity
of their depression. “Depression is not the consequence of a reduced level of
anything we can now measure” (10). Solomon
concludes his argument against science and the pharmaceutical companies definition
of depression by pointing out the differences between diabetes and depression.
Finding that “this serotonin thing is part of modern neuromythology” and is a
potent set of stories (McDowell 10).
Solomon rails against the use of terms such as
“chemical” in discussions of causation of depression. Although he does
recognize the potential of chemical manipulation to possibly reveal a way to
locate, control, and eliminate depression, he states that such a reductionist
terminology like the term “chemistry” is meaningless (30). Because of this,
Solomon points out that “the language of science used in training doctors and,
increasingly, in nonacademic writing and conversation, is strangely perverse”
(9). He also argues by pointing out the fallacies in the use of mathematical
formulas to measure the severity of depression. He shows the reader that this
theory cannot possibly be accurate when something so nebulous as mood is being
measured (9). An individuals’ mood changes from hour to hour, sometimes even
more often than that. Depression, on the other hand, is much more of a
constant. It is this constant emotion, this constant feeling of not being able
to catch a breath. How does one go about defining that? Science is trying to define depression
as something less than it is, teaching people that it is not something to be
taken so seriously. But Solomon says there is much more going on. He emphasizes the importance of the need to view
depression as a human condition that affects the mind as well as the brain and
everything external has an affect on the internal.
The
authors’ ethos is strengthened automatically due to his first-hand experience
with depression. His own statement, “Depression is a condition that is almost
unimaginable to anyone who has not known it” given near the end of the chapter,
is a reminder to the reader of the credibility of his piece (18). Solomon may
not have a lot of evidence (or really any at all), but the fact that he has
been through such hard times gives him enough credibility. Because his audience
is not something of an elite group of doctors, it just works; he doesn’t need
evidence. He just needs emotion. And he has plenty of that, and he expresses it
so specifically and knows how to relate to others who have experienced or are
experiencing the same things.
Solomon
uses a handful of metaphors and analogies that help strengthen his piece. For
example, he uses the metaphor of a vine taking over an oak tree; the vines
represent the depression that takes over his own body. He says, “My depression
had grown on me as the vine had conquered the oak” (5). He then goes on to
explain how it wraps itself around him, more alive than he himself. This
vine—this depression—has a life of its own. The use of the vine and tree as a
metaphor for major depression was a critical part of Solomon’s rhetorical
strategy. This chapter may have been, in a large part, composed of Solomon’s
own opinions and experiences; however, he strengthens his argument by bringing
in quotes from certain authoritative figures. Solomon is not himself a
scientist or psychologist; his opinions, although emotionally appealing, lack
something substantial. However, by bringing in these credible sources, he
indirectly proves his own opinion and in turn strengthens his argument in the eyes
of the reader.
Another
rhetorical strategy used by Solomon is this: First, at the beginning of each
paragraph, he states a claim, and he then goes on to give reasons why this
statement is in fact, true. For example, Solomon claims that the diagnosis of
depression is as complex as the illness itself. The reader automatically is
drawn to wonder how, then, do we define depression? Solomon shows that the
DSM-IV “ineptly defines depression as the presence of five or more on a list of
nine symptoms” (7). Solomon pokes holes in that argument, showing how arbitrary
this definition is and proves that “the only way to find out whether you’re
depressed is to listen to and watch yourself, to feel your feelings and then
think about them” (7). He further strengthens the credibility of his character
by bringing in examples of depression from certain geographical cultures. In
this first chapter, he describes his experience with the Cambodian women who
survived the horrible tragedies of the Khmer Rouge and uses their treatment of
depression to further strengthen his credibility as a writer through pathos
once again.
“Welcome this pain,” Ovid once wrote, “for you will learn
from it” (30). Solomon believes depression is a necessity of life and the
sadness and pain that accompanies it has a purpose larger than the intense,
oftentimes unbearable emotions it produces. As much as human beings hate the
thought of pain and suffering--especially going through it alone as in the case
of depression--there is an upside to it all. It is what we eventually learn
from the process. “I would live forever in the haze of sorrow rather than give
up the capacity for pain” (30). Solomon doesn’t want to find a cure to
eliminate the brain’s circuitry of suffering, because without suffering he would
not know happiness. Through his detailed and vivid writing, Solomon has
effectively described depression in a way that could not be found in a science
or medical text book. With his metaphors and first-hand experience, his readers
come to develop a sense of hope. He has shown that although depression is
inevitable and in some cases everlasting, it is bearable, and along with
medication and time it is something we can live with. Once a person is able to
accept what life throws at them and can adopt the attitude that “even when it
rains, the sun will eventually shine again,” life will not seem so bad after
all.
Works Cited
Solomon,
Andrew. "Andrew Solomon." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 26
Feb. 2012. Web.
27 Feb. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Solomon>.
Solomon,
Andrew. "Depression." The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression.
New York:
Scribner,
2001. 1-30. Print.
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