Analysis Of Paul Kalanithi's When Breath Becomes Air

Throughout part two of When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi is forced to start to accept his disease and what it is doing to him not only physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. Paul has gone his whole life working for what he thought would be the best part of his life: finally finishing residency as a neurosurgeon, to move on and become a professor of neuroscience. However, his diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer made this goal seemingly unreachable. Paul now has to accept the fact that there is a very high chance of him not making it out of this journey with his crippling disease. Paul talks a lot about mortal responsibility, this being the commitment to understanding that he will someday die. Although he knows that he will die one day, his diagnosis amplifies it greatly, making him doubtful that he will live enough years to accomplish all that he has hoped for in his career.
Instead of being the pastoral figure aiding a life transition, I found myself the sheep, lost and confused” (Kalanithi 120). Because Paul has worked so closely to death, seeing patients live their life for it only to be taken from them in an instant, he is more aware of the hardships that are going to come with his disease. I think, relating to Paul’s core question, “What is the meaning to a virtuous life?”, Paul finds meaning in the close relationships he has with not only his work, but his marriage and all him and Lucy have managed to accomplish thus far. Paul sees his profession not as a job, but a