Summary Of When Breath Becomes Air

When Breath Becomes Air Throughout Paul’s experience with cancer, he reveals to the reader how dealing with mortality and being a neurosurgeon shaped that experience. Through this book, Paul details how he tries to tackle the question of his own mortality. At first, Paul tried to tackle this question by reading as much literature as possible. This plan worked, and Paul was exposed to different viewpoints on life and death. There was only one problem, even with reading all of these philosophical texts, he was still looking for the good life. In response to this dilemma, Paul decided that becoming a neurosurgeon was his best bet an answering this question, since he would be dealing with patients who were on the cusp of death. As a neurosurgeon,
As a neurosurgeon, Paul was expected to give his patients their prognosis and possible treatments. The reason that Paul became a neurosurgeon was to find out the meaning of life. This is important because Paul had devoted a large chunk of his life to find out which life was worth living. At first, Paul stated that he wanted to be a writer, not a doctor. In fact, on page 19, Paul states that he wanted to be anything besides a doctor. It was only after he read a book form his old girlfriend that Paul decided to become a neurosurgeon, the book stated that the mind was a fiction of the brain, and Paul wanted to debunk that belief. Deontologically speaking, Paul saw it as his duty to find out what was a good life, and to live that good life. Further proof of this can be found when Paul had to choose between working on a research project, or working as a chef in the Stanford alumni camp. Instead of working on a highly valuable research project, Paul decided to work as a chef in the camp. Both of these choices represent the fundamental conflict in Paul’s life. On one hand, Paul could choose to be a doctor, and learn about mortality from terminally ill patients. On the other, Paul could explore different options for his life. Paul could become a writer, a teacher, or a professor, as he was trying to do later on. Instead, by being a physician, Paul could observe how death changed a person, and explore the vast responses a person would put up against it. Furthermore, after becoming a physician, Paul started to find the good life in treating the neurological disorders within a patient. However, Paul’s attitude soon changes when he is diagnosed with a rare form of lung