Mortality, in its simplest definition, means the state of being mortal or destined to die.
Heart disease and cancer are the leading cause of mortality in the United States for more than a
decade. The two conditions claim about 46 percent of all deaths in the country. The memoir was
published in 2012 and features seven essays and eight unfinished essays describing Hitchens’
struggles with esophageal cancer. Hitchens was diagnosed with the condition during his 2010
book tour, and the disease killed him a year later in 2011. Throughout his memoir, Hitchens
evaluates some of the experiences, thoughts, feelings, and expressions that take on new meaning
during his time with esophageal cancer. Two such reevaluations are of communication and
stages of death, as highlighted by Kübler-Ross. Hitchens explores the idea of communication by
showing us how important it the day his condition took away his voice. He also discusses all the
stages of death, one after another. Mortality by Christopher Hitchens
Mortality by Christopher Hitchens
Hitchens begins the memoir by recounting the events preceding his diagnosis. He says, “I
have more than once in my time woken up feeling like death. But nothing prepared me for the
early morning of June when I came to consciousness feeling as if I were actually shackled to my
own corpse”. Hitchens continues to say that "the whole cave of my chest and
thorax seemed to have been hallowed out and then refilled with slow-drying cement".
All this happened in a hotel in New York. This was a day after launching his book at a
successful event in New Haven. The reality of death becomes part of his daily
life, and he is a bit uncomfortable when his friends motivate him by narrating stories of people
who survived the disease. Eventually, Hitchens comes up with rules and says that every time
people ask him how he is doing, he would be honest or crack jokes about it. APA style