Metaphors are a part of our daily lives. It is a way to express complex ideas by connecting them to concepts more grounded in our reality. This form of expression is very powerful in that it can add depth and new meaning to certain words or phrases. It is for this same reason, however, that the use of metaphor can be very dangerous. Words such as “mythology” and “beast” can add negative connotations and create misconceptions about the way certain concepts or issues are perceived. This idea is explored in “Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors” by Susan Sontag, as well as seen in the short poem “Fear Is A Beast That Feeds Off Attention” by Lugeorgia. Both works illustrate the way metaphor is used and how it can change the fundamental meaning of a word and create new context around it.

Susan Sontag’s piece, “Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors” describes the way metaphor creates negative connotation around illnesses, and how these negative connotations make living with the disease that much harder for the patient. Sontag illustrates clearly how people have used metaphors to create narratives around certain diseases. One particular metaphor used in Sontag’s piece is the phrase “mythology of cancer.” Mythology is defined as the study of myths, and myths are “a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.” The use of the word mythology accomplishes the effect of distancing people from cancer by making grasping the idea of cancer seem out of reach. It also desensitizes people from cancer in that it makes it seem otherworldly, as it frames cancer as a myth. This metaphor creates a lack of understanding of cancer and is seen when, “ … scarcely a week passes without a new article announcing to some general public or other scientific link between cancer and painful feelings” (Sontag 50). This illustrates that people do not completely understand the disease. These articles do not offer any scientific proof to support their claims and only serve to bolster the mythology around cancer and make it all the more ambiguous to the uninformed public. This is seen when children see a post on social media saying, “STUDY SHOWS CHEWING STRAWS CAUSES CANCER.” This spreads false information to those who don’t possess enough knowledge to discern the truth for themselves. This creates the mythology of cancer. This lack of understanding is also evident when looking at the fact that “Nineteenth-century cancer patients were thought to get the disease as the result of hyperactivity and hyperintensity” (Sontag 52). The idea of associated cancer with such an ambiguous concept only lends itself to more people not truly understanding what cancer actually is. This information only adds to the aforementioned “myth” that is cancer and everything surrounding it, which includes the way patients are perceived. It is because of this lack of understanding that is also shed in such a negative light. When describing cancer, “The tumor has energy, not the patient; “it” is out of control” (Sontag 63). The personification of the tumor as a “thing” running rampant in the body is a result of the way cancer is viewed as a myth. Just as ancient cultures made up stories about gods and monsters and heroes to explain the unexplained, this idea of cancer serves to create a story about how cancer works. This story frames cancer as a monster, making it seem horrific and something people should run from, instead of seeking to truly understand it. In accomplishing this, it also makes the patient seem helpless and lifeless, like the tumor is sucking out the vitality of the patient, leaving only a corpse. 

Lugeorgia’s, “Fear Is A Beast That Feeds Off Attention” describes the metaphor, “Fear is a beast that feeds on attention.” This metaphor is used to say that fear only exists because we let it. We should ignore fear, because if we give it any attention, it will create more negative feelings

The use of the word “beast” frames fear to be an unwanted emotion, something we should stay away from. However, fear “feeding on attention” makes fear seem like it is a consuming force in one’s mind that only exists because you let it exist, which couldn’t be farther from the truth. The description of fear as a “beast” warps the fundamental meaning of fear. This is seen in the poem when the author says, “Fear is a beast that grows on tension, see it cause terror and woe.” The framing of fear as a beast that causes “terror and woe” creates a misconception of what fear actually is. Fear is a, “…feeling induced by perceived danger or threat that occurs in certain types of organisms, which causes a change in metabolic and organ functions and ultimately a change in behavior, such as fleeing, hiding, or freezing from perceived traumatic events.” Fear is essentially a defense mechanism designed to protect us from danger. Without fear, there would be nothing stopping us from placing out hand on a burning stove, or jumping into volcanoes. The basis that fear is a beast that causes terror is incorrect. Fear, instead, is our line of defense against terror. This metaphor changes the definition of fear into something that we should avoid at all costs, when in reality, it is one of the key reasons we survive in our daily lives. Painting fear as a beast causes people to misunderstand what fear truly does for us. This narrative around fear causes people to literally “fear their fear.” This is evident in Lugergia’s poem when she says, “Fear is a beast that tries with all might, to free itself from its cage.” The description of fear as a beast trying “to free itself from its cage” creates an idea that fear is something that should be contained and never expressed. This metaphor is dangerous because it generates the feeling that we should hold back our fear, which is akin to pushing away someone trying to help us. Fear help us, it isn’t something we should run from.  

Both pieces highlight different metaphors, however, both accomplish similar effects. Sontag’s “mythology of cancer” changes the perception of cancer in the eyes of the uninformed. This effect is also seen in Lugeorgia’s “fear is a beast that feeds on attention” metaphor. The framing of fear as a “beast” changes the definition of fear and people’s reaction to it. These metaphors make people fear the subjects being described. Lugeorgia says fear “… is a beast that expands on fright.” This illustrates the idea that fear is something to be scared of, indicated by the fact that it “expands on fright.” This language makes fear out to be a force that consumes, and feeds off of our emotions, growing in strength, as our stress increases. This use of fear as a monster or “beast” that feeds and consumes gives life to the concept of fear in the same way the word “mythology” gives life to cancer. The personification of the tumor having, “energy, not the patient; “it” is out of control.” This makes cancer seem like a living thing that saps the strength of those afflicted with it, in the same way fear “devours” those who feel it. This language illustrates cancer as a parasite, which is evident in Sontag’s piece when she describes cancer as a “demonic pregnancy.” This further exacerbates the stigma around cancer. This description causes people to run from cancer instead of seeking to understand it, in the same way describing fear as a “beast” turns people away from understanding their fear.  

The use of metaphors in both works provide insight into how dangerous language can truly be. It can mislead, and cause people to misinterpret the subjects metaphors try and explain. The way “mythology” is used to describe cancer creates ambiguity and misinformation around it. The description of fear as a “beast” changes the fundamental meaning of the word, instead of offering insight to what it truly is. 

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