Illness and its Metaphors: Conceptualizing Cancer in Une mort très douce

This article analyses the role played by illness in Simone de Beauvoir's account of her mother's death from intestinal cancer in Une mort très douce. The article examines the physical realities of cancer from the moment of diagnosis through to the final stages of the illness, charting the pain and suffering of the patient as the body disintegrates. The article draws attention to the illness not only as a bodily experience but as one that has profound social implications. Using Susan Sontag's Illness as a Metaphor as a backdrop, the article considers the range of punitive myths that have become associated with cancer over time and their implications for the sufferer.