Susan Sontag wrote a famous book, ILLNESS AS A METAPHOR. But isn't the title - almost ironic? it's about "illness as a metaphor" but she knew damn well that ilness is REAL, it's not just a "metaphor' whether regarding her own cancer, or regarding AIDS. It's quite a title, I think.
##
Yes, the title Illness as Metaphor is indeed striking in its complexity, and you're right to point out the irony. Susan Sontag's central thesis is that illness, particularly diseases like cancer and tuberculosis (and later AIDS in her follow-up AIDS and Its Metaphors), has often been burdened with layers of metaphor that distort how we understand and treat the afflicted. While illness is undeniably real, her critique is aimed at how society overlays these physical realities with symbolic, moral, or psychological meanings that often stigmatize the sick.
The title seems to play with that tension. Illness is, of course, something tangible, with very real consequences for the body. But the metaphorical framework society uses to talk about it—associating disease with weakness, punishment, or even a kind of mystical purification—can sometimes overshadow the actual physical experience. Sontag was trying to dismantle those metaphorical layers, arguing that illness should be understood as a medical condition rather than as a symbol or metaphor for something larger.
It’s a powerful title because it gestures toward both the reality of illness and the absurdity or harm of the metaphors that get attached to it.
