In completion of Survival of the Sickest, it becomes clear that the initial purpose revealed through the first few chapters is indeed the primary purpose of the book in its entirety. As previously mentioned in an earlier post, Dr. Sharon Moalem's goal in writing such a text is to change the way people view diseases and essentially eradicate the parochial views that correlate with such ideas. To do so, Moalem examines the causes of many common diseases (the latter part of the book dedicated to the diabetes and anemia), tracing their origins and consequently formulating probable reasons for their prevalence to this day. Such an idea that detrimental ailments could somehow prove to be helpful for survival requires an entire reversal of mindset for most individuals. This, in the truest sense, is Moalem's objective. In causing a reconsideration of ideas that many consider "obvious" Moalem extends his message to a further audience -- those outside the medical field.
The previous post identified appeals to logo, satirical humor and simple diction as Dr. Sharon Moalem's successful techniques in writing. However, after finishing the book, it became obvious that the actual art in writing factored into the success of the purpose. Examples of this "art" in language are seen in his use of repetition and isolation of paragraphs. Toward the end of the book, Moalem utilizes repetition of the phrase "we will know". In repeating this phrase, Moalem successfully gives strength to the meaning of the idea of knowledge. Knowledge is one of the primary motifs present in the book. It is used to facilitate the idea that knowledge is responsible for the outlook of life. In addition, his separation of his paragraph such as "this is true" at the end of his chapters adds emphasis and meaning to his ideals. In this way, Dr. Sharon Moalem's book was extremely successful in accomplishing his purpose.
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