"On Warts" written by Lewis Thomas is taken from his book The Medusa and the Snail: More Notes of a Biology Watcher. In this essay, Thomas sets forth what scientists know about warts, and speculating about both causes and effects, he probes the unsolved mysteries of these odd growths. Warts can be cured, but what no one really understands is exactly how the cure works. Is it by science or by magic?
Summary of the essay On Warts written by Lewis Thomas
The essayist
says that while viewing warts, we find a wonderful structure in them. They
appear on human skin like mushrooms. They seem to have an impenetrable horn.
According to the writer, warts are both useful and important. As it turns out,
the many cells of a wart elaborate reproductive tools of a virus.
The very
strange thing about warts is that they appear on skin but later as they vanish,
they do not leave any traces. So, for the writer, it is more surprising than
cloning, DNA, or acupuncture. According to the writer, warts go away by
thinking or hypnosis. Warts are an interesting virus that can appear on our
skin.
The writer
discusses the fact that warts can be removed efficiently and effectively by
hypnosis. The writer states in the article that the unconscious mind can figure
out how to manipulate the warts virus. He means that the unconscious mind is
powerful in the sense that if we give ourselves thought and listens to the
opinions of others on how to treat; it helps to get rid of warts. In the
treatment of warts, it is supposed that the healing response to hypnotic
suggestions causes to increase in immunity functions.
The writer
is a scientist however he keeps the faith in hypnotic suggestions to deal with
warts. He does not suggest any medicine or surgical task. However, his faith in
an unscientific cure makes him a scientist because the effects of hypnosis are
already verified by many people to deal with warts.
At last, he
mockingly ends his article by saying that we should wage war against warts.
Frequently asked questions [On Warts]
1. What causes warts? What is it that makes them go away?
Ans: Wart virus causes warts. According to the writer,
hypnotic suggestion makes them go away.
2. What does the expression "warts and all" (18) usually
mean? What other well-known, more official phrases are parodied in the last
sentence? ("warts and all”)
Ans: Warts and all means that they appear on the skin. He
parodies warts telling us to wage war against warts.
3. What is the main purpose of the essay? How well is that purpose
accomplished?
Ans: The main purpose of the essay is to instruct how to
cure warts. I think that his purpose is well accomplished.
4. Which of Thomas's statements do
you find surprising or whimsical? Which seems exaggerated? Do such statements
detract us from the essay? Explain.
Ans: Thomas states that warts can be cured by thinking
and rethinking them surprises me much. Similarly, for him, the removal of warts
from the skin surprises him more than DNA, endorphin, or acupuncture. These
ideas, I found more exaggerated.
5. Why is the essay written in the first person? Does the essay
gain by the use of the first person?
Ans: The
essay is written in the first person to express the writer's faith in hypnosis
to cure warts.
6. Does the essay address scientists or a more general audience?
Cite evidence for your answer.
Ans: The essay addresses a more general audience because
he calls all to fight against warts. So he writes at the end of the essay,
"It would be worth a war on warts"
7. Thomas says that warts appear on the skin "like mushrooms
on a damp lawn"(1). List other figures of speech from the essay and
explain what each contributes.
Ans: The writer has used smile, metaphor, and
personification. He personifies warts with human enemies and calls us to wage
war against them. He metaphorically compares the structure of a wart with
animal horns. Like a smile, he writes, "They sit there like turreted
mounds."
8. What is the writer's tone or attitude toward his subject? By
what means does he reveal his attitude?
Ans: The writer's tone or attitude is positive and
optimistic because he is so sure to cure the wards by hypnotic suggestion.
9. Discuss the role of the power of suggestion in curing warts.
Ans: According to the writer, hypnotic suggestions can
cure warts. He has been trying to figure out the nature of the instruction
issued by the unconscious mind. Whatever that is under hypnosis it seems to him
hardly enough for the mind to say, simply get off eliminate ourselves, without
providing something in the way of specification as to how to go about it. In
hypnosis, the mind would accomplish this with precision by cutting off the blood
supply to one wart while leaving the other intact.
10. Briefly discuss a miracle cure or faith-healing by drawing on
your experience.
Ans: It was
January 18, 2021. The day, I got the Covid virus. My mother did not want to
admit me to the hospital thinking that in Teku, there was overcrowded. She told
me that the Coronavirus is like seasonal flu so if I stayed at home with
complete relaxation, I would be cured. She added to me that if I took herbs
like garlic and turmeric, I would be recovered. I followed her ideas and got
rid of Coronavirus.
11. Briefly tell what causes the common cold, and give reasons why
there is no cure for it, or if there is any way you can get rid of it.
Ans: The
common cold is a viral infection of our nose and throat (upper respiratory
tract). It's usually harmless, although it might not feel that way. Many types
of viruses can cause a common cold. Healthy adults can expect to have two or
three colds each year. Infants and young children may have even more frequent
colds. It is a seasonal cold so when the season goes on changing, it will
automatically cure.