Illness As Metaphor In The Waters Of Thirst

This thesis analyzes the connotations of illnesses in Adam Mars-Jones’ 1993 novel The Waters of Thirst. Focusing on characters’, especially the protagonist William’s, physical and psychological sufferings from illnesses and the influences of illnesses on the construction of homosexuality, this thesis discusses the confined and disciplined body by medical discourse, the repressed and projected desires and troubled gender identity. With the help of Michel Foucault’s theories on the medicine and discipline, Malanie Klein’s concepts of projection and anxiety, Susan Sontag’s idea on illness as metaphors, this thesis reveals the ambivalence of medical discipline, analyzes the psychological mechanisms of counteracting the fear of death and diseases as a force contributing to the construction of homosexuality. This thesis concludes that the treatments for and connotations of diseases, especially fatal diseases, is a collective response to death and the fear of death. The purpose of this thesis is to clarify the connotations of diseases and its influences on the patients and the society, hoping to contribute to better understanding of the metaphorical meanings of diseases and the prevention of possible harms inflicted by those metaphors.