How breast cancer changed Kobayashi’s perspectives on life and how the society has influenced on her perspectives about the disease? Introduction

Breast cancer ranks among the top most common types of cancers among women all around the globe. In addition to being a dreaded disease, cancer, in general, attracts very culturally biased opinions. As a result, those who are diagnosed with cancer are ‘forced’ to manage the disease in silence, and in the most conservatives communities – cancer patients are secluded from the community and isolated even by family members (Bhatti, Salek & Finlay, 2011). In Japan, breast cancer is among the most common cancers among women and statistic show that breast cancer incidences are only increasing with time. Statistics show that more than 40000 women in Japan are diagnosed with breast cancer annually. Japan being a largely conservative society, there is a ‘fear’ of cancer and a stigma attached to cancer patients (Daher, 2012; Matsuyama et al., 2007). As a result, cancer patients are forced to keep the news to themselves, to family, and/or close friends. However, some cancer patients often defy the trend and break the silence to announce that they are suffering from breast cancer. One of these was Mao Kobayashi. Kobayashi was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 34 years. She was a news anchor living in a conservative view of cancer, but she made the decision to break away from the tradition and announce that she had cancer through a blog. This research paper discusses how the disease changed her perspectives on life and how the society has influenced on her perspectives about the disease. The research is done through rhetorical analysis methodology.

Data analysis

Rhetorical analysis is the methodology used for data analysis in this paper. In particular, narrative criticism is the type of rhetorical analysis used. This method is used for analysis of stories, narrative, and tales with the objective of determining whether the message that the narrator seeks to pass has been effectively passed. Through this methodology, it is possible to analyze the narrative by Kobayashi as she broke the silence on her being a cancer patient.

Main focused rhetoric

i. The family rhetoric – is used dominantly in the narrative. Either directly or through the implication of family and family members – husband and children – the family rhetoric has been used dominantly in the narrative for various reasons. The family rhetoric has been used by the narrator as a source of concern on the aftermath, as a source of support, and as a source of pity not only for the period of her sickness but also after her death. To amplify the use of the family rhetoric, the narrator goes ahead to bring into the picture her age, the age of her children, and a lonely man strangling during the disease and after the death of the narrator.

ii. The threat rhetoric – is generated passively in the narrative through the depiction of breast cancer and the negative effects it has as a threat to the narrators family and her previously-normal self. Threat and fear form a primary part of this narrative as it could be regarded to be the major driver for the entire narrative. The threat rhetoric comes on early in the narrative as the narrator shows fear of what would become of her family as a result of being diagnosed with level 4 cancers, which in this case is meant to indicate the assured possibility of death. As a result of this fear, the patient opts to hide the ‘bad’ news that she has been diagnosed with cancer. This fear is further augmented by the nature of her job. Further down the line, the patient seeks to come out of the shadow of the disease to a ‘normal’ life, but this is hidden by the threat and fear of un-normal. The threat, therefore, plays a crucial role in not only connecting with the audience but also in the real-life progression of events in the narrative.

iii. The ‘un-normal’ rhetoric – this aspect of the narrative has been used in the narrative to form a counter-argument to what would be the normal – life without cancer. The un-normal life and lifestyle as a result cancer of cancer as per the narrator have caused a shift in lifestyle from the normal to an un-normal. This un-normal rhetoric has been used to create a draw the reader into the narrative with the objective...

These elements are very important for the success of the narrative in that they help to carry the reader all through the narrative.
Definition of focused rhetoric

i. The family rhetoric

The family has been given special attention to play a role as a unit in the healthcare and medicine field. The family has often been placed prominently than the individual patient, a fundamental system in the delivery of health. The family has been used not only as a special system for the direct delivery of health care but also as a major factor in the healthcare environment (Nelson & Nelson, 2014). As a result, and with special attention to the chronic diseases, the family has been integrated into the care procedure. In this case, the family has been brought into the picture in various ways. First, the narrator who is also the cancer patient, bring in the family at the very start of the narration as if to say – “this is all about my family and not me.” Secondly, the narrator paints a picture of her as being part of a family and essential in continuing the family concept. Thirdly, the narrator brings in the family as a source of support and shield against the wild world, especially concerning the effects of her coming out to the public with the cancer news. Lastly, the family has been used by the narrator to create a sense of achievement, when all else seem to wither away as a result of the breast cancer disease.

The first instance where the family rhetoric comes into the narrative is when the narrator talks about her being diagnosed with breast cancer. This is in the second sentence of the narrative where she writes “my daughter was three, my son was only one.” the use of the family rhetoric, in this case, serves to inform the reader that there are children involved, and with the clear understanding the level 4 cancer is a death sentence, this serves to attract pity from the reader. It is important to note that, even though the narrator is married, there is no mention of the husband in this instance, possibly because a mention of a husband in this situation would dilute the intention of the section.

The family has also been used to bring out the fact that the patient is limited to performing her domestic motherly role, as was directed by her mother. The rhetorical use of the family in this instance is also done to elicit concern, pity, and empathy by the narrator. Almost in the same breath, she adds that she was hospitalized and thus “had to leave my children.” This way, she directs the reader to a specific limitation which would expectedly be painful to the reader. While “battling” with the breast cancer disease, she also expressly states some of the limitations that she has faced as a result of the disease “I couldn't cook for them or drop them off and pick them up at the kindergarten.” Even though she is faced with these meant-to-sound insurmountable challenges, she still states that she loves them, hence attracting a favorable admiration from the reader.

The family rhetoric is also employed when creating a picture of her death. It is important to note that, she even makes a direct quotation of how people would talk after she’s dead. This direct quotation creates credibility of the statement. Secondly, the direct quotation serves to detach the reader from the critics and ascribe to the narrator's opinion.

The family rhetoric, in this case, is undoubtedly successful as it creates the required emotions from the reader. In addition, the use of family rhetoric attracts pity, sympathy, and empathy from the reader, and these are vital for carrying the reader along and identify with the narrator's message.

ii. The threat rhetoric

The threat rhetoric has been used extensively in the narrative. This rhetoric has been implied as well as words used to establish fear within the reader, for example, she writes that she was “scared” of the fact that she had breast cancer. The threat to the reader creates emotions and feelings of concern on the fate of the narrator. The use of the threat rhetoric in this narrative would be linked to the fact that there is an aspect of fear that emergence with the mention of death. Breast cancer at level 4 is assuredly a death sentence which creates fear among the members of a conservative…