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Delusions In The Terminal Man

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The Terminal Man, a novel written by Michael Crichton, is a science-fiction novel which focuses on neuroscience (the scientific study of the nervous system). The novel mainly focuses on a man named Harold (Harry) Franklin Benson. Benson, a thirty-four-year-old computer scientist, suffers from what Crichton describes as "thought seizures"(which are violent blackouts) and is diagnosed with psychomotor epilepsy. Psychomotor epilepsy is a seizure disorder produced by abnormal electrical discharges in the temporal lobe, which is Benson's case was caused by a car crash he was involved in. Benson believes that, "...ultimately machines will take over the world"(Crichton 17). His strange belief is referred to as a personality disorder. In the story, …show more content…

Since Benson suffers from the delusion that machines are trying to take over the world, his narration of the novel would be inhibited. Benson's delusion ends up progressing into another delusion which is that his psychiatrist and the doctors at the hospital gave him the surgery in order to turn him into a machine. Harry says to Dr. Ross after he escaped the hospital, "'You're trying to make me into a machine,'…'You all are. I'm fighting you.'"(Crichton 200). The delusions he suffers may take some clarity away from readers because that is what Benson would focus on mainly as he narrates. Another reason Benson's narration may inhibit the plotline from being palpable to the audience is that Benson lacks knowledge in the realm of medicine and psychology. Throughout the novel there is dialogue from both Dr. Ross, Benson's psychiatrist, and Dr. Ellis, the man who performed Benson's surgery. Even though Benson is an intelligent man, he may not understand some of the information, especially that of which is related to his delusions, and that may misconstrue what is actually happening. In summation, the clarity of The Terminal Man could be damaged if Harry Benson narrated the novel because he would very likely focus on his delusions and lack in giving proper understanding of his operation and disorders to

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