The human mind is one of the greatest enigmas that exists on our planet, we are constantly amazed by what it is capable of, whether is be for better or for worse. Creativity has always been seen by our society as a positive personal attribute and it is encouraged that everyone experiments with the potential of their minds to see what they are capable of and what the enjoy. While it is important to test the potential of our minds and our creativity, it can become detrimental to ourselves in some ways if not managed properly. One of the many joys that humans have the right and the ability to experience is to let our minds wander and imagine various parallel realities without having to pay a single dollar, but if we get too wrapped up in these …show more content…
Obviously, the deterioration of the self-awareness of the man in “The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury” would be a result of involuntary separation, but we can still observe and try to understand the consequences it has. I am speaking from experience when I say that Alzheimer’s is a nasty, spirit-crushing disease that no one should have the misfortune to experience. My grandfather recently passed away suffering from this condition, and I must say that Neil Gaiman’s description of it is insightful and accurate, the tragedy my family when through witnessing my grandfather’s decline of self-awareness is perfectly illustrated by Gaiman’s first-person approach to expressing the individual’s difficulty remembering words and people. “I mean of course, the man I am thinking of. I can see him in my head when I close my eyes’ … ‘I am sorry. I lost something there. Like a path I was walking that dead-ended, and now I am alone and lost in the forest, and I am here and I do not know where here is anymore.” (Gaiman, 2013). As mentioned in the story, the man is unable to remember many of the words and names that he has learned over time, but he has not forgotten concepts, he just has to describe them to himself in order to remember and we can sense his growing frustration in doing so. I saw the same thing happen with my grandfather, I knew his memory was still there, but it was just so hard for him to recall it easily and it was heartbreaking to