You Love Me Now Let Me Die By Louis Proeta Analysis

The phrase “quality over quantity” is often used to describe many scenarios in life. When it comes to life itself, many define a good life by the amount of years lived instead of the amount of times one encountered happiness. Louis Profeta, an emergency physician, argues that it is ethically wrong to prolong a dying patient’s life trapped in a hospital bed rather than allowing the patient to feel free in a familiar setting in his article “I Know You Love Me – Now Let Me Die”. Profeta invites his readers to feel a sense of responsibility for their loved ones through his use of second person point of view. In the beginning of the article, Profeta uses a transition from a patient’s scenario of “familiar sounds, [room, and smells]” to “[y]ou see, that’s how she (the patient) used to die” (Profeta).

The use of “you” draws the audience’s attention and sets guilt on the audience to feel responsible for their choices. Additionally, the patient’s life before being ill is described with a nostalgic tone in every aspect of her life and how much she felt “enriched” and “happy” before doctors are “pounding on [her] chest, breaking [her] ribs, burrowing large IV lines into burned-out veins and plunging tubes into swollen bleeding airways” (Profeta). Profeta then repeats the phrase “you see” as a transition from the patient’s life story to invite his readers to envision a sense of responsibility for their loved ones the ethical way. Furthermore, because “you” is not used often, it elevates the reader in an accusing tone subtly, but not to the point where a reader may feel directly