An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales

Throughout the book, Sacks is interested in how neurological conditions challenge, complicate, augment, and alter our identities. Patients like Temple Grandin, Virgil, and Franco Magnani in particular view their conditions as innate parts of their identity, defining who they are, how they relate to others, and how they interact with the world around them. For each of them, their condition has given them the opportunity to bring their unique perspective to the world: Grandin’s autism allows her to better connect with animals and to create and design humane buildings and structures; Virgil thrives as a masseuse while living as a blind man; and Magnani’s artwork reflects his obsession with, and visceral memories of, Pontito. Consequently, when Virgil and Magnani’s conditions and circumstances change, it actually disrupts their identity and sense of self. A neurological (or, in Virgil’s case, physical) condition may therefore not be an inherently negative thing; in fact, for many, it is a source of self-knowledge.

Sacks’s methodology—purposefully visiting these patients outside of a doctor’s office or hospital—underscores this point by detaching their identities from the medical context in which they’re usually understood. As a physician, Sacks has been taught to view patients as people to analyze and “fix,” yet this is not always the way to help them live the best possible versions of their lives. Virgil is an example of this; regaining his eyesight actually undermines his sense of who he is. Arguably, the surgery that (temporarily) restored his vision might not have gone forward if the medical establishment tried, as Sacks does, to consider how Virgil viewed himself and his circumstances, as well as how he related to others as a blind man.

Each essay considers the intersection of illness and identity in some way, ultimately asking the reader to question where our identities come from and whether having an illness or disability is always a “bad” thing. This is equally true of more fluid situations in which a patient’s identity may change over time, adapting to circumstance as needed. Jonathan, for example, is full of despair when he first realizes he might have lost his ability to see color permanently, yet he eventually adjusts to the idea of being a color-blind painter. Much of his psychological pain originated in the potential loss of his identity as an artist, yet once he finds a way to harness his new relationship to color, he finds a way to identify as a painter that fits his new circumstances and feels true to him.

Although medicine is typically viewed as an objective and rigid discipline, Sacks chooses to approach this essay collection through the lens of a “neuroanthropologist.” This allows him the freedom to interact with patients not merely as a doctor, but as an anthropologist who can study their behavior, lifestyle, culture, values, and identity as they relate to their neurological makeup. By blending “soft” social sciences with “hard” medical science, Sacks’s goal is to show a more comprehensive portrait of these patients, whose lives and conditions cannot easily be captured by one clinical diagnosis.

This is a vital approach, particularly when studying patients like Magnani, whose memory has been affected by historical and cultural forces; World War II permanently altered his home village of Pontito, Italy. While this did not spark the changes in his memories that occurred years later, Magnani feels motivated to paint and fantasize about Pontito in order to preserve the remains of his childhood home. In order to understand what changed for Magnani and why this place matters to him, it is essential for Sacks to not only study his brain, but his life story as well; each has amplified the other. If Sacks were to treat Magnani in a clinical setting, it would be impossible to fully understand how Pontito factors into Magnani’s condition and sense of self. But by drawing on the idea of “neuroanthropology,” Sacks is able to incorporate Magnani’s art, his trip back to Italy, and other sociocultural factors into his understanding of the way his brain has adapted.

Virgil’s story also raises questions better suited to social science than neuroscience. While the question of how his brain and retinas have adapted to blindness is important, much of Virgil’s psychological pain stems from the ways in which regaining his sight affects his worldview, perspective, and relationships to others. These overwhelming changes, while medically “miraculous,” do not necessarily improve his quality of life. On a clinical level, Virgil’s cataract removal surgeries are an initial success, yet outside of a doctor’s office, Sacks can see the extent to which his transformation from blind to seeing has changed the way he relates to his loved ones and his career path as a massage therapist.