The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Essay Example

The patient described in “The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat” is able to see and analyze parts of pictures, but cannot make a connection between shapes and objects. He mistakes his wife’s head for a hat, still, he is able to hear the slightest tune in everyday life. He is too focused on the sounds that his visual part of brain is under-developed, to help his hearing be as enhanced as it is. Many people suffer from similar – even though not that disturbing – problems. Many are unable to see the “big picture”, and pay attention to some things, while being completely incapable of recognizing connections in other aspects of life. Dr P’s sense of hearing is over-developed, allowing him to be an excellent music teacher, but he pays a price for this talent. He cannot recognize people, enjoy a movie, or make a distinction between one human face and another. As the author writes: he is “lost in a world of lifeless abstractions”. He constructs the world from details and features, instead of seeing the “whole”.

Being Dr P. would be challenging for me, as my social relationships would be affected by my limitations to see the entire world as it is. I would notice little things that others do not see on an image, and it would distract me in every day life. My wife would have a hard time showing me a landscape, and I would definitely not be able to drive a car on my own. I would possibly recognize a car in front of me, but might not know that the image shown in the mirrors relates to the traffic behind. I would see more of the things that are placed on the left, and nothing of the things on the right. People who would like to converse with me would need to stand on the left all the time. Still, my self-identity would be complete, by knowing my limitations. I would be glad to accept some handicaps in exchange for being able to enjoy and reproduce music the way I want. Having compromised, I would not be content, but accept the situation. I am different from other people, but everybody has challenges in life.

My main challenges would be related to recognizing people, objects, and making connection between shape and the purpose. However, I would be compensated for this mental disability with enhanced musicality. I would sing to myself to help focusing on things and directions. Music is the only way I can see more of the world. Judgment and identity are casualties of the brain dysfunction (as later revealed tumor), but enhanced musical sense is intact.  I still have the music to live for.

My unique challenges would be that I cannot recognize faces, and this affects my social life. Without hearing a person’s voice, I could not recognize them. I would love to go back to painting, but my new paintings do not make sense for others. I deconstruct the world (my brain does), and this deconstruction makes me unable to recognize connection and settings. I would love to enjoy a landscape, a painting, or a sunset. The stars for me are only geometrical forms, as I cannot judge them. I can see their color, light, and shape, but can no longer make sense of them. In this sense, I am impaired, but music helps me get through all the challenges I face, that is why I created a musical world at home, and in the classroom.

Works Cited

Sacks, O. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. 2011. Print.