Unexpected Events in Life

When people face unexpected or undesirable events such as natural disaster and sudden illness, people tend to be disappointed and depressed with themselves and their lives. However, there are some who accept their unfortunate incident with calmness, courage, and positive mind. In these two essays, “Living with Fire” and “On Being a Cripple”, Alan Dean Foster and Nancy Mairs tell the audience that how these unexpected events have affected and changed their lives.

           In the essay, “Living with Fire”, Foster writes a very graphic description and imagery about the wildfire called the Doce fire, which burned 6,767 acres of land and lasted for two weeks, near his house in Prescott, Arizona. At first, Foster’s attitude toward the wildfire was shock and fear. However, with calmness and with the positive mindset, Foster got used to or became indifferent to the wildfires that occur almost weekly, as Foster says, “People living in proximity to disaster don’t shout; they just prepare in case it turns and comes for them.” Like Foster, Mairs also had an uncontrollable happening (multiple sclerosis) in her life. Mairs overcame her disability and other people’s perceptions of her by not rejecting the truth, but by facing it with confidence and courage, as she says, “I am not a disease. And a disease is not…going to determine who I am.”

           Although, it seems that these two essays have a similar theme, they are quite different in the deliverance of the theme and in their writing styles. Foster’s essay had the assertive tone of reluctantly accepting the natural disaster: “This is my home, and I’ll deal with Mother Nature’s dark side when and if it comes my way. As must we all.” Whereas, Mairs’s essay had a humorous tone of willingly accepting and overcoming the disabilities she has: “As a cripple, I swagger.” “…MS is simply a fact of my life…” Furthermore, Mairs writes that this unexpected event in her life, MS has taught her a great lesson and made her life richer and deeper. Mairs states, “I’m glad of what I have. It has opened and enriched my life enormously.”

In sum, both Foster and Mairs face their reality straightforwardly and adjust themselves. However, they have different attitude when responding to the unexpected events, which can be shown in their writing.