An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks The Last Hippie - Essay Example

? Contextualizing a life is not an easy task. To contextualize a life, all elements must be taken into account, including the individual's history, circumstances, personality and lifestyle. The process can help to illustrate some things about the individual which may not have otherwise been obvious, and can show a reader how important extenuating circumstances are in defining an individual. The purpose of this paper is to contextualize the life of “The Last Hippie”, a patient described by neurologist Oliver Sacks in the book An Anthropologist on Mars. By contextualizing the life of Greg, the last hippie, further information about his life and his condition become more evident and the reader becomes more aware of how Greg can be classified as the last hippie and why. The paper will cover elements of Greg's condition and how it has influenced his lifestyle and how it may affect his future. It will cover the neurology and psychology of Greg's memory loss and how it comes to be that Oliver Sacks classes him as such an important case. The Story of the Last Hippie “The Last Hippie” refers to a man known by the name Greg F., who participated in many of the things associated with the 1960s, including the use of drugs to achieve higher consciousness and political activism. In this way, Greg can be said to have been a typical 1960s teenager, experimenting with counter culture and many things that had been unavailable or undesirable to previous generations. Oliver Sacks suggests that Greg enjoyed the music of the 1960s, attending concerts by the Grateful Dead and other such typical musical bands at the time. It was during this phase that Greg became interested in religion, and decided to attend a Hare Krishna temple and eventually became a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. It was here that some of Greg's neurological symptoms became evident, although the members of the temple interpreted these as signs that Greg was a particularly holy member of the congregation, dedicated to meditation and Krishna. Greg was defined by those at the temple for his lack of 'worldly concern' and his freedom from desire, both physically and materially. These are two important things to the Hare Krishna community and many of those who are involved in the work of the temple strive for many years to achieve this state. In the case of Greg, he began to develop these traits almost immediately after joining. He also became known for his 'transcendent smile', something which was reminiscent of the very holiest people within the Hare Krishna community. After being a member of the temple for some time, Greg became revered and admired. Greg even began to go blind, and his eventual total blindness was seen by the community as further evidence of his holiness and his full and true participation in the community and its ways. Whilst the Hare Krishna community was in full admiration of this Buddha-like character, there were those who were wary and even concerned for Greg's health. His parents had been watching his progress within the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and noticed the differences in their son. Whilst they were pleased that their son had stopped using drugs to achieve higher states of consciousness, and pleased that he seemed to have found his place in the world, they were concerned that his state was evidence of something more sinister. They were also concerned that all communication from the New Orleans temple had stopped, and they were no longer in continuous contact with their son. His eventual blindness was the straw that broke the camel's back, and they decided to contact the health authorities and Oliver Sacks to see if there was anything lurking behind the 'transcendent smile' that their son had adopted permanently. They were right in their concern, as it turned out that Greg had a massive brain tumour which had resulted in all the symptoms that the Hare Krishna community mistook for holiness. Greg's Disorder & Future After this intervention from Greg's parents, it is discovered that Greg has a grapefruit-sized tumour in his brain. The tumour was only removed in 1976 after it had completely destroyed the memory area of the frontal lobe. After the removal of this tumour, it is evident that he has anterograde amnesia, a condition that prevents the formation of new memories after a significant trauma. The effect that this has on Greg is that he is unable to remember anything since the 1960s, which is why Sacks dubbed him 'The Last Hippie'. Greg is surprised when the date is revealed to him, as he is stuck in the age of the Grateful Dead and political activism. This has devastating effects, as he is often confused by the effects of his illness and is shocked when people suggest that he may be blind, which he is. Sacks continued to question Greg about current events and it became clear that 1970 was the final year in which Greg's memory was fully functional. Sacks suggests here that Greg's 'memory, his development, his inner life since then had come to a stop'. Greg was unable to remember even simple lists of words that had been given to him a minute before, but his memory of the 1960s was as clear as ever. When Sacks asked him to repeat back a simple story, Greg would tell the story back in a confused manner, often elaborating on or completely changing the story in a bizarre manner. Something that still seemed to remain within Greg, though, was his love of music and his memory of the Grateful Dead and the other bands that he had so admired before his admittance to the Hare Krishna temple. Oliver Sacks is well-known for his interest in using music as a therapy, and he thought that this might be one of the more effective ways of trying to 'reach' out to Greg and try to form some sort of solid long-term memory. One of the things that Greg maintained the ability to do after his anterograde amnesia was remember short verses and rhymes, and this is because his brain showed significant activity when studied by EEG in the presence of music or rhyme. During the later stages of Greg's illness, Sacks takes him to a Grateful Dead concert which was both a confusing and illuminating time. Greg recognized, of course, all the songs that the Grateful Dead played from the 1960s, but the second half of the concert was almost exclusively dedicated to the newer music from the band. One of the most interesting things about this experience is that the following day, Greg had absolutely no memory of the concert, and believed he had seen the Dead only once, back in the 1960s. The new music, however, stayed with him and he was able to recognize the songs without knowing quite where he had heard them. Conclusion The case of 'The Last Hippie' is perhaps one of Sack's most interesting, as it seems unlikely to many that memory could be 'stopped' or frozen in time as that of Greg F. It also illustrates how music can sometimes transcend mental illness, something that Sacks himself is very fond of exploring. In the end, it is interesting to contextualize the life of Greg because the context of his life was perceived very differently by Greg himself to those around him. Greg's personal context is that of the 1960s, of a healthy seeing man, but those working with him understand him to be in a different decade and a different state of health. This information adds added depth to the story of Greg, who has sadly passed away since this story was written. Read More