Physical illness
Snyder informs us about details of his illness in 2019, telling us how "bacteria [was] racing through [his] bloodstream," and how he couldn't move because his body was "attached to bags and tubes." This gruesome imagery illuminates and emphasizes the struggle of having a serious physical illness, and how important the healthcare system is for the wellbeing of American people.
Imagery of darkness
Snyder uses the imagery of darkness in order to explain how having a serious illness felt. This insinuates that Snyder felt uncertain, frightened, and lost during his illness, and struggled to retain a sense of optimism. For example, he describes how he felt a rage that gave him "a torch that ignited amidst kinds of darkness I hadn't before known."
The hospital journals
Snyder uses imagery to describe the state of his hospital journals, which inspired the writing of this book. He describes that the pages of his journals were "stained by saline, alcohol, and blood," which emphasizes how traumatic and terrible his stay in the hospital was.
