54 pages • 1 hour read

Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I've Loved

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2018

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Preface-Chapter 3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-Appendices

Key Figures

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Literary Devices

The First-Person Narrator

Bowler writes her memoir from the first-person point of view. In memoir writing, the protagonist/writer typically makes themselves vulnerable through disclosure, which may make readers identify with them. Bowler tells the story of how she, a relatively young patient full of vitality, has been diagnosed with a very likely terminal condition. The air of uncertainty builds from the moment of her diagnosis and expands through the end of the narrative.

Sarcasm and Satire

Though she is a professor, researcher, and disciplined author of historical works, Bowler’s style in the memoir is personal and emotional. She uses humor in numerous passages to satirize foolish, unprofessional, or disengaged individuals. For example, she describes the comments of two doctors who mistakenly diagnose the weakness in her arms as the result of being a woman with large breasts who practices too much yoga. As she leaves the pointless appointment, she hears one of the physicians remark about how many yoga patients they had diagnosed that week. The problem, she notes, is that she scarcely practices yoga and does not have large breasts.

Other satiric elements are more subtle. For instance, she portrays prosperity adherents and medical doctors as being equally certain about their beliefs while at the same time being quite often incorrect and unhelpful. At times, Bowler becomes biting when overwhelmed with the absurdity of what people say to her. Of those occasions when laypeople offer some new treatment protocol, Bowler writes:

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I thought I should listen to my oncologist and my nutritionist and my team of specialists, but it turns out that I should be listening to you. Yes, please, tell me more about the medical secrets that only one flaxseed provider in Orlando knows. Wait, let me get my pen (171).

Juxtaposition

Throughout the narrative, Bowler often juxtaposes two distinct ideas and enumerates their strengths or weaknesses. The most frequent example of this is the way she compares the theology and practices of the Canadian Mennonites to American prosperity believers. Since prosperity adherents see God as intent on providing abundance, they will always ask for more blessings and greater abundance. Failure to seek more implies turning one’s back on the God of material gifts. The Mennonites, on the other hand, perceive a life of simplicity to be the truly godly life.

In the final pages, Bowler wrestles with how far ahead chronologically she should plan her life. Though she acquires a real ability to live in the present, she recognizes that her illness might claim her life rapidly at some point and wants to be prepared. She compares the notion of living day-to-day to making distinct plans for a set future point, which has been her lifelong practice and comes naturally to her. This contrast—between future planning and living day-to-day—is her most personal. As she discusses the possibilities, she remembers the wisdom shared with her following her diagnosis: Focus on the day before you and “don’t skip to the end” in your planning, because things never work out the way you expect (161).