The Irony of Ugliness-“Textbook”
Selzer writes, "My hat is off to the photographer of this book, who chose misery for his subject in order to endear it... But what some think of as ugliness can become beauty to others- an ulcer, a dwarf, blood spreading on a pillow. An amputated leg retains something of the character of the one from whom it has been severed. Much as does the broken-off handle of a Greek amphora." The photographer regards ugliness to be beautiful based on how he captures imageries of sickness which would discomfort the squeamish individuals. For a photographer to capture all the images in the text, he should rise above squeamishness and consider the deteriorating bodies as beauty. Therefore, the perceptions of ugliness and beauty are absolutely subjective.
The Irony of “Loftiest Branch of Medicine”- “Letter to a Young Surgeon I”
Selzer writes, "So. You have chosen Surgery. Have you thought long and hard upon it? How necessary is the practice of Surgery to you? Would you die if you were not to do it? If you perceive Surgery as the loftiest branch of Medicine, remember that it is the one most vulnerable to injury and ignominy. It is not the privet hedge that is uprooted in a hurricane; it is the royal palm.” Some individuals pursue surgery for the prestige which is connoted in the adjective 'loftiest.'However, the field is not perfectly lofty considering that it exposes the practitioners to injuries and disgrace, especially when the surgeries become unsuccessful. Individuals ought to pursue the career out of passion and not for prestige because it has intrinsic limitations.
The Irony of Impoverished-“Textbook”
Selzer writes, “Let us look through the book together. A quick glance might lead you to think these folk impoverished. My God! You say, a squirrel in his packed nuttery has more than they. Well, perhaps. But to me they seem the freest humans on earth. For while they stand on the narrow ledge of physical torment, no one would try to jostle them from their perch to take their place.” Selzer ironically regards the individuals in the textbook, who are visibly suffering due to infirmities, free. Selzer would have pitied them due to the pain they are enduring. Nevertheless, Selzer recognizes that the end result of their suffering would be death which will rescue them from all pain and impoverishment. Accordingly, the certainty of their demise makes them ‘ freest.’
The Irony of 'Healing Art'- "Letter to a Young Surgeon I"
Selzer writes, “ You may as well be told right now that Surgery as a healing art is a passing phenomenon. It may already have seen its time of greatest glory. I should not be surprised to learn that news of this waning might give rise to some melancholy in one who is just now embarking on a career as a surgeon, for he will surely outlive his usefulness, to become master of a dead art." Surgery is not a prestigious as a young surgeon may perceive it. Advancements in medicine and technology have rendered some old surgical operations irrelevant. Selzer equates surgery to "a dead art" to underscore its reduced glory. Accordingly, surgeons are not guaranteed exaltation due to their career in the field of surgery is unceasingly evolving.
