Health

Zeno is a hypochondriac. Whenever he hears about someone else's disease, he feels obliged to develop some sickness himself and feels these pains just as truly as if they were cause by a real disease. This is in great contrast to most of the characters, who develop various real sicknesses, usually dying from them. Some of these sick characters will not admit they are sick. Others disobey doctor's orders and continue in the behavior that is killing them. Still others look cheerfully on their malady, doing what they can while they are still alive. One of them says, "Health doesn't analyze itself, nor does it look in the mirror. Only we sick people know something about ourselves." (163) Although Zeno focuses on physical health, he and several other characters are clearly suffering from mental illness.

There are many different doctors in the book, each representing a different attitude toward...