Protagonists with Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Parkinson's disease is a complex disorder with many fascinating features. Its onset is creeping, the progression is slow but inevitable. There are motor symptoms, such as a tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, mask-like facial expression, and postural abnormalities, but also hallucinations, cognitive deterioration, and depression. In many novels, fictive patients with Parkinson's disease play a role. It seems that authors have used many aspects of the disease to emphasize their messages. Their narratives include themes such as rigidity, petrifaction, confusion, dementia, and hallucinations. In this chapter, as examples, several protagonists with Parkinson's disease will be described from works of John Updike, Jonathan Franzen, Sue Miller, J.M. Coetzee, and John Harding, among others.