The internet is a den of compulsion. One of my current online compulsions is watching videos of the late Christopher Hitchens on YouTube. These usually involve him arguing incredibly articulately and passionately about various political and philosophical issues, most commonly atheism. I never tire of his oratorical flair and fierce intelligence, and though he may come across as smug and arrogant, he clearly wanted to change the world for the better.
In December 2011, Hitchens died of oesophageal cancer. Mortality is a collection of his final writings. It's a 'slim volume' and comprises thoughts about his illness and impending death that were intended to become a longer book on the subject. In the writing he is as staunchly rational and fearless as ever. There are no moments of desperation and certainly no suggestions of doubt as to his firm atheism, indeed this non-belief only becomes more firmly entrenched as he nears his end. He describes the letters and emails he receives from religious people, attempting to persuade him to repent; there was even a website where users could place bets on whether or not he would repent his atheism before the end. The possibility of a death-bed repentance for Hitchens only underlines that a god who would accept this kind of cowardly bet-hedging is 'cynical' and unworthy of his belief.
He describes his illness in great detail: the various treatments he underwent, some of them experimental and the resulting physical torments like the loss of his voice, which some religious fanatics claimed was taken away as a punishment by God, because it was Hitchen's principle instrument of sin. He remained a public figure until the end and continued to give book tours and take part in debates, and as with every issue he engaged with, Hitchens deals with the horrors of his circumstances by writing about them and analysing them, exploring them, exploring the idea of exploring them, an enquiring mind right 'til the end.
It's a difficult book to read and the most heartbreaking part of the book is the afterword by Carol Blue, his wife. In it, we see Hitchens from a different perspective. We see him without that filter of lucidity and self-preserving intelligence. We see moments of extreme tenderness between husband and wife. We see the real impact of the loss in intimate personal terms. As a writer, Hitchens was academic and polemical, and he was very protective over his private family life, which is what makes the insights of his wife's afterword so moving.
Though these final writings are unfinished and short, they are invaluable as an account of a passionate learned man coming to terms with the end of his life. One wonders how much fear and emotion Hitchens is hiding behind the stoicism of his writing. There are certainly no cries of despair as he looks into the void, not in the writing. However, I don't think this is a case of wearing a public mask and hiding his true feelings, I think he was a man who firmly believed in reason and this reason guided him through his final days. The book is an inspiring account of how to die in relative contentment in a godless world.
