Reaction to John Updike's Piece, "At War with My Skin"

fter reading John Updike’s At War with My Skin, I had a general sense of sympathy for Mr. Updike. To grow up with such a difficult skin condition can be tough for anyone, but the fact that it was a genetic problem and his mother had it before him makes it especially tougher. However, to his credit, Updike has established himself as a well-known and talented writer. One of the small stories that he spoke about which truly touched me was the story about how he was turned down by the United States Armed forces because of his case of Psoriasis. Obviously, the upside to that is that one does not face themselves with the possibility of losing their life in war. However, that is also a very cowardly way to look at things. The fact that he didn’t get into the war because of the way he looked had to have bothered Updike, and as he stated, clearly bothered his mother. To me, I would be devastated if I was held back from anything because of the way I looked, especially something that I couldn’t control. Updike’s children were all in the clear from Psoriasis, except for his final one, of whom John does not go into much detail about. All in all, I found this reading to be quite moving and although perhaps not the goal, made me very sympathetic towards John Updike.