The Pain Scale Eula Biss Analysis

In the writing, “The Pain Scale” by Eula Biss, the author compares multiple things to one another. She is describing how different concepts can be used to show the confusion of the pain scale used in hospitals and doctor’s offices. Eula compares the thought of Christ the number zero. She first starts out by stating that “The concept of Christ is considerably older than the concept of zero. Both are problematic – both have their fallacies and their immaculate conceptions. But the problem of zero troubles me significantly more than the problem of Christ…Zero is not a number. Or at least, it does not behave like a number. It does not add, subtract, or multiply like other numbers. Zero is a number in the way that Christ was a man” (Biss 28.)
This could be the author trying to show that zero is something that is there and everyone knows but it is not there at the same time. This comparison shows the reader that even in the bible, concepts can be twisted and confused within just one statement. Is Christ a person or is he God? This in a way shows how the concept of the pain scale in a hospital or doctor’s office can confuse the patient about how they really feel. If zero is on the scale, why would they be feeling the way that they do and feel the need to see a physician about their problems. Biss discusses that in order for there to be a pain scale she needs that zero to be present. All the more confusing the thought that how can someone measure something with a scale starting at zero. Eula then writes about the use of zero within the Fahrenheit and Celsius scale. She states:
“The upper fixed point on the Fahrenheit scale, ninety-six, is based on a slightly inaccurate measure of normal body temperature. The lower fixed point, zero, is the coldest temperature at which a mixture of salt and water can still remain liquid. I myself am a mixture of salt and water. I strive to remain liquid.
Zero, on the Celsius scale, is the point at which water freezes. And one hundred is the point at which water boils. But Anders Celsius, who introduced the scale in 1741, originally fixed zero as the point at which water boiled, and one hundred as the point at which water froze” (Biss 29.) Biss continues to go back to the confusion she has with the number zero. Not only on the Fahrenheit scale does she notice that there are multiple problems but she notices this as well with the Celsius scale. This comes to show the even more confusion with a rating scale. First Eula points out how inaccurate the Fahrenheit scale measures the body temperature and then how the Celsius scale was changed after the founder died. Eula brings in mathematical concepts like that of calculus and prime numbers to express how incapable she is of actually understanding calculus and this continues when she describes her own pain as if it turned into a math problem. Eula uses these concepts to point out the errors of having a pain scale. She shows the reader that with having to use the pain scale on her own life, it made her confused. It also shows the reader how one thing can relate to another without even knowing it.