Bob Marley is an established musical figure in reggae. He made a lasting impression on the world of musical and cultural arts. Despite this, his life was untimely ended due to his fight with cancer. Many find it difficult to explain why he willingly rejected conventional medical treatments for his disease.
In this article, we will examine the reasons that led him to make this decision. We will do this by inquiring sincerely into Marley’s personal life, career, and the values that impacted his decision-making.
About Bob Marley:
Robert Nesta Marley was born on February 6, 1945, in Jamaica. He grew at Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish, where he loved Caribbean culture. Marley got into music at quite a young age; he loved the sounds of ska and rocksteady from his native locale, which would later be the basis of his distinctive music.
Marley’s childhood was both challenging and vigorous. After his father left the house, he was mainly brought up by his mother. He survived the harsh conditions of poverty and social equality and thus learned to cruise through a landscape that stayed with him to the end and fashioned his music and activism.
As a youth, Marley found residence in Kingston, Jamaica, particularly Trench Town, where he, among other things, decided to follow a musical path. This decision would prove vital to his future success.
Marley’s Career:
Two great music legends and Bob Marley began to grow their musical talent in the ’60s. That was the time when he, his friends Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer formed a vocal band. Their first known name was “The Teenagers,” but they later changed it to “The Wailers.” The group’s first works displayed interesting talents and allowed Marley to take the mantle as the lead reggae figure.
Besides the numerous albums and singles, which turned out to be very popular in music stores nationally and internationally, Marley and The Wailers issued a lot of hard-hitting music, e.g., “No Woman, No Cry,” “One Love,” and “Buffalo Soldier.” These songs became the hits of the year, overshadowed some talented artists, and thus became the songs people still love to date.
His music bridged the gap between diverse cultures and language groups by attracting followers from all around the globe. His performances were quite sensational, marked by his enchanting presence and the wild, contagious energy of the band. He used music to speak out to his fans and the world, which made him a lot more than just a musician or an artist; he was a global champion and a spiritual guru to some.
His success was a tool with which he could spread his message of peace, unity, and social justice to the people of the world. In addition, Marley was very vocal about the rights of underprivileged people and made a point of spreading peace movements not only in his home country but also overseas.
Cancer Diagnosis:
He was diagnosed with acral lentiginous melanoma in 1977, i.e., one of the toenails at the base is where the tumor developed, but the diagnosis was the initial lesion. Initially, Marley laughed off the injury as a playing one and thought it was a soccer wound, so he did not seek a medical doctor. Later, he consulted a doctor after the lesion grew and became painful.
The diagnosis was a great surprise for Bob and his fans. Though melanoma is commonly linked to excessive UVB exposure, it may occur in some areas where the skin is not often exposed to the sun, as happened to Marley. The toe with the tumor made it very difficult to treat the cancer, which also made the doctors prescribe continuous monitoring of the existing condition.
Medical experts told Marley that the only way to get rid of the cancer was to cut off his toe to contain the growth of the tumor in other parts of the body. This was the beginning of a challenging and controversial period for Marley, as he had to make decisions about his health and treatment.
Why did Bob Marley refuse treatment?
Different underlying factors, mostly anthropological, contributed to Bob Marley’s decision to refuse conventional cancer treatment. The main cause of his opposition to the therapy was his practice of Rastafarianism principles that support sustainability and the power of nature over Western medicine.
The religious movement that Marley adopted, Rastafarianism, emphasizes vital living as a means to foster ideal living—a lifestyle that is entirely free from artificial compounds and processing. This philosophy extends to medications, as most Rastafarians prefer organic herbs and other natural therapies to pharmaceuticals for treating themselves.
Marley was also deeply suspicious of the Western medicine industry, as he considered it one of the “Babylon” systems, which Rastafarians opposed. He thought that his body was a sanctuary and surgeries like amputation were the blasphemy of it; therefore, it was wrong.
In addition to his fame and performance, Marley had potential aspects that might have influenced his decision-making. The thought that losing a toe would be the worst could have been a factor, even for such a good reason. The possibility that this surgery might hinder his performance or limit his energetic stage presence was also hovering around.
Cancer treatment in those days was not so advanced. Besides, the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation were often severe, and success rates were lower. This was the situation that led to Marley’s reluctance to pursue aggressive medical therapies.
His philosophy and beliefs:
We must first analyze his philosophy and beliefs to comprehend Bob Marley’s refusal to receive cancer treatment. Marley was a Rastafarianism follower, which was present throughout his life and manifested itself in many aspects related to health and medicine.
It is a religious movement born in Jamaica during the 1930s. It states that Emperor Haile Selassie I, who is the former Emperor of Ethiopia, is supposed to be God. And, he promotes the significance of African ancestry and the unconditional return of African people to their homeland in Africa. Livity, the wholeness of being earthly, is at the core of Rastafarianism, which is an ethic of harmonious living with nature and a deliberate disdain for materialism and the doctrine of materialism/dentistry-religion.
Marley was the one to convey these ideas through his lyrics, which prospered by re-educating spirituality, contributing to discussions on social justice, and promoting a natural bond aesthetic. In addition, numbers like “Natural Mystic” and “Redemption Song” manifest his unwavering confidence in self-reliance and self-empowerment.
In the case of the cancer diagnosis, one of the factors that played a role was Marley’s faith. He thought that God would save him and that his body could heal naturally. It was not just an ordinary disease for him but rather a confrontation he was having with his spiritual limitations through his physical condition.
Most important, however, was the ideological aspect of a person’s responsibility to maintain their health. Marley was anti-establishment because he did not trust institutions that were products of capitalism, such as health and medical establishments. He saw them as the weapons of “Babylon” to control his mind. So conventional medicine was unsuitable for him because it was unnatural and caused more harm.
Lifestyle and its Impact:
Bob Marley’s way of life, which can be characterized as essential in his approach to health and coping with the malignancy he was diagnosed with, was his chief lifestyle. Marley’s daily life was determined mainly by Rastafarian teachings, which strongly appealed to the natural way of living.
A diet was fundamental to Marley’s lifestyle. Hence, he followed an “ital” diet, a vegetarian (or vegan) diet that emphasized only natural, unprocessed foods. It is well known in Rastafarian culture that an “ital” diet can increase “livity,” or life energy. He did not buy the theory that duly taking in chemically processed or artificially supplemented foods would only affect his neonatal line.
Moreover, tomorrow is the thing we want to focus on, but Marley also made them aware of his quest for a never-ending supply of energy and his loyalty to soccer. All the time, he was young and healthy because his high energy level was associated with the way of life he had, which might have made him reluctant to realize the degree of his cancer case. However, he continued to experience sickness and weaker energy compared to the time when he was very healthy and active. But recently, he experienced them in a much worse phase when he got a cancer diagnosis.
Bob & Marijuana:
Marley had a desire to consume marijuana; that was indeed his lifestyle. In the church of the Rasta Reggae, Nikola marijuana was considered a plant of Dr. Haila Selassie, the Incumbent Coptic or the avatar. Marley, on the other hand, was one of the heaviest advocates of marijuana, and he saw healing in the drug. It was a relatively strong view that he had, and perhaps it reached a point where he thought the only cure was natural medicine, for instance, cannabis, that was made by God rather than the medical treatment of the Western world.
Marley’s public life and the tour programs he adhered to also impacted his health decisions. His worldwide fame and constant media exposure kept him soul-searching, and his performance improved to the highest level. Popularity and professional duties kept him on schedule all the time. In these circumstances, he might have considered the thought of getting an invasive medical operation or having side effects publicly affect him terrifying.
His Decision: The Consequences
The choice of Bob Marley to shun conventional medicine during his cancer treatment led to significant repercussions.
Even after he had spent several months in Germany’s Seed Museum with natural dietary treatments by Dr. Issels, he still had a cancerous throat. The pandemic swallowed him up. He was very ill before, but by 1980, his health had turned for the worse again. In the middle of a tour of the United States, he fainted while taking a run at Central Park. After this event had passed, he had fewer and fewer public activities. His organization came up with the last show on September 23, 1980, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Time went on, and Bob Marley’s sickness grew, which is why he finally agreed to take modern treatments, but as we already know, this operation did not work because the cancer had already metastasized to the brain, lungs, and liver. He succumbed to cancer and passed away on 11th May 1981 in Miami, Florida, at the age of thirty-six. Only in his mid-thirties, the death of Bob Marley make the music world, his supporters, and his family feel the loss.
Conclusion:
Bob Marley’s decision to initially refuse treatment for his cancer was a hard one. It was a decision he believed sincerely in and deeply rooted in his beliefs, cultural background, and philosophy. Although it is now easy to look back at this decision and pass judgment on it, it is essential to remember the circumstances under which it was made. He was given a fantastic life, for which he was known worldwide before he died.
Marley’s choice manifests the sometimes troublesome interaction of individual opinions, traditional customs, and advanced prescription. It is also an avenue through which the issues of the patient’s right to self-determination, the use of cultural competence to address patients’ needs, and the compatibility between treatment via modern methods and traditional ones can be resolved.
The worldwide influence of Bob Marley is unimpeachable, paradoxically, as he is both blamed for his too-short life and worshiped endlessly around the globe. His music, message, and the way he lived his life—standing by his beliefs up until his death—remain very familiar to people of all generations and cultures.
The reggae star’s account of being a reminder of the need for early diagnosis and treatment of cancer, as well as the need for the healthcare industry to take into account individuals’ particular beliefs when catering to them, holds true as well. It is a complex and multi-sided natural effect that continues to move the collective subtexts of health, spiritualism, and the dilemmas we face in cases of life-threatening illness.