Society is built to treat those considered ‘normal’ with a higher degree of fairness than those considered different. Two works of writing look to examine the issues of personal challenges and difficulty with peers in society. Initiation, a fictional short story by Sylvia Plath, examines what those who are different will do to earn prestige in society, while Reaction-Interaction, a personal essay by Diane Kenyon, explores the troubles deaf people face nearly everyday. By comparing and contrasting these two pieces, personal challenges in society can be examined and evaluated. In both stories, we can see tendences where the average population looks down on those deemed lesser. In Initiation, the main character of the short story, Millicent, is talking to another girl named Liane who is also going through the initiation process for the sorority. Millicent begins to talk to Liane and the following exchange occurs, "You mean it's just a sort of exclusive social group….". Liane then replied with, "I guess so…though that's a funny way of putting it. But it sure gives a girl prestige value.”(206). This shows that the girls trying to join the sorority are doing so because they believe that without it society will not treat them as well as those belonging to it. They see …show more content…
The harshness of society is a problem that people from all walks of life have to struggle through and adapt to as shown in Initiation. These harsh terms set on people by society dictate how we live our lives as accounted for in Kenyon’s personal essay. Both narratives show conforming to the normal is not needed as others out there exist who share similar experiences or ways of life who one can be with. If anything can be taken out of these two pieces it is that although society can be difficult to survive in without being alienated, it can be changed either through defiance or
Deaf children with Deaf parents usually develop a strong sense of self and know who they are. While many Deaf children with hearing parents grow up and have resentment for their parents and professionals. They usually they feel as if they weren’t exposed into the deaf world enough. Both parents face considerable challenges in raising their children. They face their children being “educated below their capacity, employed below their capability and viewed negatively in the hearing world because they are deaf” (28).
He shared the stories of a wide variety of people while he embarked on a journey across the country in a short bus. By revealing the common issues and judgment within society, Jonathon’s book advocated for the people who have any sort of disability, and he brought to light the beauty of each difference. For those who would want to learn about the thoughts and feelings of people who have experienced rejection because of a label, Jonathon Mooney’s book would be an excellent selection because of the real accounts and stories. The book offered an emotional connection that other texts could not provide. Therefore, The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal should be a common read for everyone in order to learn about the real accounts of people labeled as having learning
While institutionalized Junius Wilson lost the ability to have an ordinary life and do things on his own. Wilson was unable to communicate with those around him and unable to live his life independently, meaning he was not able to make his own choices and have control over his life. His communication skills and language skills suffered drastically due to the isolation that was forcefully imposed on him in the hospital. Junius Wilson’s life in the institution is described as an “absence of sensitive toward deaf people and deaf culture” meaning that those who were supposed to provide care for Wilson simply did not bother to understand him or his culture (Burch 114).
Both, short story and video, convey the partialities that individuals with incapacities face. The video “Waiting on the World to Change”, is motivational for the individuals who have a hearing impairment. In my opinion, “Disability” by Nancy Mairs story makes a more effective argument than the video “Waiting on the World to Change”. By portraying her own encounters, she attracts us and tells us what it is like for her. She discusses individuals who have inabilities and how people regard them as if they were not the same as any other person.
We still see discrimination against Deaf people today and they continue to fight for full acceptance. The literary theme in Framing ASL Literature cannot correctly introduce the Deaf culture without first
While reading Deaf Again, I couldn’t help from thinking, how I would have treated Mark through elementary school and high school. I was amazed when he said that he was so used to reading people’s lips and didn’t even notice he was deaf. I know that when I try to read people’s lips without hearing their voice it is very hard. It’s crazy how we take advantage of sound in our everyday lives as human beings. I know that I could not imagine not having the ability to hear sounds of the world.
Murphy lacks mobility and sensation in his lower body other than the feeling of occasional muscle spasms, and has limited movement in his upper body below the neck including his arms. Murphy writes the story as it recounts events throughout his entire life, from childhood onwards. He was sixty-two when he wrote the novel. The story provides Murphy’s anthropological commentary on the life of a person with a disability and how society views and treats people with disabilities (Murphy, 1990). Murphy’s performance patterns both support and inhibit his occupational engagement.
In “Unspeakable Conversations” she details her experience. Harriet McBryde Johnson effectively uses the rhetorical appeals of ethos and pathos, along with her uses of first-person narrative and descriptive language, to support her argument that contrary to stereotypes, a person living with a severe disability can live a happy and fulfilling life. Harriet McBryde Johnson was born in 1957 with a neuromuscular disease. At the time of this essay, she had been disabled for over four decades. Born to parents who both taught foreign language, they were able to afford hired help but she knew it could not be for her whole life.
In Margret Atwood’s “Lusus Naturae,” set in the 1800’s, a period where a multitude of people remained annexed by those they loved due to ailments that were deemed uncommon; to illustrate this phenomenon Atwood engages us through the intertwining story, told by the protagonist, who is kept unnamed. The protagonist is not only affected by her physical disease, but also the psychological affects from remaining isolated from her community. The tale is crafted to criticize how severely society treats others in the face of diversity and disability. The protagonist not only accepts the abuse, but she also agrees with it because instead of viewing herself as someone who has worth, she only sees herself as an inhuman burden. Through obstacles our narrator faces, because of her disease, we can see how truly cruel society can be.
Can you ever imagine a world of unaccepting individuals, constant fight, and the loathe differences and disabilities? Could you imagine a world where no one could get along? Unfortunately, we as a clique and community are reaching nearing such a world. Adversely but sadly true, some communities and countries have already begun to discriminate against young adolescents and adults with special needs, or different views, turning into a constant fight for survival. James Hurst's short story, The Scarlet Ibis and Ray Bradbury's, A Golden Kite, The Silver Wind, Hurst and Bradbury discuss themes of allegory, rivalry, vanity and pride through characters in both stories, The narrator of The Scarlet Ibis and The Mandarin of The Golden Kite, A Silver
Scott Hamilton once stated, “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” Disability is only an obstacle in a person's life, but it does not set the identity of that person. John Steinbeck's novel shows how disabled people are treated differently by writing about their heartbreak and sorrow. Many individuals with disabilities feel that a disability is a wall blocking them from achieving their goals. In our society, people are told what to be and what to do with their disability, but one should have the choice to carve their pathway to success.
n Nancy Mairs essay, “Disability”, she illustrates the lack of representation of people with disabilities in the media. While disability plays a major role in Mairs’ life, she points out the various ways her everyday life is ordinary and even mundane. Despite the normalcy of the lives of citizens with disabilities Mairs argues the media’s effacement of this population, is fear driven. She claims, “To depict disabled people in the ordinary activities of daily life is to admit that there is something ordinary about the disability itself, that it may enter anybody’s life” (Mairs 14). Able bodied people worry about the prospect of eventually becoming physically impaired.
Necrophilia is described as a person having sexual feelings or performing activities that involve a corpse. Miss Emily Grierson, the protagonist in William Faulkner’s short retrospective Gothic “A Rose for Emily,” is a necrophiliac. In this Gothic work, Faulkner illustrates how isolation from society can drive someone to commit grotesque acts. Faulkner expands on the theme of loneliness in his Gothic, “A Rose for Emily,” through the interactions Emily has with the townsmen, the death of Emily’s father, and the death of Homer Barron.
The novel Flowers for Algernon written by Daniel Keyes effectively explores the complex human experiences of disability and the impact that it has on individuals and society through its three major themes; Self-realisation , Alienation and loneliness and treatment of the mentally disabled by society. Through these themes this response will highlight the difficulties experienced by people with disabilities and the people in their lives. The first theme in Flowers for Algernon is self-realisation. Charlie’s new found knowledge has allowed him to have the ability to voice his needs and wants for understanding, acceptance, and love.
The Religion of Disability: How Flannery O’Connor Uses the Concept of Disability in “The Lame Shall Enter First” In her short story, “The Lame Shall Enter First” Flannery O’Connor shares the tale of a self-righteous reformatory counselor, Sheppard, who forgoes the raising of his own son to embark on a quest to improve the life of a young miscreant, Rufus Johnson, who has a clubbed foot. Eventually after devoting all his time and effort to the saving of this young boy, Sheppard realizes the selfish nature of his actions, but it is too late to save to save his own son. O’Connor employs disability perceptions through the contrasting ideas of confinement and freedom as well as the idea of moral superiority.