Similarities Between Rain Man And House Rules

1503 Words4 Pages

House Rules by Jodi Picoult is a story about a boy, Jacob, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, which is a form of autism. The eighteen-year-old is later convicted of murdering his own social tutor. Like any teenager, Jacob aspires to fit in with a “normal” crowd. However, his Asperger’s Syndrome does not allow him to do so. Rain Man, a film directed by Barry Levinson, also stars a character who suffers from autism. In a manner similar to Jacob’s, the character of Raymond also has a lot of problems in social situations. Just as Jacob’s brother Theo has to deal with his struggle with Asperger’s, Raymond’s brother Charlie, does not understand why Raymond is so attached to his routine. The plotline of Rebirth is defined as an “optimistic form …show more content…

However in both works, Jacob and Raymond’s ability to love, to seeing things as they are and to sort out their priorities are being hampered by autism. Autism is “a neurobiological disorder which affects development in several different areas,” (Picoult 234). People with autism, such as Jacob and Raymond, want to connect with others but often cannot because they have little sense of empathy, and do not know how to take other people’s feelings into consideration. Instead, they will memorize the definition of love and be able to recite it, but cannot understand how to recognize or portray those emotions. Another common aspect of autism is the taking of things very literally. Jacob suffers from this a lot in House Rules: “if you asked him to eat with his mouth closed… he’d tell you that’s impossible,” (Picoult 232). On such occasions, Jacob’s mother and his brother laugh because it comes out as more comedic than truthful, since Jacob is really only stating facts, and is simply responding to what was said to him. In Rain Man, Charlie tells Raymond “you bet your butt”, Raymond immediately gets a surprised look on his face, stands up and touches his butt. Autistic people see things literally as they

Open Document