Blindly He Goes Up by Steve Rushin, and Versabraille by Bill Schermbrucker both display individuals who have been stricken by disabilities that would render most to be unable to fully experience life to the fullest. Erik Weihenmayer, and Uncle Jim both are able to adapt to their circumstances that life has given them, and they have kept pushing not allowing their disabilities to put them down. Erik, and Uncle Jim suffer have blindness, and throughout both passages we are able to see the evolvement of each character, and how they learned to adapt to their issues, and even start excelling above others in some cases. Both characters share completely different backgrounds to each other, and living in different nations allowing us to see the struggle …show more content…
“By age 13 he was entirely blind.”(P4) although he had the ability to see at one point we get no sense of resentment towards the the fact that he was blind while others weren’t. Steve Rushin depicts to us the time Erik went exotic hiking with his father illustrating to the reader that Erik overcame his disability at a young age, and wouldn’t allow it to rule over his chosen life style where as he would still go hiking, and through his other senses he was able to detect, and know his surroundings although not physically being able to see it “Is there a new flower here?’P(4). Eriks resilience to his defects of sight are illuminated in his story regarding going to the gym, and how the snow messed up his internal way of travel yet although several times going in the wrong direction, or even “walking into a duck pond.” he traced back his steps, and attempted again until he was able to succeed in his goal to reach the gym. Erik has the qualities of perseverance, determination, resilience, and even to the point of being stubborn as he won’t allow his shortcomings of sight to deter his way of life sharing many of the similar traits, and qualities with Uncle Jim from …show more content…
Terrified! He hears a car motor coming louder, nearer. He raises the cane as high as he possibly can. His ears are pounding; he cannot tell if that car has stopped, or what. Finally, he feels the roadbed sloping down. Excited, he stumbles into the curb, (P17)“ Our narrator depicts to us that Uncle Jim has had a successful life, and was able to go beyond his shortcomings much like Erik who was able to climb the highest peak in the world.
Uncle Jim, and Erik Weihenmayer both are not born blind, but are both able to overcome their blindness to live life to the fullest extent. Both protagonists in the story share similar qualities, and traits to one, and another like being resilient, perseverance, determination, and a little bit of stubbornness to keep going, and never allow their blindness to dictate how they are able to live, but instead they are the ones who dictate how they want to live. Both stories showcase brilliant characters that were able to overcome their shortcomings which led to the betterment of their prospective
The author Edward Bloor utilizes blindness to symbolize how Paul may be visually impaired but can see social injustice, while Erik and his parents’ can see but are blind to the emotional harm they inflict on Paul and others, and the townspeople are blind to their environment and social prejudice. He has been bullied most of his life for being visually impaired. Paul is used to being judged by others. The injury to his eyes supposedly occurred while looking at a solar eclipse, but there is more to this story.
The narrator is biased against the blind from the beginning. For instance, he stereotypes all blind people thinking they ...
In the story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver, the main character, goes through a major personal transformation. At the beginning of the story, his opinions of others are filled with stereotypes, discrimination and prejudice. Through interaction with his wife's blind friend Robert, his attitude and outlook on life changes. Although at first he seemed afraid to associate with a blind man, Robert's outgoing personality left him with virtually no choice. During Robert's visit, he proved to be a normal man, and showed the speaker that by closing his eyes, he could open his mind.
The narrator’s prejudice makes him emotionally blind. His inability to see past Robert’s disability stops him from seeing the reality of any relationship or person in the story. And while he admits some things are simply beyond his understanding, he is unaware he is so completely blind to the reality of the world.
The husband in Raymond Carvers “Cathedral” wasn’t enthusiastic about his wife’s old friend, whom was a blind man coming over to spend the night with them. His wife had kept in touch with the blind man since she worked for him in Seattle years ago. He didn’t know the blind man; he only heard tapes and stories about him. The man being blind bothered him, “My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Sometimes they were led by seeing-eye dogs. A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to. (Carver 137)” The husband doesn’t suspect his ideas of blind people to be anything else. The husband is already judging what the blind man will be like without even getting to actually know him. It seems he has judged too soon as his ideas of the blind man change and he gets a better understanding of not only the blind man, but his self as well.
Many people view blindness as a disability, but could these people be blind to their surroundings? Even though the narrator can perfectly see with his eyes, he lacks in understanding awareness. The narrator blindness isn 't physical, like many vision impaired people. His blindness is psychological, and his blindness causes him to become jealous. His blindness blocks his perception of viewing the world in a different way. This only causes him to see the physical attributes of humans, and thus shut off his mindfulness of viewing human personalities. As a result of a closed mind, the narrator doesn 't understand how Robert was able to live with the fact that he was never able to see his wife in the flesh, but the narrator fails to see that Robert vision of his wife was intimate. On the other hand, Robert blindness is physical. This causes Robert to experience the world in a unique manner. Without Robert eyesight, he is able to have a glimpse of a human personality. He uses his disability to paint pictures in his head to experience the world. By putting his psychological blindness aside, the narrator is able to bond with Robert, and he grasps the understanding of opening his eyes for the first time, and this forms a new beginning of a
This story, written as the thoughts of the narrator, is about an old blind friend of his wife’s coming to visit for the first time. The story focuses on the narrator’s cynicism toward the blind man and the way his wife seems to look up to him. Through out the visit there is halting interaction between the blind man and the narrator, however in the end the narrator experiences something he never could have imagined. Through the eyes of a blind man, he gains a better understanding of who he could be.
Helen Keller may be the world's most famous supercrip. Very few people can claim to have "overcome" disability so thoroughly and spectacularly. A blind and deaf wild child at the age of 7, she became, by the time she published The Story of My Life at 22, one of Radcliffe's most successful and polished students, fluent in Latin, Greek, German, French and (not least) English--not to mention three versions of Braille (English, American, New York Point) and the manual alphabet in which her renowned teacher Anne Sullivan first communicated with her. But let me dispense with the scare quotes for a moment. Helen Keller is famous--and justly so--precisely because she did, in many respects, overcome the physical impairments of deafness and blindness, as well as the formidable social obstacles facing people with disabilities at the end of the nineteenth century. Her story retains its power to startle and inspire even now, just as Anne Sullivan's story remains among the most startling and inspiring tales in the history of pedagogy.
In the book, there is a part where it shows how the parents favore Erike. Erik is always perfect to them with his talent and perfect eyesight. “As usual when Erik appears, the attention switched from me to him.” This quote proves that Erik
Blindness is the loss of sight, and it can be temporary or permanent, but can it be more complex than we know. Native Son was written by Richard Wright. It tells a story about a twenty-year-old man named Bigger Thomas, who is uneducated and black. He and his family lived in a one-room apartment on Chicago’s South Side during the 20th century. When given the opportunity to work for a wealthy, white family called the Daltons, he ended up murdering their only daughter, Mary. This murder was a result of blindness. Throughout Native Son, Wright revealed that blindness affects everyone who used stereotypes to view the people that is not the same race as them which usually leads to an unfortunate outcome. The three characters that display blindness
When most people think of blind people, they tend to picture a person with dark sunglasses, a seeing eye dog, and a walking stick. These are stereotypes and obviously do not remain true in the case of all blind people. In Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral," the main character is jealous and judgmental of his wife’s friend who happens to be a blind man. It is the combination of these attitudes that leads to his own unique “blindness." It is through this initial blindness, that the character gains his greatest vision. The short story “Cathedral'; includes three characters.
In Raymond Carver's "Cathedral," the husband's view of blind men is changed when he encounters his wife's long time friend, Robert. His narrow minded views and prejudice thoughts of one stereotype are altered by a single experience he has with Robert. The husband is changed when he thinks he personally sees the blind man's world. Somehow, the blind man breaks through all of the husband's jealousy, incompetence for discernment, and prejudgments in a single moment of understanding.
In the first paragraph, the narrator also reveals his ignorance. He believes that all blind people are based on only what he has seen in movies, "My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Sometimes they are led by seeing-eye dogs “(104). The narrator was surprised when he noticed Robert was not like this. The narrator is also surprised when Robert lights a cigarette. He believes blind people don’t smoke because “they couldn’t see the smoke they exhaled” (108). The husband starts to feel more comfortable after this. The three of them sit down for dinner and the husbands is impressed with the how Robert is able to locate his food, cut with a knife, and eat properly. This is where the narrator’s outlook starts to undergo change.
In literature, blindness serves a general significant meaning of the absence of knowledge and insight. In life, physical blindness usually represents an inability or handicap, and those people afflicted with it are pitied. The act of being blind can set limitations on the human mind, thus causing their perception of reality to dramatically change in ways that can cause fear, personal insecurities, and eternal isolation. However, “Cathedral” utilizes blindness as an opportunity to expand outside those limits and exceed boundaries that can produce a compelling, internal change within an individual’s life. Those who have the ability of sight are able to examine and interpret their surroundings differently than those who are physically unable to see. Carver suggests an idea that sight and blindness offer two different perceptions of reality that can challenge and ultimately teach an individual to appreciate the powerful significance of truly seeing without seeing. Therefore, Raymond Carver passionately emphasizes a message that introduces blindness as not a setback, but a valuable gift that can offer a lesson of appreciation and acceptance toward viewing the world in a more open-minded perspective.
Keller’s abilities had attracted a great attention from many people around the world. However, the most important reason that contributed to Keller’s international reputation was at all the works she had done for the society. Before anyone had ever heard of Helen Keller, people that were blind, deaf or handicapped were treated very harshly. They were sometimes an embarrassment to their families, and were often sent off to be cared for away from the rest of the family. No one ever cared if they could learn and be productive people. However, thanked to the example of Helen Keller and her victory over deafness and blindness, everyone realized that everyone has something positive to contribute to the world around them—if they are given the chance. In addition, Through Keller’s fundraising efforts for deaf and blind people, AFB continues to assist blind people in the areas of technology, education, independent living, literacy, and employment, which was a big advancement for those who misfortuned. Overall, if Keller had hadn’t challenge, she would haven’t well known, and therefore deaf and blind people would haven’t had chances to improve their