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On being a cripple
On being a cripple
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In the essay “On Being a Cripple” by Nancy Mairs, Mairs talks about her struggle with multiple sclerosis, or MS, which is a disease that affects the spinal cord, brain and optic nerves in your eyes causing to lose muscle control, balance and vision problems. Throughout the essay Mairs talks about why she lets the word “cripple” be the word that defines her condition. Mairs believes “cripple,” unlike other words, targets her reality. Throughout the essay Mairs presents herself as honest through her exquisite use of language, and very realistic outlook on life. Mairs also presents herself as honest through her very realistic outlook on life by stating “I am a cripple,” in the first sentence. She cultivates honesty by describing and admitting
Her essay is arranged in such a way that her audience can understand her life - the positives and the negatives. She allows her audience to see both sides of her life, both the harsh realities that she must suffer as well as her average day-to-day life. According to Nancy, multiple sclerosis “...has opened and enriched my life enormously. This sense that my fragility and need must be mirrored in others, that in search for and shaping a stable core in a life wrenched by change and loss, change and loss, I must recognize the same process, under individual conditions, in the lives around me. I do not deprecate such knowledge” (Mairs, 37). Mairs big claim is that she has accepted herself and her condition for what is it, yet she refuses to allow her condition to define her. Through her particular diction, tone, satire, and rhetorical elements, Mairs paints a picture of her life and shows how being a cripple has not prevent her from living her life. She is not embarrassed nor ashamed of what she is, and accepts her condition by making the most of it and wearing the title with
Throughout the essay, Mairs complains about her daily struggles, comparing her life to others; however, by the end of the essay, she accepts the fact that she will never trade places with anyone because she is finally learning how to cope with it. She has lived with the disease, received her stamp of approval, and accepted it as a second chance at life. In my opinion, Mairs wants to reach out to those who are also struggling with social acceptance. She wants her audience to have a visual understanding of MS and accept the new and divergent perspective of “crippled
In “On Being a Cripple,” the speaker, Nancy Mairs, a multiple sclerosis patient, presents herself as a bold and confident woman through her diction and syntax. For example, Mairs’ blunt diction throughout the passage makes her appeal very sassy. She puts herself out there to be a “tough customer” with a “calamitous disease.” These words are very blunt and straightforward; therefore, this allows the audience to perceive her as an incredibly bold woman. These words also give the impression that she is confident in her own skin, even if she is “crippled.” She also chooses to be called “crippled” instead of “handicapped” or “disabled” because she does not want people to feel sympathy towards her. This just goes to show that she is undeniably bold
In today’s world, humans are exposed to many different types of illness, and diseases’, some are born even born with critical health conditions. But as a matter of fact, that should not change their perception of viewing their life. As Mairs once stated, society prefers being a dead than being crippled. She uses sarcasm to let readers know that despite the fact that many people could offend her, by calling her terrible names and making her feel depressed due to her disability, she does not care. By evoking audience empathetic and showing them that it does not matter that she is crippled, she express gratitude that at least she is alive and able to breath. This is shown in her words: “I want them to see me as a tough customer, one to whom the fates/gods/viruses have not been kind, but who can face the brutal truth of her existence squarely” ( Mairs 1).Mairs’s choice of word and her resilient tone indicate that she is strong even in her weakness. Despite Mairs’s illness, she does not want the society to believe that because she was disabled, they could take advantage of her and treat her unfairly.She also mentions how she wants to be a tough customer, and she uses her strength to make a connection with readers who have a disability like
Mairs is accepting the fact that she has MS. After reading the whole story she describes how she is not going to let it defy her. Even though she is in pain, she is still able to
In Mairs’ essay, is structured more on one issue rather than many issues like in Eighner’s essay, is explaining what the disease is and how its changed her opinion on different things, like how she doesn’t let the disease define who she is. “...I’m not sorry to be a cripple... and I wish I had more of it, I’m glad of what I have”(Par.32). this quote shows that she isn’t like most MS patients, being bitter and resentful, she embraces it in a way that she has seen a new way to look at it. The purpose of this essay is to inform the public that even though she is crippled, she has learned from it. For instance, at the end of the essay she says that if she wouldn't trade anything for it because she gets the hang of being a cripple because she states
I'm not quite sure if this is because I'm more of a visual learner but, I was able to further comprehend the feelings and emotions these people gave out about how they feel. The video visually told us how they felt with their current situation of living and gave hope to others going through similar troubles. Although the Nacy Mairs's "Disability" was almost as heart felt as the video, the video attracted the audience more and gave different types of examples that the audience could relate to. This video was not only for one specific audience it's for a general audience and has a strong message tied to it. Regardless of a disability or disincentive you might have with enough motivation and hard work anyone one can accomplish anything. In comparison
The documentary called “When I Walk” is an autobiographical film about Jason DaSilva and his struggle with multiple sclerosis (MS). From what I’ve learned from the film and the MS link on black board, I learned MS is where your immune system attacks your own central nervous system and affects your brain, spinal cord, and the optic nerves in your eyes. MS is a debilitating type of disease and can eventually result in the loss of control over your body, like what we see with Jason DaSilva. I believe “When I Walk” can be a powerful film, not only for people struggling with MS, but also for their family members and loved ones because it’s realistic and relatable. His film showed that even though he had MS, he could still continue to live his life.
Mairs recognizes herself as a “cripple” although many people would not want to be called a cripple since they would find it offensive, but Mairs believes it fit her perfectly. Mairs does not like the term “handicapped” or “disabled” because they are not flattering which is why she prefers the word “cripple”. Although she has a serious condition she does not take consideration of other individuals statements, “whatever you call me, I remain cripple. But i don’t care what you call me” (Mairs). This passage demonstrates how brave and strong she is; Mairs is also optimism because she learned to accept herself the way she is, she eventually became confident enough to joke about her serious condition.
The hidden qualities that define you can be discovered in multiple ways. In, “On Being a Cripple”
This backdrop may be used to represent various issues such as language, labels, and a reclaiming process that is undertaken by many people in the community who are oppressed. For example, the people who are disabled in the community are usually not different in any aspect that may be presented in the text. In the expression of the term cripple, the author finds it offensive and decides to use freak instead. Also, he explains why he does so by narrating a story to the people who are disabled to make them feel better. Hence, the use of the word freak by Clare does not imply a negative meaning. Instead. It reinforces the attitude the disabled people have towards themselves (Rosemarie
Author Harriet Johnson writes about the quality of a disabled person’s life, how culture sees the disabled, and how she views herself, in her article “Unspeakable Conversations” in order to change the world’s opinion of the disabled. The disabled are not people to look down upon or pity. They are simply living life the best they can just like everyone else. All anyone ever wants is to be treated equally. Just because someone is different does not make them any less of a person.
During this speech, I learned a lot of elements about disability. Smith says that disability is something we want to see. I thought of the Walking Dead. Even though I am not a die-hard fan, the fact that some of the zombies may or may not have limbs intrigues me. I focus on their movements and wonder how they are going to get in contact with the characters. Smith states that moving images often manipulate disabilities to produce an unable feeling. Amputation is shown as bad thing. It is often shown as a dragging, crawling or depressing inferiority. They are often shown as not being able to convey anger because they are helpless. The example of a man being angry and falling from his chair in Forest Gump was a great representation of this. The disable moves are shown as depressed, sad and only drag and or fall. The viewer feels distance from the amputee because they don’t have what would be considered to be abled body. It is displayed as inferior to regular movement. One man shared his story of not having legs and used crawling as an uplifting experience. He also had a very intellectual profession which showed that he was not a helpless man because of this lack of having legs. He was just like any normal
Mairs starts out the passage by very bluntly stating her claim. “I am a cripple.” This is the name that she chose for herself. By making this statement the audience can tell that there has to be a reason as to why she bluntly makes this statement. She then goes on to name some of the other names that she didn’t chose to call herself such as “handicapped” and “disabled”. Although Mairs is unaware as to why she chose the word crippled
Disabled people have many challenges throughout their lives that they have to beat everyday. At all times whether the disability is physical or mental there is not a time for an impaired person to rest. There are two models of disability the social model and the medical model. They models have different views that explains how disabled people deal with the obstacles of their everyday lives. The social model look at it in ways of removing barriers that restrict life choices for disabled people. When barriers are removed, disabled people can be independent and live an equal life in society, with a choice and control over their own lives (Social Model vs. Medical Model). In contrast the medical model looks at what is “wrong” with the person and