Analysis Of Susan Nusbaum's Good Kings Bad Kings

1. In the book Good Kings Bad Kings, Susan Nusbaum, the author, shows the lives of many different characters that live and interact with each other within a center for disabilities. She does this by narrating the story through the perspectives of both the workers and the people living within the center. Although this book is a work of fiction there is a sense of realism due to the fact the Nusbaum has been living with a disability since she was 24 and has the unique perspective of both an abled bodied person and a person with a disability. Throughout the book Nusbaum does a good job at showing the problems that many people with disabilities face on a day to day basis while also focusing on the way that society perceives and interacts with them.

A second way Nusbaum supports her argument is by the way that she characterizes and personalizes many of the character’s narratives. Through the narratives of these characters she gives them normalized characteristics that show that the are not that different from “normal” people. “Normal” can be described as a socially constructed vision of what the average person should be like and include many things like a person being able to act on their own accord or a sense of autonomous thoughts. These constructed norms also include the way that people act within relationships and how able they are to interact with other people. These “normal” characteristics are given to many characters such as the relationship between, Teddy and Mia. Teddy and Mia both have physical disabilities but Teddy also has a minor mental disability. Despite these facts, they are able to conduct in a healthy loving relationship where they reciprocate feelings for each other that are sometimes not thought of coming from people with disabilities such as sexual desires to be with one another. Another person that shows many normal characteristics throughout the book is Yessenia Lopez, a girl who is physically disabled and must use a wheelchair. Her actions break many stereotypes and involve her getting into fist fights, starting a protest, and becoming sexually involved with a boy. These actions show a large sense of autonomy and show that she is capable of taking care of herself just as many other people with disabilities are. The way that Nusbaum distinctively gives each character “normal” traits speaks to show that people with disabilities are just that, “normal” people who happen to have