In The Sanctuary Of Outcasts Sparknotes

Neil White was living a luxurious lifestyle filled with expensive clothes, extravagant dinners and nice houses. He had it all, until one day he is caught kiting checks by the FBI and is sent to prison. Although, the prison he is sent to is unlike any normal federal prison. The prison Neil serves his time in is also a home for patients with leprosy. Through his encounters with the patients and other inmates at Carville, Louisiana, White takes the time to reflect on himself and learns a series of life lessons.
Before reading In the Sanctuary of Outcasts, if I were asked what the term leper meant, I would have no clue what to say. After thinking about the term, to me, it means unclean or monstrous. The only time I have ever heard the term

leper was from what I have read and heard about in the Bible. Some stories make people with leprosy seem scary, as if they were harmful to society. In Biblical times, anyone who touched a person with leprosy was deemed unclean and those with the condition were shunned from the rest of society and even their own families. My perception of leprosy is negative and inaccurate.
In all actuality, leprosy is a condition people contract that can alter them physically. It can cause them to lose feeling in their bodies, loss of limbs, lumps on parts of their body and even blindness. The disease harms a person physically as well as emotionally due to the harsh judgement he or she receives from society. People with leprosy are much like everyone else, just with their own uniqueness. In the Sanctuary of Outcasts has dramatically changed my view on the term “leper”. I view leprosy as an unfavorable illness rather than as something degrading.
At a first glance, I thought that the patients in the book were the outcasts, but after reading further I realized that my thinking was unjust. The prisoners are the real outcasts. To the patients, Carville is their home. It is a safe place where people with Hansen’s disease do not feel like outcasts and it gives them a sense of belonging, whereas the prisoners are sent to Carville to serve out a punishment for their misconduct. Upon arriving to Carville, I think the prisoners feel like outcasts. They are sent to a strange place where they are in contact with people who have a strange disease.
In today’s society homeless people, the mentally ill, those with an addiction, criminals and anyone who is considered different is an outcast.

Homeless people have close to or even nothing and society looks down on them for it instead of trying to help them a lot of times. People treat those who are mentally ill differently because they think they are crazy or weird. Those with an addiction are rejected by society because they are viewed as a nuisance. Criminals are outcasts to society because people quickly judge them for the crimes they have committed. Anyone who is considered different is looked down upon by society because of the clothes he or she may wear or because of what he or she looks like. Everyone is a little different in some way, shape, or form, but that is not cause for poor

treatment.
Neil White learned many lessons while he was in prison. He chose to use his sentence as a prime learning opportunity rather than as a punishment. Neil knew that kiting checks was wrong and that if he were to get caught he would be sent to prison. It was not until after he had been sent to Carville and talked to some of the patients that he realized that he needed to change.
Through his experiences at Carville, Neil gained a different outlook on life. He learned many different lessons throughout his prison days. Ella, a patient, taught Neil that “there’s no place like home” and that he should not care what people think about him. She would tell him, “What peoples think ain’t none of your business” (White 187). He learns to not judge a book by its cover. When Neil first arrived at Carville he did not want to come in close contact with any of the patients. He would hold his breath and steer clear of them when walking down the halls in fear of contracting Hansen’s disease. After spending some time in the prison, Neil’s view of the patients altered. He starts to see past their disfigurement and to the beauty they hold within themselves. Neil feels sympathetic towards them and about the way he had been treating them and wants to help, unlike the other inmates.
Neil White left Carville a new and improved version of himself.

He was left with a new perspective on life and with only a small number of belongings. Neil decided to go back to Oxford despite being ridiculed and rejected for losing the money of his close friends and neighbors to be with his children. He learned that there was still time for redemption, even after all he had been through and decided to make the most of every opportunity. Ella told Neil the story of how the patients used coke bottles for flower arrangements, games of bowling and even for decoration. She said, “Coca-Cola bottle still a Coca Cola bottle, just found ‘em a new purpose” (White

292).
Through this book, I have learned that everyone in society is a little different, but we should be more accepting of people’s differences. People have different viewpoints of the world, but we all have hopes and dreams and have experienced things that have changed our lives. Living in a diverse community, it is important to not forget that we are all a little different, but share much camaraderie. Everyone has an important role to play in the community and we should be accepting of all people. We should take the opportunity to get to know the people in our community rather than simply judge them upon first glance.
Neil White’s story impacts my life moving forward as I transition into college where I will have many new experiences with a lot of new faces. College serves as a buffer to the many things I will learn out in the real world on my own. Through Neil, I have learned to make the most out of every opportunity presented to me. Every situation in college may not be ideal, but I will get out of it what I put into it just like White did while he was in prison. He could have ignored everyone and stuck to his first impressions in prison, but he made the best out of a bad situation. What I have learned from Neil has become a part of my way of thinking and it should. It has reminded me that everyone has a purpose in life and that even though our views may be different, we are all similar.
Through Neil White, I have learned that it is important to uphold our own personal integrity, ethics and social responsibility. These guidelines help to take a stance against things that are unfair and unjust, such as, discrimination. It is important to hold ourselves to higher standards and see each other through unprejudiced eyes. As a community, we should be accepting of all people. We are a nation built from people of all different parts of the world. Everyone has a different background and with that, being an outsider is something we all have in common.
Change is difficult, but it is something we all should consider. Reflecting upon who we are now and who we could be in the future shows that sometimes change is needed to become the person we are destined to be; a better version of ourselves. Neil has shown me to have an appreciation for what I have and for those around me. He has shown that the value of materialistic things is far less than the value of family and human contact.