On Being A Cripple And A Plague Of Tics

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Compare and contrast of “On Being a Cripple” by Nancy Mairs and “A Plague of Tics” by David Sedaris The two essays “On Being a Cripple” by Nancy Mairs and “A Plague of Tics” by David Sedaris are excellent pieces of work that share many similarities. This paper would reflect on these similarities particularly in terms of the author, message and the targeted audience. On an everyday basis, people view those with disabilities in a different light and make them conscious at every step. This may be done without a conscious realisation but then it is probably human nature to observe and notice things that deviate from the normal in a society. In a way people are conditioned to look negatively at those individuals who are different in the conventional …show more content…

The shocking part was his own third grade teacher who makes him very conscious and scrutinizes him all the time. She says things like “you’re up and down like a flea” and “you should take a look in the mirror sometime” (Sedaris 359). This is probably the sort of person who the disabled encounter on a daily basis and who make them conscious of the fact that they are not as normal as the others. Instead of trying to make an effort to help the helpless child, the teacher tries to rub his disability in his face. She does not understand his problem but makes the situation worse by constantly yelling at him and consequently embarrassing him in front of every body. Instead of addressing the issue, she exaggerates the issue and makes things worse for the …show more content…

Due to this disease the body is slowly broken down by affecting the central nervous system of a person’s body. The children depicted in the essay are probably an example how fellow human beings should be around a disabled person. They just view the disabled person as another human being and respect them the same way. The children are proud to associate themselves with Mairs and do not shy away from introducing her to the general public. This is what a disabled person requires: that all those around him or her should respect them for what they are and give them unconditional regard

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