Disability: A Particularity or a Commonality?

I don’t know if it’s just me or not, but it seems as though social issues such as feminism and racism are dominating in the social atmosphere of today’s society. Especially with the recently inaugurated President Donald Trump, these issues have become full-tilt in America. They are everywhere! To illustrate the magnitude of their frequency, just search CNN news on Google and head to CNN’s homepage. The first article that pops up is “‘This is not a Muslim ban’” with a picture of Trump holding up his executive order concerning extreme vetting.  This is just one example from the vast sea of others. Honestly, I feel like these issues are so common nowadays that they are masking other equally important issues from the public eye. Now don’t get me wrong; Feminism and racism are very prevalent and important but there are others that deserve attention. One of these issues is disability.

I have always thought of disability as something “special” or abnormal and I am pretty sure that most of you are in the same boat as me. It is almost as if our eyes are preprogrammed to unconsciously view disabled people completely different from ordinary people. It wasn’t until I read Nancy Mairs’s article titled “Disability” when I snapped out of my default unconsciousness and realized that disabled people are still people after all. Even though Mairs is disabled through Multiple Sclerosis, she still “smear[s] [her] skin with lotions,” “drive[s] a car,” and “eat[s] pizza” just like any other consumer. She sees no reason why she should be seen “just like every other woman of [her] age” (Mairs 14). She also mentions that the media unjustly only views the disabled via the disability that he or she has. It’s almost as if they walk around with signs all day explicitly stating, “I am disabled so please see me differently.” I wholeheartedly agree with Mairs. We shouldn’t just avoid disabled people. In fact, by doing so, we are the ones that are actually disabled since we blind ourselves from the commonalities of everyday life: disability.

Dreams: Do They Dry Up Like a Raisin in the Sun?

Ever since I picked up A Raisin in the Sun, I have always wondered why Hansberry included the short little poem in the beginning of her play.  Now, after reading the play, I realized that dreams are a crucial motif throughout it. Furthermore, I realized that while some dreams are accomplished, many others are left unfulfilled to "dry up / Like a raisin in the sun" (Langston Hughes). For example, Walter dreams to become wealthy and provide for his family. In fact, he wants to attain this dream of his so badly that he was willing to make a very risky investment in a liquor shop. Walter’s ill-advised decision marks the destruction of his dream as he later finds out that the money he invested has gone down the drain when Willy Harris runs off with the large sum of money Walter had invested: the $3500 Mama had given to him and the $3000 meant for Beneatha’s education. As a result, this shows the nature of the society in which Walter lives in – a society that is swayed by the thought of money which leaves the symbolic raisins of many left to dry under the unforgiving heat of its sun. This supports that fact that, contrary to popular belief, the play does not have such a happy ending as it seems to have. Although Ruth achieves her dream of moving out of the ghetto and owning better house to live in, her dream of building a happy family still is left unfulfilled as Mr. Lindner says that the family doesn’t “know what [they’re] getting into” (Hansberry 149) and the move to an all-white neighborhood is likely to cause future conflict. Thus, the once thought cheerful ending is not as happy as it seems.

Secrecy: A Motive for Murder?

After reading both The Great Gatsby and The Diamond as big as the Ritz, I noticed that even though the two stories are different from each other in terms of content, there is still the motif of secrecy present in both. For example, in The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, this motif of secrecy is shown in the form of the secretive wealth of the Braddock family: “‘We’ve got a dozen anti-aircraft guns and we’ve arranged it so far–but there’ve been a few deaths and a great many prisoners” (The Diamond as Big as the Ritz 81). Here, Percy is describing the weaponry his family has in order to keep the diamond, the backbone of his family's wealth, unknown to the rest of the world. This shows the extreme and immoral measures Braddock takes to keep his wealth a secret. The fact that he captures and imprisons "unfortunate mariners" into his dark pit solely for the purpose of maintaining the confidence of his richness is just absurd and the fact that some have even died shows how immoral one's actions can become when faced 

with enormous affluence. The fact that Braddock covers up pit of unjust behavior  with a peaceful green golf field on top strikes a comparison with how Gatsby covers up his unwanted past his is made up stories, "which weren’t even faintly true," as a facade to amplify and drastically elevate his social standing. In both scenarios, Fitzgerald demonstrates how affluence leads to immoral behavior to protect the secretive nature of one's wealth.