TOW Post #7 "On Being a Cripple" Article Post

As you're well aware, we had to read one of five essays to do a rhetorical analysis paper on.  I picked "A Plague of Tics" by David Sedaris, but something felt wrong.  All the other essays seemed so sad, so alone, so unread.  Then, I changed that by reading "On Being a Cripple" by Nancy Mairs.  In this essay, Mairs descrbes her life as disabled, stressing the fact that she likes the word "cripple" more.  She says that cripple has "an honorable history" and is "a clean word, straightforward and percise".  This no-holding-back style of writing is shown in the blunt, straightforward title.  From the title, I know that this essay will discuss both the advantages and disadvantages to being crippled in society.  The difference between other authors about disabilities and Mairs is that Mairs views her multiple sclerosis as bad.  Most people will try to convince the reader that their disability has "helped" them through life and how is has made them a "better" person.  As a person with a disability, I can say that disabilities are not fun, nor do they change your life for the better mostly.  BUT, Mairs also describes how her life is normal, which makes her happiest of all.   She has a husband and children, and even with the occasional flare-up of her MS, she trudges on.  She really puts a disability in perspective.

As with most essays about disabilities, her essay relies mostly on her own narratives, such as the bathroom incident to introduce the essay.  This ethos of having dealt with the disability makes the reader trust what she says as truth, rightfully so, because Mairs has experienced MS first-handedly.  Also, the plight of a crippled person trying to survive in a society that seems to get more cut-throat every second definetly pulls at the heart strings.  An effective use of pathos can make the audience simply feel bad for Mairs.  But she establishes early on that simpathy is not what this essay is about.  "On Being a Cripple" is the tale of Mairs coming to grips with MS on her own terms. Instead of feeling bad for her, the audience cheers her on, hoping that she can forget about her MS and live like a normal person.  I mean, isn't that what everyone wants?