Paradoxical Situations

          This week we wrote an essay based on Nancy Mairs's piece on the word 'cripple' and how it applies to disabled people. Throughout the passage, she asserts her annoyance of how disabled people are perceived as weak and pitiful by society. Mairs establishes herself as a dignified woman with multiple sclerosis who is able to maintain pride with herself, condition and all.
          Certainly, it is always difficult to know how to act around people  afflicted with disabilities. Being overly solicitous comes off as condescending and irritating to the person affected. On the same token, attempting to interact normally with someone disabled ignores any special attention he or she is accustomed to. Therefore, it is highly possible that if people paid no attention to Mairs and treated her as normal, she would still be affronted by the lack of respect shown.

          This sort of paradox is also displayed in Annie Dillard's "The Chase". Dillard begins the narrative by describing her joy in throwing snowballs at oncoming cars. When a man from one of the cars gets out, he chases Dillard and her friend across dozens of snowy backyards. During the chase, the man is temporarily converted to a childlike figure willing to play with the others. When he finally captures the kids in order to scold them, Dillard recounts being let down that he reverts to his typical adult self. However, if the man had really been a child with no intention of punishment, there would have been nothing extraordinary about the journey across the neighborhood. In this way, whether or not the man acts his age is a source of disappointment to Dillard who reveres this lively adult as a miracle.