Corpus of documents on "Encounters"

INTRO :

        We have a corpus of 4 documents that correspond with the theme "Encounters" and the axis "Confrontation with difference". We will ask ourselves how does the individual reacts when confronted to differences. First, we are going to study how the individual reacts to rejection caused by his disability. Secondly, we are going to see how important support is for people who are rejected.

        First of all, we will study the extract from the book of Mice and men by John Steinbeck, published in 1937.

        The difference is constituted by several elements, one may be different in the way of behaving, but one may think oneself different from others by an element either physical or mental in other words a handicap.

        We discover Lennie, a mentally handicapped character who causes a lot of trouble anywhere and is unconsciously responsible for his rejection in society. The job is therefore unstable and precarious so, the fact of having a business is precious in the 30's when the backdrop of the United States was a catastrophic economic downturn, known as the Great Depression. To illustrate, once accepted in a farm, Lennie, because of his disability led him to commit irreparable acts, that's why he continued to be rejected by people who are themselves victims of rejection because of the color of their skin like Crooks, and their age like Candy and her dog.

        Moreover, the fourth document also illustrates the rejection caused by disability in society. This document is a short story written by Karen Lynn Vidra in 2002, entitled Accepting differences in people.

        In summary, this short story tells about a little boy who is deaf and in a wheelchair because of muscular dystrophy, who seems to be rejected everywhere he goes and is further harassed.

        In effect, the fact that his impairment is more visible than other disabilities leads him to be harassed b y people who feel they are in a position of power. But because of these actions, the person suffers many insults that begin to make him think that he is perhaps like the others described him. One can observe closed-minded people who destroy the disabled and make them lose their confidence. Society makes individuals separate into categories such as “the normal people” and the other side “the retarded people”.  

        To conclude this area, rejection due to disability affects many people and leads to mockery which sometimes causes the person to reject everything around him, even if it is a person who has wanted to support him. Now we will see that there are people who support the disabled.

        In a second part, we are going to see in the third document, a review of the film Wonder directed by Stephen Chbosky, released in 2017.

        In summary, a little boy who was born with deformity on his face, so he has a physical handicap, which contrary to what has been said before will be accepted.

        As a matter of fact, disability can lead to rejection, but it can also provide support and allow people to unite around the affected person. This movie saying that we should not rely on the outside of the person but rather on his interior, his personality for example. This film allows us to reposition ourselves in front of the handicap, it gives a moral lesson.

In addition, the second document also illustrates the benefits of disability support. Is a visual work but also a film still from the movie Elephant Man directed by David Lynch and released in 1980.  

        In brief, we are in 1884, an elephant-man is shown in a place where the surgeon finds him, intrigued by his frightening deformities, he manages to take him to the London hospital to examine it in detail.

        Indeed, it is necessary to know how to adapt to the person involved, to dialogue, to respect the habits of the latter in order to better understand and thus to help him to insert himself in the society. For the reason that the disabled have lost faith in humanity due to stalkers. To illustrate, where we see the person with a disorder seeming to be afraid by putting himself in the background as if to curl up and close himself to the world. But the surgeon full of good attentions wants to provide support and help him to better include in the society. These people allow to give back faith in humanity and to give the possibility to the handicapped and the rest of the population to live in symbiosis because everyone deserves his place.

        To conclude this area, it is important to provide support, this allows to rise up and recreate himself, which he reintegrate into society because everyone else has the right to have his place. Thus, behave like one make daily life of people with disabilities more comfortable.

        to conclude in general, every people reacts differently to the difference, perhaps the positive reaction and the negative reaction will cause many damages. Still today, we can think that difference does not only define disability, and that there are other differences such as racism, religions like muslim with the stereotype, jews in the past with Hitler, disability is not the only discrimination.

Accepting differences in people: a short story by Karen Lynn Vidra and released in 2002.

(document 4)

                The little boy sat dejectedly at a table in the school cafeteria. Even though the room was         full of         happy children, the little boy felt hopeless and alone.

        The child was quite the handsome young man with his flyaway white-blonde hair, big, bright-        blue eyes, and fair skin. He wore glasses, and he wore hearing-aids in his ears.

5        He was in a wheelchair, and he wore leg braces. He couldn't walk except for short distances--and         then, when he DID walk, he used forearm crutches. He was in a wheelchair because he has         muscular dystrophy.

        The little boy's name was Johnathon Sandusky--"Johnny" to family and friends. He was all of         nine years old.

10        The reason Johnny felt so sad and so alone was because there were kids who enjoyed nothing         more than picking on him.

        They called him HORRIBLE names--names like "Four-Eyes." "Dummy." And worse.

        Like this morning, for example. Upon getting off the wheelchair lift on the bus there was mean         old Pete Blades and his cronies, who were just WAITING for him--waiting to barrage him with 15        their cruel remarks.

        "Oh, look! There's ol' 'Four-Eyes!'" the bullies cried, laughing cruelly. "He is so STUPID! That's         why he's in the RETARD class!!"

        At this, Johnny's pale cheeks turned even whiter, and his blue eyes filled with tears. His heart         hammered in his little chest, and he broke out in a cold sweat. He was determined not to cry, but 20        he didn't make it, even when he desparately tried to blink back the tears.

        At the sight of Johnny's tears, the bullies started laughing all the harder. Louder. They began         saying things like "Aww, whatsa matter? You gonna' cwy now?" "You gonna' cry for your         MAMA??"

        Johnny knew he was "different" from a lot of the other kids at school. Most of the other kids were 25        NOT in         wheelchairs, and they didn't have trouble seeing or hearing, let alone, walking or even         learning. And--they didn't have to worry about dying.

        Johnny's disease was fatal. In time it would ultimately kill him.
                WHY MUST THEY MAKE FUN OF ME? Johnny wondered, scrubbing at the tears on his grimy         little cheeks. I JUST WANT TO BE LIKE ANYBODY ELSE----

30         It did NOT help that one of his sisters, Ronee', was a bona-fide genius. People were ALWAYS         comparing him to his sister.

        At this, white-hot anger boiled up inside him. IT'S NOT FAIR!! he said to himself. I TRY MY         BEST!!         WHY IS IT SO HARD FOR ME TO LEARN??

        Now, Johnny sat at the table in the cafeteria, alone in the midst of happy, laughing children. He 35        felt absolutely worthless. Hopelessly alone. Nobody even seemed to notice that he was even         there....This made him feel sadder and sadder.

        Then came the day when a boy approached his wheelchair. The boy smiled at him....

        This was the very first time anyone approached him in a friendly way.

                                                                                                    4.