Genetic Disorders In Margaret Atwood's Lusus Naturae

In Margaret Atwood’s story “Lusus Naturae”, she talks about a young girl who was born with an incurable genetic disorder which made her seem like a freak to everyone else. “In the daytime I stayed shut up in my darkened room: I was getting beyond a joke.” (Norton 226). She could not be in the sunlight because of the disorder, so she stayed inside her family’s house during the daytime. The house is the main setting of the story, although there are a couple other places mentioned. The girl felt her best at night since the sun was down, she explored the house, and even wandered outside. Atwood reveals a sense of place for the girl by showing how she feels at home versus being anywhere else around people. She lived in her room and never left during the day because of her disorder, so it is obvious she will always feel at home there. At night she roamed the house and hung out with the cat. “At night, sleepless, I would roam the house, listening to the snores of the others, their yelps of nightmare.” (Norton 226). After a while, her family decided to fake her death by having

She starts off talking about what she looks like and how she acts, then eventually the girl starts to accept herself. It takes the girl a while to get to the point of acceptance, there is many obstacles she has to get through. First there is her fake funeral, then her grandmother, and father died. “My grandmother died, then my father.” (Norton 227). Then her mother moved out, and then she had to convince buyers that the house was haunted. “Once the new people had moved in, it was no trouble to get rid of them.” (Norton 227). Finally the villagers found out she was still alive, then went after her with long stakes, and torches. “Now they’re marching toward this house, in the dusk, with long stakes, with torches.” (Norton 228). As they were coming after her, she starts thinking about what Heaven will be like and she finally accepts