Nancy Mair’s “on being a cripple “ is a self-reflecting story about her journey through a daunting illness. She puts forward her life before and after the diagnosis of MS. Nancy represents a powerful character who does not bow to challenges. She shows us that illness is no excuse to give up what you love. She has influenced the hearts of many and inspired so many handicapped individuals to pursue their ambitions. Mairs starts her tale by identifying herself as a cripple because that’s the way she liked to be addressed. Mairs says “I haven’t always been crippled, a fact for which I am soundly grateful" Mairs indulges the audience into her life, where she never had MS and shows gratitude towards the chance of an independent life. Mairs used …show more content…
I think she did this because she wanted the reader to have full knowledge of the content coming ahead. She says “ multiple sclerosis is a chronic degenerative disease …… … . . .. .. interrupting nerve’s signals.”( Mairs , 7 th paragraph) Nancy describes her experience with multiple sclerosis, indicating how hard it is to lose your own body slowly. Mairs hated her disease and conforms to many harsh realities of …show more content…
(Paragraph,11) She explains her successful marriage and her brave children who never gave up on her. And our proud possessions, as she states “ she doesn’t have to worry about being a bad or a good cripple” when with her family. Maris shows the fullness in her life even with MS and how it hasn’t let her fall from doing what she loves. She understands that “ the self-loathing she feels is neither physical nor intellectually substantial. What she hates is not herself but a disease.” Mairs is trying to rise above the self-pity she developed and wants to be free of it. Mairs explains a journey of realization and stops defining herself with MS, but “ she was satisfied with her adjustment. She had suffered, grief and fury and terror,….but now I was at ease with her lot.” Furthermore, inclines the essay away from grief, towards the strong approach, that yes, this is the situation but it's not a reason to stop