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A Review Of Russ Rymer's Genie: A Scientific Tragedy

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The author, Russ Rymer, brilliantly tells us the melancholy story of a little girl named Genie who endured much pain and misery throughout her early life. Genie is not her real name, but her scientific alias. Genie suffered through a horrific childhood being beaten and isolated from the world. She had a mother and a father. Her father, Clark, was very abusive to Genie and caused her a lot of pain. When Genie was born, the pediatrician noted that Genie was "slow." After hearing this news, Clark was convinced that since his daughter was retarded, she needed his protection from the world. To Clark, this meant locking Genie in a room, strapping her to an infant potty seat, and isolating her completely from the outside world. Genie had little contact with anything outside her room for the first thirteen years of her life. Sometimes Genie would be forgotten about and very hungry, so to …show more content…

The power of language was an important theme in this book because Russ Rymer conveys how language is a powerful tool to have and to be able to use. Language allows us to express ourselves, our feelings, our opinions, and our stories. In Genie: A Scientific Tragedy, Susan Curtiss discusses the significance of language and its special power. She says "‘It allows us to cognize, to think, and that's important to me, because I'm that type of person. It also allows us to share ourselves with others—our ideas and thoughts. And that provides a huge part of what I consider to be human in my existence’" (Rymer 220). Additionally, this was the meaningful quote from the book because it showed me how important language is and how influential it is. Overall, Russ Rymer rendered a compelling and poignant story about an inspirational little girl, and this story taught me a valuable lesson that has the ability to impact my

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