For class this week we were to read a small portion of the Hunchback of Notre Dame. The fact that la Esmeralda is so dense is painful. And, I’m sorry, but nobody is so ugly you can’t look at them. Like, nobody. They might smell so bad you can’t stand to be near them, but unless they are literally rotting away, you should still be able to look at somebody.
Man, old writers are weird sometimes.
But whatever. The goal of the reading is to point out older writing focused on disability and how it is portrayed. One of the stories I read was The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, which is a true-life memoir of a man who got Locked In syndrome from a stroke and wrote the story while attempting to recover. I think I mentioned it before… I read it over the summer and the fact that the editors tell you right off the bat that he ends up dying kinda soured me to the work. But it was a good read.
It was also very interesting to see how Quasimodo reacts to life as a fictional character crafted by, I imagine, a human not as hideous as he is. A lot of extrapolation there, and while interesting… I wouldn’t say believable.
Ah well. It is certainly true that beautiful people have an easier life, on the whole. Maybe it shouldn’t be that way? Who am I to judge?
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!