Essay 1

FINAL DRAFT

Madeline

Mr.Salsich

16 September 2009

English 9

Disabled Joy:

An Essay about Randolph Bourne’s “The Handicapped” and How it Relates to My Life

It seems that the human race’s one common goal is happiness. To some, the pursuit of this aspiration is an arduous marathon, littered with obstacles and sorrows, while to those others, the lucky, enlightened ones, it is not a pursuit at all, but instead a treasure that has already been found. We each travel a different road to reachcontentment. “The Handicapped,” by Randolph Bourne, is about the author’s own especially challenging search for happiness, and his essay reminded me of something that happened to my mother a few months ago.

TS The theme of this essay is happiness, especially how it can be found by those “whose deformities are merely enough to mark him [or her] out from the rest of his [or her] fellows." SD These people, who are physically deformed, but still very capable in mind, often have a grueling journey on the road to happiness. CM Bourne tells of his own barriers on this road: how he often felt isolated and avoided, even though acquaintances tried to include him in ordinary activities;he was “in the world, but not of the world.” CM Since we ordinary humans often find it so difficult to see through the wall of a strange or ugly appearance, many deformed people might feel as though they are destined to a lifeempty of gladness and friendship and full of woe and desolation. SD However, Bourne’s essay is not all gloom, and the theme shines through, as he explains how he found the escape from themurkiness of the melancholy. CM The author tells how broadening his views in the areas that interested him, and accepting that he is not the strongest or most handsome, brought fulfillment into his days. CM Knowledge and acceptance allows the handicapped person some self-respect and dignity, which in turn gives a nudge towards a state of mind free from distress. SD Bourne shows us that looking attractive and having fancy, expensive objects are small-minded attempts at filling the space that should be filled inside, not outside, oneself. CM The things that will let us bask in the golden glow of contentment cannot be purchased. CM Instead, what truly matters in the end are the things one has done for his or her fellow man, and the things one has learned, and all the thrills one has experienced while attempting to achieve “artistic [and mental] talent.” CS So, through Bourne’s essay, handicapped people are able to see that genuine happiness is not impossible, and that they can even count their deformity as a blessing, “for it has made impossible to him [or her] at last the many things in the pursuit of which he [or she] would only fritter away […] time,” and let in the satisfaction of doing things one wants to do.

TS While reading “The Handicapped,” the memory of something that happened to my mother floated through my thoughts, and I realized I had unearthed the perfect example of a very happy handicapped person in my life. SD A few months ago, my mother was waitingin a corridor, with her head bent and body slouched in fatigue, and a man walked past her; as he passed, he exclaimed, “Cheer up! You’re pretty!” CM We later learned this man’s name is Scott, and though he has obvious physical and mental handicaps, they do not hold him back in the least, seeing as he is able to spread light with such ease. CM My mother’s entire day changed, and she was completely uplifted and even astonished by Scott’s distribution of happiness. SD I think this event is a wonderful exhibit of Bourne’s ideas about the handicapped and how they can find happiness, and perhaps even glow with happiness at a much higher level that any attractive, able-bodied man or woman. CM I think that, had any ordinary person passed my mother in the hallway that day, her despondency would have rubbed off on them, and they would have spent the rest of the day wallowing in dreariness. CM The exact opposite happened with a handicapped man, and this shows that handicapped people, perhaps by the means expressed in Bourne’s essay, can reacha living heavennot often found byunhandicappedpeople. SD Maybe Scott realized what Randolph Bourne discovered. CM Maybe he learns all he can, and delights in the knowledge, and helps other people as much as he can, and delights in those droplets of happiness he pours into a vast dark pool of discontent. CM I feel that Scott must be able to count his deformities as blessings, because he knows how to be happy and make others happy. CS AS I remember the amazed joy my mother told me she felt on that day, I know Scott proves that Randolph Bourne’s journey to gladness is one that ispossible and presentin my life.

Each day, we continue forward to our mutual destination: happiness. The trip is abysmal for some, while others overcome the sadness that impedes their journey, like Randolph Bourne. “The Handicapped,” and Scott, show us that we do not have to suffer a lifetime of sadness: happiness can be found, no matter if we try our hardest physically or mentally. Happiness can be found.