"Rufus at the Door"

Rufus at the Door

The short story “Rufus at the Door” can be interpreted as mildly disturbing and unethical in comparison to society today. Looking through the reader response lens one can compare the treatment of the mentally handicapped in the setting of the short story and to society in today’s world to see how the comparison shows what is considered ethical and unethical.  “ … Ms. Sylvesteri led us single file through the series of gloomy wards and hallways where we were smiled at, lunged at, and jeered by all manner of the mentally deficient.” (pg. 21, Rufus at the Door, Jon Hassler). In this quote we are presented with the words “gloomy”, “lunged at”, and “mentally deficient” to set the tone and setting of the insane asylum that the kids are brought to visit. Reading this leads the reader to believe that the mentally handicapped are locked up like animals, separated from the rest of society, and treated as more of cite to see rather than a human being. To a reader in today’s society where mentally handicapped are treated much differently than in the short story, this appears to be an unethical tragedy. The words “lunged at” and “jeered at” give the reader the sense that they are dealing with some sort of animal rather than a human being. This troubles a reader living in today’s society where mentally handicapped kids do many of the same things that the nondisabled kids do. These activities include play sports, join clubs, and even attend the same school. Never would someone in today’s society find it acceptable to keep the mentally handicapped locked up and away from the rest of society, never to be attend to or taken care of. Comparing the treatment of the mentally handicapped in the short story “Rufus at the Door” and today’s society is much different in the sense that today’s treatment is seen as much more ethically acceptable.

In my compositions I chose to blog about the short story of "Rufus at the Door" because that was the one that I had the least amount of changes to make. Overall everyone who read it and proofed it didn't have much to change. I did take Mr. Westrum's suggestion of adding the words "gloomy", "lunged at", and "mentally deficient" to my analysis to make it more clear and tie into my thesis better. I mainly believe this was my strongest composition because the people who proofed it were satisfied with it just the way it was.