Horizontal Identity In Andrew Solomon's Son

Society often views specific traits such as being homosexual or disabled in a negative perspective and says that in order to be happy, fixing these traits is the right choice. Anyone who has traits that go against social norms is not seen in a positive light and is usually shunned by society. Despite all the changes that are happening as each day passes, many still expect all people to follow old social norms and “be like everybody else.” In “Son” by Andrew Solomon, the author describes traits known as “horizontal identities” and argues that despite being depicted as something unfortunate, these traits can actually benefit those suffering from them. According to Solomon, someone with a “horizontal identity” has an inherent or acquired trait …show more content…
People who have “horizontal identities” often feel that nobody understands how they are feeling on the insider or that they are alone in the world because those who are close to them cannot comprehend their feelings. Solomon brings up the time that he was able to connect with dwarfism, another “horizontal identity” when he was having a conversation with his friend and how her daughter was a dwarf (371). He remembers that moment as “a radicalizing insight. Having always imagined myself in a fairly slim minority, I suddenly saw that I was in a vast company. Differences unites us. While each of these experiences can isolate those who are affected, together they compose an aggregate of millions whose struggles connect them profoundly. The exceptional is ubiquitous; to be entirely typical is the rare and lonely state” (Solomon 371). Solomon describes this example because he had hit the realization that people who have “horizontal identities” all connect in some way. They are all isolated from the “normal” because of their traits and somehow found a connection through their so-called flaws. While they feel isolated and alone from the rest of society, they found a group that understands through having “horizontal identities.” Davidson recalls a time when she met a girl at a recent visit to a middle who did not fit in with the rest of the students because she had a learning disability (62). She says that she “identified with this girl” because she also had a learning disability when she was in school but had a teacher, named Miss Schmidt, who believed in her (Davidson 63). She “had to memorize the preamble to the Constitution and the Gettysburg Address to graduate the eighth grade” but she failed to so Miss Schmidt gave her an alternate assignment, which ended up being the assignment that helped her