Nancy Mairs On Being A Cripple

The story “On Being a Cripple” by Nancy Mairs demonstrates how Mairs did not give up and tried her best to live a normal life even though she had a serious disease called Multiple Sclerosis. In the story, she often describes herself as “Crippled”. Mairs can perform many activities like writing, teaching, speaking publicly about MS and depression. Throughout the article she discusses how she had developed the MS and how this disease affected her. She explains how she accepted all the losses she came across and learned lessons from it and appreciates each day as a gift. Nancy Mairs’ essay succeed at evoking empathy rather than sympathy by showing a positive attitude toward her disease, learning lessons from the disease and support from her …show more content…
Mairs kept her positive attitude alive which led her to live a better life. Whenever she felt that she was losing to her disease, she showed the positivity which helped her to face the brutal conditions from the disease. Her positivity encouraged her to have a better life using the family support she received. At the end of the article she writes that if the cure for MS was available, she’d take it but she doesn’t need one. It reflects how she’s succeeding at evoking empathy because it shows how she is not taking an advantage of being crippled and not making other people feel bad about her. She successfully aroused an understanding in people that it is possible to live a normal life by turning the challenges into lessons, building self-confidence and with the mental and even physical support from family. Mairs’ positive attitude may encourage other disabled or not disabled people to keep more positivity than negativity and the confidence to fight for themselves. Because it’ll help them to live a better life also allows to look at things from a different