Othering: A Character Analysis

Othering is a process that identifies those that are thought to be different from oneself or the mainstream, and it can reinforce and reproduce the positions of domination and subordination. In society, everyone is called normal until they find someone who is exactly the opposite. People act against others because they do not understand why they are so different. In The Book of Unknown Americans written by Cristina Henriquez, a character named Maribel was othered because she had a brain injury, though many people first say her as a normal pretty girl they would usually see on the street. Mary Anne from The Things they Carried written by Tim O’Brien was othered because she fell in love with Vietnam. Vladek Spiegelman from Maus, written by Art …show more content…
Mary Anne was originally brought for a comfort for her boyfriend Mark, but instead of being a security she began to fall in love with Vietnam. Mary Anne wants to go visit a village where the locals were. She wanted to visit the near by village, where the other men don’t want to know about the lives of the Vietnamese. The soldiers didn’t see them as human, they saw them as the others. Where she wanted to see them and find out who they are, “listen, it can’t be that bad.” They’re human beings, aren’t they? Like everybody else?” (O’Brien 96) After staying in Vietnam, she started to fall in love with the soil and Earth where she appreciated Vietnam more than the soldiers did. She left the camp one day, leaving Mark and eventually, they found her standing right in front of them, “there was no emotion in her stare, no sense of person behind it…. At the girl’s throat was a necklace of human tongues. Elongated and narrow…. ‘You just don’t know,’ she said. ‘You hide in this little fortress, behind wire and sandbags, and you don’t know what it’s all about. Sometimes I want to eat this place. Vietnam’” (O’Brien 110). Mary Anne fell in love with Vietnam, she wanted and appreciated the land more than the men did. The soldiers expected her to be afraid to go on an adventure, or to be afraid to leave the men without anyone around her. She surprised …show more content…
Maribel from The Book of Unknown Americans written by Cristina Henriquez was Othered because she had a brain injury. Mary Anne from The Things they Carried written by Tim O’Brien was Othered because she fell in love with Vietnam. Vladek Spiegelman from Maus, written by Art Spiegelman was Othered because he was Jewish. Othering is a process that identifies those that are thought to be different from oneself or the mainstream, and it can reinforce and reproduce positions of domination and