Analysis Of The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Limitations and Restrictions: The Affect of Disabilities on Individuals
There is no problem with individuals with disabilities; the problem is society ignoring the abilities that these individuals do have. The novel The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards shows a journey of the life of a child, Phoebe, growing up with Down syndrome. The film I am Sam directed by Jessie Nelson is a story about a middle aged mentally challenged man, Sam Dawson, who is trying to fight for the rights to be the guardian of his daughter, while other difficulties appear in his life. Restrictions placed on a mentally disabled individual affect independence, ethics, and loved ones in both the film I am Sam, and the novel The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, however the …show more content…
I am Sam displays a court case in which Sam is trying to retain the legal guardianship of Lucy. This is because society deems Sam unfit to take care of Lucy. “…could not control his emotions, endangering other children. Miss Brown also cites Mr. Dawson’s mental deficiencies which raise serious questions about his ability to properly parent.” (Nelson) Ms. Brown is the judge ruling Sam’s case. Not only is Sam dealing with internal difficulties, but now he is being stripped the right to be the parent to his biological daughter. This is a situation that the law has to deal with and ethics must come into play. One situation is that Sam can win and regain custody of his daughter. However, this leads to Lucy living a low class impoverish life style, but in turn will make Sam overjoyed and give him confidence to take care of Lucy. The other situation is the government wins and Lucy is able to live a middle class quality of life, but at the expense of being separated from her father. The law treats Sam differently than the average individual by questioning his ability as a parent, and therefore limits him through prejudice. Because of this, Sam ends up losing the case, and Lucy is given away to a foster family. (Nelson) Sam is distraught by this result and goes through depression; this is an example of his disability limiting his freedom as a parent and as an …show more content…
Many individuals who do have disabilities are not deemed to be successful in life and must face challenges that the average person would not have to deal with on a regular basis. No matter what age a person is, they will face difficulties of similar nature. As for Phoebe, she was being raised into the world with a disability which posed a challenge to strive an independent life and marry the man of her dreams, enroll in school and receive a proper education, and her parents, biological and adoptive, were both constantly put into stressed. In the case of Sam, he also struggled an independent life by not being able to work simple skilled jobs, his ability to parent is questioned, and also make Lucy’s life difficult. Life is stressful and challenging for everyone, even if the individual does not have a disability. Even if a person is not diagnosed with a certain disability that does not give them the ability to be infallible. Genetically, every human being is diverse in his or her genotypes and every human being has different traits that define them. These genotypes give humans their abilities and disabilities. Each individual may not be able to do everything, restricting in his or her own