A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of - Etheses - Queen Margaret ...

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anything because the … er... the... er … the… the number of things that you can
choose here is probably pretty limited anyway... so we didn‟t present anything like a
challenge to him … so … he seems an okay guy... (l.3:876ff.)
Beyond the limited choice of accessible places to go, the business of going out for a coffee
was, on this occasion, relatively hassle-free. But the issue seems to be not whether or not
being placed within the disabled role occurred on this specific occasion so much as the
constant tension involved in experiencing this as something which might happen. In Mary‟s
experience as a partially-sighted woman this shapes decisions that have to be made every
time she enters a public place. There arises an issue of whether or not she should hide or
display her cane:
everybody wants a semblance of control
if I had my cane I‟m more likely to be actively patronised
do I draw attention to my impairment or not
you‟re made to feel a nuisance
(l.3:6ff.)
If her cane is folded away in her handbag it is likely that her impairment will not be noticed
and she will be treated normally. However, she will then have to deal with the stress
involved in passing as a sighted person to get what she wants. She has learned that
displaying her cane often leads to being treated as incompetent.
The previous evening Donald had gone to Chalk Farm tube station to await my arrival.
Donald is blind, and had been standing at the entrance smoking a cigarette when a stranger,
presumably passing in or out, stopped and told him “You‟re at Chalk Farm tube station”
(l.3:837).
Donald contends that disabled people see the world „at its most stupid‟ (l.3:447ff.) How, he
wondered, did this man presume he manages the rest of the time, without people there to
point out the obvious? (l.3:838) I suggest that this incident gives a clear illustration of the
imposition of the disabled role. Donald‟s private thoughts as he awaited my arrival and
smoked his cigarette could have ranged across a whole range of areas:
When‟s Colin going to show up... how‟s the rail strike going to be resolved... why‟s
City Airport so fucking inaccessible... I‟ll not see Mary for another six days after I