Lusus Naturae Sparknotes
Adrianna Reimer Professor Sullivan Literature 1015 18 April 2023 Lusus Naturae: Views on Mental and Physical Illness Throughout History Lusus Naturae, a short story by Martin Atwood, is the fictional story of a family and their troubling daughter. When and where the story takes place is never stated, though it can be inferred to have been a small town in Europe during the mid to late 1800s. The story is told from the first-person perspective of a young girl who is undergoing a grim and distressing change, allegedly after having contracted measles at a young age. The title Lusis Naturae, or “freak of nature,” is the label given to her by a doctor her family summoned for her (Atwood 2). Lusus Naturae is a fictional demonstration of the various …show more content…
This young girl has likely heard stories of werewolves, vampires, and other such things. She also observes that her cat seems to make for great companionship compared to her family, despite the change she has undergone. This is because cats are cats and—though they can be vicious—they are perhaps not as vicious as humans are when confronted with someone they view as different. The girl seems to know that her grandmother has garnished her door with garlic, and would also be aware that she is being fed blood. Put together with her appearance (thick dark hair on her body, blistered skin), her inability to be out during the night, and a case of Schizophrenia, all of this could lead her to believe she was turning into a cat. This is supported by what we know of a very similar and more common disorder, Clinical Lycanthropy. Children with Clinical Lycanthropy undergoing the bodily changes associated with puberty often see said changes as a sign that they are turning into a …show more content…
Her family merely isolates her in her room. The prescription given to her by her doctor would have ended up hurting her more, similar to improper treatments like bloodletting throughout history (Hajar). Lusus Naturae is a testament to the views people have historically held regarding people who are different or those whose ailments were misunderstood. It documents the way those unfortunate enough to be different were broken down into nothing more than “freaks of
Esme Delapaz Summary
1645 Words | 7 PagesEnzo was working in the garden while young Esme played nearby, chasing butterflies. A cat ran in the yard from the street below, startling Esme. Blood lurched from the cat’s mouth and it dropped dead in mid-run. Enzo jumped up, scolding Esme viciously. He took the cat and set it beside the shed while he inside to look for a shovel with which to bury the cat.
Hmong Culture
1594 Words | 7 PagesThe parent’s believed that at the incident where her sister slammed the door to their apartment, the sound frightened away her soul and thus leading to her condition. Rather than the parents seeing the illness for what it was, they viewed it from a spiritual point of view and thereby becoming equivocal and uncertain of the capability of the western medicine. In spite of the fact that they irregularly administered the prescribed dosage, they sort to treat Lia with shamanism, animal sacrifices, and their very own traditional herbal
Caesar Foreshadowing
1124 Words | 5 PagesHowever, one of these suspects sticks out to Cat- her father. Cat’s father had connections to the victim when she disappeared over a decade ago, but he lied to police about it. After hearing her father lie to the authorities, Cat knew something was weird about the situation. At the time, she was still the young age of nine so she didn’t exactly understand what this information meant.
Symbolism In Ethan Frome
737 Words | 3 PagesThe cat represents intelligent, graceful, and independent like Zeena; it serves as an implicit invisible presence in the house. It is a force that keeps coming in between Mattie and Ethan reminding them of his wife’s
Comparing Lusus Naturae And Star Wars
1074 Words | 5 PagesThe connection that I can make to Lusus Naturae a connection with the book/ film franchise Star Wars. The comparison that I can make between these two stories is in the similarities between the townspeople/ the protagonists family and the xenophobic Galactic Empire that is present in the Star Wars series. The first comparison I can make is in the similarities of the “reasonable” actions that both factions commit in order to protect themselves. In Lusus Naturae, to avoid the shame of having a diseased daughter, and all the nuisances that came with it, the protagonist’s family decided it would be easier to “kill her off” in order to avoid the ongoing shame that she apparently caused them.
Goodlife Fitness Jump Observation
716 Words | 3 PagesI understood that this meant that she wanted me to read the book with the kittens on it, and seeing as it was the only book she actually asked me to read, rather than just letting me pick from the pile, I feel confident in thinking she is interested in cats. I read a few more books until the little boy took another one and tried to sit between us. Once he sat down she got up and ran across the room and after she left he turned and climbed up the blocks to the slide. This was the only time she acknowledged anyone else in the room other than me right up until about fifteen minutes before
Genetic Disorders In Margaret Atwood's Lusus Naturae
580 Words | 3 PagesIn Margaret Atwood’s story “Lusus Naturae”, she talks about a young girl who was born with an incurable genetic disorder which made her seem like a freak to everyone else. “In the daytime I stayed shut up in my darkened room: I was getting beyond a joke.” (Norton 226). She could not be in the sunlight because of the disorder, so she stayed inside her family’s house during the daytime. The house is the main setting of the story, although there are a couple other places mentioned.
Feral Diction In St. Lucy's Home For Girls Raised By Wolf
462 Words | 2 PagesClaudette tried her best to adapt to the humans culture and all the feral children had spent months learning to assimilate into human culture. However, despite her perseverance through all these challenges, some of the wolf in them still remained. This would later cause Claudette to stand out in both societies due to the wolf characteristics that still remained (thus not fitting in with the human societies) and the human characteristics that she learned (thus not fitting in the the werewolf societies). Feral diction also appeared in the story when Claudette attempted to dance to sausalito with Kyle. When she stepped onto the dance floor, the panicked and the feral part of her returned; Russell writes, “I threw back my head, a howl clawing its way up my throat” (250).
They All Just Went Away Analysis
1474 Words | 6 PagesWednesday, October 22 Reading Response 2 “Living Will” by Danielle Ofri is about an author who is a doctor who came across a patient that is suicidal. “They All Just Went Away” by Joyce Carol Oates is about a young lonely girl who finds herself attracted in entering abandoned house and is entranced by other peoples lives and what they left by. Although these stories are very different, I believe both the authors share a similar idea, but different outlooks, of how the main characters in each essay struggle to do the right thing. “Living Will” gives us a better perspective of what doctors today have to face with their jobs. The author, Danielle Ofri, came across a severely ill patient, Wilburn Reston, which really makes her think.
Theme For Lusus Naturae
711 Words | 3 PagesTheme for “Lusus Naturae” Rejection can make one feel alone, helpless, and out of place, and it’s a feeling that can make someone feel like they are no good, or that they aren’t worthy of a good life. All throughout the story, we are given examples of how the young girl is shamed and rejected. She was never accepted for who she was and this made her do things, sometimes extreme to help out her family. She knew she would never fit in, and her actions proved just that.
The Theme Of Isolationism In Margaret Atwood's Lusus Naturae
1452 Words | 6 PagesMargaret Atwood’s short story, “Lusus Naturae” portrays the story of a woman who has to face the problem of isolationism and discrimination throughout her whole life. In this short story, the protagonist very early in her life has been diagnosed with a decease known as porphyria. Due to the lack of knowledge at the time, she did not receive the help required to help her situation. Thus she was kept in the dark, her appearance frightens the outsiders who could not accept the way she looks, slowly resulting in her isolationism physically and mentally from the outside world. This even caused her to separate herself from the only world she knew her family.
The Monster In Margaret Atwood's 'Lusus Naturae'
721 Words | 3 PagesMonsters have always been perceived as creatures with petrifying characteristics. They are often described as dire, dreadful, and horrendous. An individual deemed as a monster by an entire community must have committed atrocious acts; however, the unnamed protagonist in Margaret Atwood’s short story “Lusus Naturae” was considered monstrous by the entire faction despite neither committing such acts. The protagonist, who’s suffering from an illness called porphyria, was disdained and classified as a monster merely because of her looks—her yellow eyes, pink teeth, red fingernails, and long dark sprouting hair around her chest and arms. Even though her outward appearance is comparably peculiar with respect to the appearance of typical humans, one cannot basically imply that she is a monster.
Similarities Between The Black Cat And The Tell Tale Heart
846 Words | 4 PagesThe narrator got another cat after this and became even more insane in the way he felt about this black cat.
Lusus Nathurae By Margaret Atwood
583 Words | 3 PagesDiscrimination and isolation are major problems, and “Lusus Naturae” shows that. These are key factors in Margaret Atwood's short story “Lusus Naturae. ” There is no denying that it is evident in the story. This can be seen throughout the whole story, which makes that her theme.
Ginger Snaps Womanhood
543 Words | 3 PagesIronically, on the evening of Ginger’s first period, a werewolf violently attacked her; consequently, biting Ginger. Thereafter, within a couple of days, significant changes take place to her physique and demeanor that resemble an adolescence, as well as a werewolf. After that eventful evening, everything changed for Ginger. She made a dramatic change in the form, appearance, and character of another creature.
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