OR blogger 3

In the third section of reading, we are introduced to Jesse, Beth’s long-time boyfriend. The mention of him seems to bring great interest to the world of Rachel’s friends, who “Initially think its just so cute, but within seconds realize with a shock that Beth has womanly longings” (109). This disbelief over Beth’s emotional capacity shows just how far society has pushed mentally retarded people away from the realm of “normality.” Rachel herself admits that fact that she doesn’t know much when it comes to Jesse and Beth. Later, after much pestering, Beth yields this information: “What I like about Jesse is He is SExey and has Sexey legs and he can ride all over on his bike and he is Smart. and a great kisser. and he is Fun. To look at. too. All the time OK now you have it” (117). This letter, though it is worded like a child’s, holds all of the emotion of a woman. Here is the proof that mentally retarded people are “normal,” it is here, in their emotions and desires. Jesse, too, gets this prejudiced crap, not only for his race, but for his status as a retarded person.

A person passing him on the street would most likely find it shocking that he is a black belt in karate. Jesse, who grew up in the slums of Georgia where hostility towards his African-American heritage was open, is used to the glaring eyes of the public. His story is retold countless times to Rachel’s flabbergasted friends, “He lost his vision in [his left eye] at thirteen, he once told me, when he was playing alone at an abandoned construction site and stepped on a pipe that swung up and slammed into his face. Although he had the wherewithal to stumble to a hospital…his sight was so damaged that he could do no more than sit, forlorn, beside the entrance” (110). This tale of hurt would seem outrageous for a “regular” human to endure, but the fact that it happened to Jesse is an entirely different thing. Most people put I his situation wouldn’t perform half as well as he did under the stress of pain and confusion, and few people could make it to the hospital like he did. Yet when passing him on the road, you would never think him capable of an act that great, or even the mastery to tae kwon do. When Rachel invites the couple out to lunch, she sees first-hand the glares of other patrons in the restaurant, observing “There’s so much separateness in this almost empty room that I can’t breathe” (116). Jesse, though, stops her from doing anything about it, by saying “People is gonna look all day, and they might say they don’t think it’s right, but it’s not really for them to judge. As long as you be nice to a person, looks don’t matter. You in this world, you gotta accept it. (116). He shows here wisdom and acceptance beyond his years, especially for one who has been through so much in his life. Here is a man who has been ridiculed, shoved around for something he cannot control, looking with perfect clarity at the cruelness of the world and accepting it, even with all of its faults.