Graduation Semester and Year

2012

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in English

Department

English

First Advisor

Stacy Alaimo

Abstract

In 1985, Dr. Richard Bruno, a post polio syndrome specialist, conducted a study on the personality traits of polio survivors, ultimately concluding that polio survivors have a significantly higher incidence of reporting overachieving tendencies than both people who did not have polio and people who have other, even similar, disabilities. The idea that polio patients were overachievers, however, has been a common theme in a variety of works, from memoirs written by polio patients to medical journals, since the epidemic period. If polio survivors were more likely, as both Bruno's study and the great wealth of anecdotal evidence supports, to possess overachieving tendencies than both the general American population and those with other disabilities, then one important question must be asked: what makes polio different? In my paper, I answer this question by arguing that polio was not merely a disease, or simply a cause for disability. Rather, polio was an important cultural aspect in early to mid-20th century America. Due to many factors, including the terrifying effects of the disease, the spontaneous epidemics, and the high-profile polio case of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, polio became a deeply engrained cultural emblem in twentieth century America and left those who had polio to enter into not only the culture of polio but into what I am calling "the overachievement rhetoric of polio." This rhetoric, based on the supposed healing of FDR, the unpredictable nature of the recovery of polio, and on society's erroneous expectations of what a polio patient could accomplish in terms of recovery (based FDR's seeming recovery), was pushed onto polio survivors by medical staff, families, and in many cases, themselves, encouraging polio survivors to become overachievers and Type A personalities. My paper focuses primarily on the language surrounding polio and how this language encouraged polio survivors to believe and attempt a full recovery from polio, a task that was often physically impossible. In my paper, I also examine in depth FDR's polio case, including how he portrayed his disability, public perception, and the effects FDR's polio had on others with polio. I also examine fundraising material from the mid-twentieth century, in particular, the March of Dimes campaign, which I argue casted polio survivors simultaneously as weak, helpless victims and as strong fighters, who, with enough effort and rehabilitation, could become fully able-bodied again and avoid the label of "crippled." My paper also relies heavily on the accounts of polio survivors, using memoirs, narratives, and other personal testimonies to examine the language, the expectations, and the thoughts of those living with the effects of the life-altering disease. Finally, I turn my attention to disability theory and history, examining how society's views towards disability have changed over time, as well as focusing on the overachievement rhetoric that influenced both mid-twentieth century attitudes towards disability and the effects this language had on those with disabilities.

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | English Language and Literature

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

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