Research Guides: Humanities Fiction: Ethnicity, Gender & Sexuality, Social Class, Disability: Disability

Themes of Disability

Whether an individual has a congenital, gradual, or traumatic disability, it exerts a major influence on his or her own values and worldviews. Physical disabilities are often globally debilitating and can affect emotional and intellectual arenas. Recognizing that there is more to the individual with a disability is essential, as it will assist in disengaging the attitudinal barriers they face and will empower them to be viewed as the person they really are.--"Disability." Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Call Number: Do6741a

Marie Laure lives with her father in Paris within walking distance of the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of the locks. When she is six, she goes blind, and her father builds her a model of their neighborhood, every house, every manhole, so she can memorize it with her fingers and navigate the real streets with her feet and cane.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath; Frances McCullough (Foreword by); Lois Ames (Notes by)
Call Number: PL696b

When Esther Greenwood wins an internship, she is believes she will finally realize her dream to become a writer. But in between the cocktail parties and piles of manuscripts, she finds herself spiraling into depression and eventually a suicide attempt, as she grapples with difficult relationships and a society which refuses to take women's aspirations seriously.
Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn; Nicholas Bethell (Translator); David F. Burg (Translator)
Call Number: So49c

Examines the relationship of a group of people in the cancer ward of a provincial Soviet hospital in 1955, two years after Stalin's death.
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
Call Number: He367c

Set in the closing months of World War II in an American bomber squadron off Italy, Catch-22 is the story of a bombardier named Yossarian, who is frantic and furious because thousands of people he hasn't even met keep trying to kill him.
Cherry by Nico Walker
Call Number: Wa1536c

When the narrator returns from Iraq, his PTSD is profound, and the drugs on the street have changed. The opioid crisis is beginning to swallow up the Midwest. Soon he is hooked on heroin, and so is wife. They attempt a normal life, but with their money drying up, he turns to the one thing he thinks he could be really good at--robbing banks.
The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer
Call Number: Gr859c

Born with the physical appearance of an elderly man, Max grows older mentally like any child, but his body appears to age backwards, growing younger every year. And yet, his physical curse proves to be a blessing, allowing him to try to win the heart of the same woman three times. Set against the historical backdrop of San Francisco at the turn of the twentieth century.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Call Number: Ha1174c

Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor's dog and uncovers secret information about his mother.
Darkness Visible by William Golding
Call Number: Go569d

Hideously scarred and orphaned during the bombing of London, Matty sees himself as set apart from others, and his wanderings bring him into contact with Mr. Pedigree, a respected teacher and obsessed pederast, and Sophy and Toni, angelic-looking terrorist twins
Deaf Sentence by David Lodge
Call Number: Lo8215d

A source of friction and embarrassment, it is through his deafness that Desmond inadvertently becomes involved with a female American graduate student whose unpredictable and somewhat sociopathic behavior threatens to destabilize his life altogether.
East of the Mountains by David Guterson
Call Number: Gu982e

When he discovers that he has terminal cancer, retired heart surgeon Ben Givens decides to take his two beloved dogs and go on a last hunt, determined to end his life on his own terms. But as the people he meets and the memories over which he lingers remind him of the mystery of life’s endurance, his trek into the American West becomes much more than a final journey.
The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni
Call Number: Du8795e (Shelton)

Publication Date: 2018

Born with ocular albinism, small-town eye doctor Sam Hill must finally face a past tragedy that caused him to turn his back on his friends, his hometown, and the life he'd always known--a journey that makes him realize what truly matters.
The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing
Call Number: Le566fi

A self-satisfied couple intent on raising a happy family is shocked by the birth of an abnormal and brutal fifth child.
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Call Number: Ke5215f

Story of a cognitively challenged man whose experimental quest for intelligence mirrors that of Algernon, an extraordinary lab mouse.
Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi
Call Number: Em36f

When Ada comes of age and moves to America for college, the group of selves within her grows in power and agency. A traumatic assault leads to a crystallization of her alternate selves: Asụghara and Saint Vincent. As Ada fades into the background of her own mind and these selves, now protective, now hedonistic, move into control, Ada's life spirals in a dark and dangerous direction.
Hear No Evil by Sarah Smith
Call Number: Sm655h

Publication Date: 2022

A young, deaf woman - is witnessed throwing a child into the River Clyde from the Old Bridge. Unable to communicate with their silent prisoner, the authorities move Jean to the decaying Edinburgh Tolbooth in order to prise the story from her. The High Court calls in Robert Kinniburgh, a talented teacher from the Deaf & Dumb Institution, in the hope that he will interpret for them and determine if Jean is fit for trial.
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Call Number: Ma1395he

At its center is the deaf-mute John Singer, who becomes the confidant for various types of misfits in a Georgia mill town during the 1930s.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
Call Number: Hu874h

In the vaulted Gothic towers of Notre-Dame Cathedral lives Quasimodo, the bellringer with a hunchback. Mocked and shunned for his appearance, he is pitied only by Esmerelda, a beautiful gypsy dancer to whom he becomes completely devoted.
I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb
Call Number: La169i

Dominick Birdsey's entire life has been compromised and constricted by the paranoid, schizophrenic twin brother he both deeply loves and resents.
In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant
Call Number: Du910i

Escaping the sack of Rome in 1527, with their stomachs churning on the jewels they have swallowed, the courtesan Fiammetta and her dwarf companion, Bucino, head for Venice. But Fiammetta and Bucino’s greatest challenge comes from a young crippled woman, a blind healer who insinuates herself into their lives and hearts with devastating consequences for them all.
In the Suicide Mountains by John Gardner
Call Number: Ga174i

Unable to find a place for themselves in society, a young woman, a dwarf, and a prince journey to the mountains intent on doing away with themselves.
Jewel by Bret Lott
Call Number: Lo916j

The year is 1943 in Miississippi and life is good for Jewel Hilburn, her husband, Leston, and their five children, one of whom has Down's Syndrome.
Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo; Cindy Sheehan (Foreword by); E. L. Doctorow
Call Number: Tr7714j

Hit by an artillery shell in World War I, Joe has suffered injuries that have all but erased his humanity: he's lost his sight, speech, hearing and sense of smell. But he still has the ability to think and remember, which, in the end, may be more a curse than a blessing. Trapped in his body, Joe realizes there's only one way out of his misery. Can he get a sympathetic nurse to help him?
Life and Times of Michael K by J. M. Coetzee
Call Number: Co652L

The story of a physically disfigured young man who has worked as a municipal gardener in Cape Town.
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest by Harold Bloom (Editor, Introduction by); Ken kesey
Call Number: Ke480o

In this classic novel, Ken Kesey’s hero is Randle Patrick McMurphy, a boisterous, brawling, fun-loving rebel who swaggers into the world of a mental hospital and takes over.
Preparation for the Next Life by Atticus Lish
Call Number: Li687p

Brad Skinner hitchhikes to New York, newly returned from three tours in Iraq, hoping to exorcise his demons and remember how to have a good time. Zou Lei, an undocumented immigrant from Central Asia, catches a bus into the city, searching for a way to get by--or at least stay out of jail. A new life may be possible if together they can survive homelessness, lockup, and the young man's nightmares, which may be more prophecy than madness.
Redeployment by Phil Klay
Call Number: KL669r

Takes readers to the frontlines of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, asking us to understand what happened there, and what happened to the soldiers who returned. Interwoven with themes of brutality and faith, guilt and fear, helplessness and survival, the characters in these stories struggle to make meaning out of chaos.
The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad; Paul Theroux (Introduction by)
Call Number: Co763s

Set in London in 1886, the novel centers around Mr. Adolf Verloc, a spy who owns a small shop and lives with his wife Winnie, her mother and her mentally disabled brother Stevie, above his business.
Soldiers' Pay by William Faulkner
Call Number: Fa273sp

The story of a World War I soldier coming home with debilitating terminal injuries which have essentially ended his life as he knows it. He is treated with human kindness by some, but others are horrified and uncomfortable, and even deny his humanity.
Sophie's Choice by William Styron
Call Number: St99so

As the fierce lovemaking and fights of Nathan, a mentally ill Jewish intellectual, and Sophie, a Polish-Catholic concentration-camp survivor, intensify, Stingo, a writer who lives below them, becomes more and more involved in their lives.
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Call Number: He373s

Follows the flamboyant Brett and the physically wounded Jake as they journey from the wild nightlife of 1920s Paris to the brutal bullfighting rings of Spain with a motley group of expatriates.
Things We Have in Common by Tasha Kavanagh
Call Number: Ka172t

When fifteen-year-old Yasmin--obese, obsessive and deemed a freak by her peers--sees a sinister man watching Alice Taylor from the school fence, she becomes convinced he's planning to take her. But as Yasmin discovers more, her affections begin to shift. Perhaps she was wrong about him. And then Alice vanishes.
Tinkers by Paul Harding
Call Number: Ha2197t

George Washington Crosby drifts in and out of consciousness, back to the wonder and pain of his impoverished childhood in Maine. As the clock repairer's time winds down, his memories intertwine with those of his father, an epileptic, itinerant peddler and his grandfather, a Methodist preacher beset by madness.
The Walking Stick by Winston Graham
Call Number: Gr760w

In this 1960's murder mystery, Deborah Dainton--a trusted and highly skilled employee of an auction house--is swept off her feet by Leigh Hartly. Deborah cannot understand why Leigh would fall in love with someone who has had polio and limps noticeably. Her love for Leigh leads her down a path that endangers everything she has lived for. Set in England.
Waterland by Graham Swift
Call Number: Sw54w

A history teacher's narrative in the form of flashbacks tells the story of a teenage boy and his mentally challenged older brother living in The Fens of England with their incestuous widowed father.
The Wings of the Dove by Henry James
Call Number: Ja233wi

Milly Theale is a wealthy American heiress who has traveled to London and tries to conceal that she is facing a serious illness. It is a story of greed and deception, while also a portrait of Milly’s struggle to “achieve, however briefly and brokenly, the sense of having lived.”
The Year of Living Dangerously by Christopher J. Koch
Call Number: Ko8111y

In 1965 as Sukarno, the charismatic god-king, masks Indonesia's poverty with threats of war and gestures of magnificence. Newsman Guy Hamilton unwittingly embroils himself in the schemes of his dwarf cameraman, the brilliant and secretive Billy Kwan.