Rysn and Disability

[Dlyol]

As I haven't seen it much discussed elsewhere I thought I'd open up a thread for anyone who has thoughts on how Rysn coming to terms with the loss of her legs was handled in the book.

I, personally thought it was great, the scenes of her discussing it with other paralytic Rosharans by spanreed were heartwarming and the conversation she had with Lopen about it was - until Akinah itself - by far for me the highlight of a fine but somewhat forgettable storyline. Her frustrations with how non-disabled people treated her, her determination to not let herself be restricted and her creativity in finding ways to not let life on a ship disable her were, I thought really well conveyed. They reminded me a lot of discussions I have had with disability rights activists here in the UK about the social model of disability (that it is society that disables by being discriminatory and inaccessible) replacing the medical model of disability which implies disabled people are in some way deficient. Certainly Rysn flying around in her chair Charles Xavier style was not something I knew I desperately wanted to see until reading Dawnshard.

Anyway, that's enough for me but I'd love to hear what other's think about what seemed to me to really be the most interesting storyline of the novel.

Edited November 7, 2020 by Dlyol

[scm288]

I was really glad to see that her receiving/becoming the Dawnshard of Change did not magically heal her legs.

Instead, Brandon maintains the emotional weight of her physical struggle instead of turning it into escapism. It really fits the rest of the book's narrative about people not valuing her for who she is, but instead focusing only on her disability... Brandon was respectful of her disability and didn't turn her into a vehicle for a magical healing narrative, which would've been an easy route to take.

I don't think that healing stories are impossible to pull off, but I think Brandon's focus on getting readers to recognize the real difficulties of the disabled--and giving Rysn hope for freedom within her disability--is a better plot by far.

[LightReader she/her]

I also thought it was well done. Especially her emotional struggle against feeling like a burden or like she was worthless because of it. I have a brother who is paralyzed from the chest down, with only partial use of his arms, and he’s described his experiences in similar ways, that the emotional battle is often the hardest part. Especially in the beginning when he was trying to relearn how to deal with basic daily tasks. He’s become similarly successful too; since his accident he’s gotten a business degree, built a successful business by noticing a need, and he’s an awesome dad to three kids. I really like the idea of Rysn eventually becoming this amazing world/cosmere traveler who will pop back up in Misborn 4 because she’s a dawnshard, floating around in a futuristic hover chair with her Sleepless friends (since they’re apparently immortal). I used to think it would be good for her to get a spren and be healed, but now I’m actually really glad to hear that she won’t, that she’ll remain disabled while being super important to the cosmere.