Synthesis Essay
Nelson Mandela once said “It always seems impossible until it is done.” The story “Versabraille” by Bill Schermbrucker and the article “Blindly He Goes…Up” by Steve Rushin feature two men who don’t let their unseeing eyes stop them from achieving their dreams. Uncle Jim and Erik both share a number of qualities when facing their challenges. They both are very determined, optimistic and humorous. Jim has been actively living his life and had “thriving physiotherapy practice,” where Erik has successfully made the treacherous journey of many mountains including Mount Everest .
Being blind hasn’t stopped either Erik or Jim from doing that they desire. Both of them are very determined to conquer their goals. Though becoming entirely blind at the ripe age of 13, Erik “is a skydiver, a paraglider and a marathon runner” along with climbing the Seven Summits. Jim who “cannot remember actually seeing things” had to go into town and find houses that he never knew existed, so that those people could receive physiotherapy. He also is a leader for the blind community, trying to help make them independent. To some people it seems that they had “managed all this without a complaint or apparent difficulty” but that isn’t true. Even people that can see perfectly fine could have a lot of trouble doing facing these challenges; it doesn’t mean that Erik and Jim didn’t, it means that they succeeded because they were determined too.
Imagine everything a person does in a day, and then imagine doing that without the ability to see. It could get very frustrating. Both Erik and Jim don’t let the fact that their blind stop them from having a positive look on life. Uncle Jim didn’t let his disability stop him; instead he used it to stand up for what he believes in. He wanted the blind to stop using guide dogs because once that dog dies “it’s not easy to adapt to a new dog” and many people “homebound now” because of it. Instead of being bitter towards his blindness he used it to bring attention to a problem many people face. Erik who also faces the same challenge hasn’t let the fact that he is blind stop him from “[scaling] the rock face of Yosemite ’s el Captain, the icefall of polar Circus,” and many more dangerous and challenging adventures. They both could have let their blindness stop them from doing what they desired, and now they both continue to be optimistic about life.
Erik and Jim still have a great sense of humor, which embraces their blindness. Jim’s siblings became very jealous of him because when they were told to stop reading and go to sleep. They could hear Jim “chucking away to himself” because he “could just go on reading.” Being a teacher Erik snatched a note from a student and threatened to read it. “The kids knew [he] was blind” but still were scared because they thought that he would find out a way to read it.
