Recently I read Motherless Brooklyn, which is by Jonathan Lethem. It is set maybe 10 years ago (although to me, it feels like it was set 40 years ago). The main character Lionel has Tourette syndrome. He is part of a small, shady detective company. His father-like figure dies and he goes to solve the mystery.
Tourette syndrome comes in the form of “Tics” or involuntary movements or noises. In many cases the noises are curse words or just plain yowling. These ‘tics’ strike at odd times. Holding one back is very difficult “Like holding back a sneeze” (one man with Tourettes said). Because of this Lionel is set apart from the group. He is known as “the human freak show” (although he’s fine with that).
While many hard things happen in this book (Mobsters, murder, affairs, lies etc) the one I want to focus on is the discrimination Lionel gets because of his illness. At the heart of racism is a lack of communication. People who don’t communicate, don’t know or understand each other. And what people don’t understand, they fear. It is especially difficult to communicate with someone who has Tourette syndrome because of their bizarre outbursts. Lionel has to go on his mission with virtually no help. People who he contacts usually fear or laugh at him.
The biggest problem though, is that this is an issue in real life, not just in Motherless Brooklyn. Can you imagine if you were walking in the supermarket and you heard someone scream the f-word? It’s scary, and odd. There is no known cure for Tourette syndrome. But we can do something. If we educated the public on this problem, it will become a lot easier for the shunned people to be accepted, then welcomed. For if people knew what cuased these seemingly sick outbursts it wouldn’t be as bad. And the men and women with Tourette syndrome could begin to interact with more and more people, without fear of being mocked or ridiculed.
