Being human means communicating steadily, using body gestures, words, facial expressions, and symbols. Humans make their own choices and bear penalties for them. Being humans also means one can fit into various personality, racial, religious, political, and cultural groups (Archer & Archer, 2015). Disability in literature incorporates the many aspects of being human as used in several works of literature. Disability in literature is illustrated by how humans treat each other either positively or negatively in their daily encounters. Humans are made by the traits and emotions shown to other living things. The human conditions link humans to one another and their emotional responses. Therefore, disability in literature gives a deeper understanding of what it means for individuals to be humans. This paper will discuss stigma, autism, physical and unseen disabilities, relationships, and stereotypes as part of being human. It will demonstrate how the various human aspects have been illustrated in "Forrest Gump" and John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" and other literary works. It discusses how multiple characters undergo stereotypes and stigma from other human beings. Several relationships take place in the daily lives of all human beings.
Stigma is also encountered in part of being human. We stay in a fast world at throwing stones at people we disagree with, and there is so much disagreement in society currently. Individuals confer upon the people they differ with a stigma or a spot of disgrace to terminate who they are and mainly what they may require. Most of what is identified as "other" is usually a portion of being human (Mathews et al., 2017). Stigma enables many discrimination types that eventually deny the group or person complete acceptance and decrease the person's opportunities and enforce social inequalities. Stigma tends to impact the health results by undermining, worsening, or obstructing several processes like social relationships and behavioral responses. In "Forrest Gump," characters undergo stigma, especially the ones with physical disorders. Lieutenant Dan could not overcome the initial traumatic experiences. He shows open post-stress disorder symptoms that were first triggered when he was shot, wounded, and handicapped while fighting in the Vietnam War (Roth and Groom, 1994). It was hard to overwhelm physical and emotional trauma, having been seriously injured and neared death. When Dan gets injured and survives, he must live in a place he dislikes to live in. Forrest is ripped off his bed by Dan at the hospital, and Dan screams at him for rescuing his life and blames him for getting crippled.
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In the book "Of Mice and Men," both characters and workers show signs of stigma and isolation. Candy is left wholly bereaved when Carlson takes his dog back and fires it. Candy's instant connection with Lennie and George's plan to live on their farm can be viewed as an emotional advancement due to his loss, and he gets another companion after losing the dog. Every character is isolated because of the stigma that they go through. Since Crook is black, he is avoided by the other males; he stays in his room most of the time, bitter and lonely. Curley's wife, too, is regularly harassed by her husband, who has a mean spirit (Steinbeck, 1937) . Her efforts to speak out to other males go wrong and win her the status of seducing. Curley's wife and Crook show the desire to get rid of the stigma and loneliness. Their attempts depend on Lennie, who is feeble-minded and fails to realize the two friends' social stigma.
Unseen disabilities are in capacities that are not straightaway obvious and incorporates several unrecognized disability disorders. The disabilities could comprise chronic conditions like sleep disorders, diabetes, and renal failure if the illnesses considerably ruin regular activities of everyday living. Persons with invisible diseases like sleep disorders and chronic pain are usually alleged to imagine or fake their disabilities. Other examples of unseen disabilities include social anxiety, epilepsy, depression, cystic fibrosis, sealed head injuries, and fibromyalgia. Additionally, most people with unseen disabilities can undergo inhuman treatments from other people. In Forrest Gump, the mentally ill young male worked his way into many different ancient events and became somewhat the punchline, specifically mental disabilities. Lieutenant Dan got disabled late in his life in the Vietnam War. He crosses off many of the boxes seen among disabled stories today (Roth and Groom, 1994). Dan is introduced to the audience as a leading illustration of maleness, and the heroism is eradicated when he lost his legs. Forrest Gump relies on government while learning and finds nothing excusable with the unseen disability.
Of Mice and Men gives encounters of both disabled and neuro-typical characters. Lennie exhibits learning complications and has several characteristics of autism. Even though the novella is addressed as a contemporary classic, Lennie's features are portrayed as un-human via several explanations of him like an animal. Lennie is described as growling, moving like a bear, strong like a bull, having paws, and sipping like a horse. Persons with rational impairment have no inherent privileges to be treated well than non-human creatures with the same cognitive working. Lennie is truly un-human and has a small claim on humanity (Steinbeck, 1937) . Steinbeck creates a domain where people are part of nature, with less human agency efficient in affecting their lives, and someplace the characters are driven like tumbleweeds in a barren and sandy land.
Stereotype entails the beliefs and knowledge of the perceiver concerning a social group and the members. The human brain is susceptible to undesirable stereotypes, and it responds most intensely to information concerning disapprovingly described groups. Therefore, stereotyping is part of being human. Positive groups get treatments as favorable groups better than equivalent hostile groups. In Forrest Gump, the projected meaning is that pleasure is attained via experiencing and accepting life challenges. Forrest shows his ideal lifestyle; he reinforces his mode of happiness to the people by repeating, "life is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're gonna get" (Roth and Groom, 1994) Therefore, Forrest is a stereotypical, less intelligent, and athletic man in love with his longtime best friend. Forrest opens up about his feelings, a female character that he keeps hidden to remain stoic. Little Forrest made outstanding achievements with the fear of being bullied and insecure when he could not walk well with props on the legs. Forrest was satisfied for being with his loving people, who encouraged him to face his fortune. He became famous and rich for living comfortably and having caring people around him.
In the book "Of Mice and Men," John Steinbeck uses stereotypes to deliver his meaning as he needs to sympathize with the characters being humans. Steinbeck incorporates stereotype characters like George, Lennie, Slim, Crooks, Candy, Curly, and his wife. He purposes to inform the audience how life looked like for a refugee employee during the 1920s and 1930s. Migrant laborers had the stereotype of tough workforces that are anxious for cash. Most of the migrant employees were strong while some were not, for example, George and Lennie. Lennie was dumb but firm, while George was smart but not very strong. Just like George and Lennie, all refugee laborers needed their plots to cultivate (Steinbeck, 1937) . They were independent and had a few belongings. Lennie could not do a lot for himself, and he was less smart. He needed to be informed of what to do, or he would not do a thing at all. Finally, George places Lennie away from his despair and shoots him.
As human beings, our relationships with other individuals are essential to our survival and our emotional and mental wellbeing. Being human includes the longing to be close to other persons. A constructive relationship could be shared among two persons who support, inspire, aid, and love one another virtually and emotionally. "Forrest Gump" illustrates the relationships of Forrest. Forrest goes through his childhood with Jenny, who was his only and best friend. His mother teaches him the ways of living and lets him select his fortune. When Forrest joins the army, he makes new friends named Bubba and Dan and inspires others to jog. But this was no relevant to him as he was only thinking of his childhood lover Jenny Curran (Roth and Groom, 1994). Relationships and relationships are the core of Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men." Lennie and George have the central relationship in the novella. George is patient and responsible like Lennie's older brother. On the other hand, Lennie is somehow a gentle giant and mentally handicapped. It appears that every person is searching for a relationship. Crooks, Candy, and Curley's wife need a person (Steinbeck, 1937) . Curley's wife and Crook befriend Lennie while Candy gets friendship in George and Lennie. All the relationships are delicate as well, particularly to outside powers. It is seen when Carlson asks Candy to allow him to fire his dog. Additionally, when Lennie does anything incorrect, they have to pack and go to another place, which irritates George. No matter how close George was to Lennie, he does not protect him when he wronged Curley's wife. George does not save Lennie, and he goes ahead to shoot Lennie. George ends up losing Lennie, his companion, while Curley loses his partner; therefore, it ends badly (Steinbeck, 1937) . George feels lonely after killing Lennie and recognizes that the dream might not come to pass. Every person was very mutually dependent on each other for the objective of getting a farm, that when the others passed away, the dream might become a one-time thing.
Autism is a natural variation among human beings. Despite the many negative narratives about autism, most people know that autism conditions come with many valued talents and skills and the workstation and elsewhere. Forrest Gump unintentionally demonstrates autism in characters with the identification of Asperger's syndrome. He does not often show socially proper behavior. Forrest fails to create eye contact; he has particular interests and could regularly ramble on, speak in intonations as is usually linked to Asperger's syndrome. Forrest also shows that he thinks literally, which leads to the funniest moments in the film (Roth and Groom, 1994). In "Of Mice and Men." Lennie is autistic; he gets extremely absorbed and passionate over some things and could not pay attention to another thing. For instance, George informs Lennie that they will make their farm with animals, and Lennie will incline to the rabbits. After being told this, Lennie is continuously fanatical and entirely obsessed with the notion of having the ranch in progress. Lennie seems to have an excellent memory to place things but imperfect remembrance of everything else (Steinbeck, 1937) . Lennie forgets so many things that he does not reason about in a short while, but there are things he altogether recalls for a lengthy period. He identifies most things that George informs him concerning dreams and hopes. These are traits of autistic.
In conclusion, disability in literature gives an evident appreciation of what it means to be human. Being human is illustrated in relationships, stereotypes, autism, stigma, and both unseen and physical disability. Various forms of relationships among human beings have shown humanity. Individuals can live and connect for many reasons. They can make personal decisions and help each other in times of need. Besides, All humans are bound to stereotypes. The human brain is susceptible to undesirable stereotypes, and it responds most intensely to information concerning disapprovingly described groups. Therefore, stereotyping is part of being human. The world is full of issues of stigma in all areas and places of work. Stigma brings about various impacts to those who face it, and some can end up in depression due to the high rate of the stigma that they go through. Most people with unseen disabilities can undergo inhuman treatments from other people why those with physical disabilities may receive compassion from other human beings. Therefore, disability in literature incorporates the many aspects of being human and should be embraced.
References
Archer, M. S., & Archer, M. S. (2015). Being human: The problem of agency . Cambridge University Press.
Matthews, S., Dwyer, R., & Snoek, A. (2017). Stigma and self-stigma in addiction. Journal of bioethical inquiry , 14 (2), 275-286.
Roth, E., & Groom, W. (1994). Forrest Gump . Paramount Pictures.
Steinbeck, J. (1937). Of mice and men . Camberwell, Vic.: Penguin.
