Rufus at the Door

In the short story, Rufus at the Door, Rufus was only seen as the label he was given: a moron. Examining this story through the Post-Colonialism Theory,  the overall message being communicated is that the narrator realized Rufus was harmed by the institution because it labeled Rufus as sick and repressed him (as well as all of the patients labeled mentally ill).  The author presents a social setting that a narrator is reflecting on, in which it is considered normal to label people with mental disabilities with a variety of terms.  “ As though reading labels at the zoo-- calling out the categories: “These are morons, class, and over there you have the imbeciles. In the next room they are all insane.” (Hassler 22)  The narrator of the story described his teacher, Miss Sylvestri, as someone who controls what the students think about why people are institutionalized.  Miss Sylvestri is a dominating power in this social setting because she teaches the students that this is the correct and normal way to look down on, try to change, repress, and even eliminate the patients from society.  The field trip to the mental institution is seen as a perfectly reasonable student activity; no one questions such an outing, and no one questions the way patients are only referred to as labels and not by actual names.  At the beginning of the story, the narrator describes Rufus as a mentally disabled man who is healthy and content with his life.  After being institutionalized,  Rufus has changed, and the narrator noticed Rufus does not look as healthy as he once did.  At this point, the reader comes to an understanding of the character vs. society aspect of the story.  Both the narrator and Rufus are up against a society that locks mentally ill people out of the community, which in Rufus’s case, made him struggle more than he did being included in the community.

When revising my composition I first started using New Criticism Theory, but I felt I would have an easier time using Post-Colonialism.  I wasn’t really able to fully comprehened how to use New Criticism to analyze Rufus at the Door.  Due to this problem, my first thesis was not very specific about what I would analyze in the writing.  My thesis stated how a person can comprehend the larger message in the story, but failed to include what that actual message is, which I fixed in the second draft.  This composition became my strongest because I feel I came up with a much better thesis and used my evidence earlier in the composition which I think helps draw in the reader.  Once I understood what I was trying to write about it became easier for me to say things clearly.  I was able to use Post-Colonialism theory to answer the question, “Who’s in charge and why?”(Westrum lit theory slide 17).  I used this story because I think it sends out a deeply impacting message, even though it is a depressing story.