My Left Foot

Christy Brown was a victim of cerebral palsy. But the helpless baby concealed the brilliantly imaginative and sensitive mind of an amazing writer. In the encouraging and touching book My Left Foot, Christy Brown shows that with perseverance you can always overcome the most severe challenges in life. In his book Christy Brown shares how his condition affected his physical and emotional development. Because of his condition Christy had to face many challenges. Even the simplest task was an obstacle for Christy. Though Christy had to face severe challenges, he never gave up on trying and facing them. Brown’s perseverance and determination led him to be one of the greatest Irish writers.

Cerebral palsy is a condition that affects thousands of babies and children each year. Unfortunately, Christy Brown was a victim of cerebral palsy. Like a kid with cerebral palsy Christy Brown had trouble controlling the muscles of his body. Not only was his body affected by his condition, but his emotional health was being affected too. As a result of his condition, Christy was not able to control any part of his body, apart from his left foot. Since Christy was born in the 1930’s the doctors at that time had thought that he would never be able to move or even think. “Many told my mother very gently that I was mentally defective and would remain so.” (Brown, 10). Christy’s condition not only affected his body, but it affected his emotion and his perception of life. “I was tormented, revolved at the very thought that I had been made different –cruelly different- from other people.” (Brown, 132). However his darkest thoughts never brought him down. Despite his condition Christy never gave up instead he faced severe challenges.

Christy was like other kids, but with some greater challenges that make it harder to everyday things. One of the biggest challenges that Christy had to face was to interact with others. He wanted more than anything to fit in and be liked. Being paralyzed was already a challenge to interact with other people, but as a consequence of his condition, Christy was also unable to talk. The fact that Christy was incapable to share his feelings made his interaction with others to be even more challenging. He wanted desperately to communicate with other and to share his thoughts. “I wanted desperately to say something, not merely to my friends, but rather to everyone, to the world as a whole. There was some inner urge to speak.” (Brown 139). He wanted to show the world that he was able to think too. Because of his determination and perseverance Christy finally was capable to communicate with the rest of the world. Not only that, he also became an extraordinary writer.

Being a victim of cerebral palsy made things difficult for Christy. He had to face severe and painful challenges; challenges that help built his personality. Even the simplest tasks became challenging. Every single day

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