He told the others in the village Now theyre marching toward this house, in the dusk,

with long stakes, with torches Ive put on my white burial dress, my white veil, as befits a
virgin The twittering voices are very loud: its time for me to take flight. Ill fall from the
burning rooftop like a comet, Ill blaze like a bonfire (par. 37-39). In her glorious departure, the
main character in Margaret Atwoods Lusus Naturae epitomizes the effects of social rejection
caused by visible disease. The main character in the short story who remains unnamed and
will be called Lusus during the course of this paper suffers the effects of rejection from society
and her family because of her diagnosis of Lusus Naturae (Latin for: Freak of Nature) or in
common terms porphyria. Not until the very end does she find the acceptance she seeks and
only through her death. She showcases her stages of acceptance through her dresses, which
change progressively through the story. Lusus also demonstrates her lack of acceptance, and her
attempted resignation to that fact, through her general mannerisms, such as her speech patterns
and actions.
In a footnote provided in the text, porphyria is defined as:
A group of usually incurable genetic disorders disrupting the bodys
production of heme and thus hemoglobin (the protein that makes blood
red); symptoms of the diseases more acute forms include insomnia,
hallucinations, acute light sensitivity, excess body hair, reddish teeth,
painful skin conditions, even dismemberment. Such symptoms, as well as
certain blood-related treatments, have led some to propose porphyria as an
explanation for vampire legends, but such theories have been repeatedly
debunked. (par. 9)
As visible from this description, porphyria is a severely visible disease, and sadly, it is no wonder
she suffered from a lack of acceptance with the gross visible symptoms of the disease. The story

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appears to be set in the 1800s, based on descriptions of clothes, the fact that the town is called
the village, and because of the pitch-forked mob at the end of the story. Characters include: the
unnamed, female main character (who will be called Lusus here); her sister who was more
worried about being married than her sisters suffering (par. 14); Lususs grandmother who
blames the disease on a supposed curse (par. 3); the father who counters both the grandmother
and the doctors unsupported claims, The doctor says its a disease Shes a human being,
said my father, (par. 7, 12); and her mother, the only person willing to care for the girl, though
not forever, shed been in the habit of hugging me and weeping; but she was past that now.
She came and went as quickly as she could, (para. 22).
Lususs family is the first to abandon the young female. It was decided that I should die.
That way I would not stand in the way of my sister, I would not loom over her like a fate, (par.
17). When she dies, she is placed in a white dress with white veiling. This white dress seems
to symbolize her death not her fake death in the plot rather the death of her acceptance by
society. She would no longer have any contact with anyone outside of the family for the most
part she is even ignored by her family and she is only allowed out at night when she has run
of the house, and then the run of the yard, and after that the run of the forest, (par. 23). Though
it is not surprising, it is saddening to see, as according to an article on disability and social
rejection (applicable to this paper), disease/disability elicits distinctly negative and anti-social
reactions as well. These negative reactions are evident in emotions such as disgust and anxiety, in
attitudes and judgments such as the tendency to blame individuals for their disabling conditions
(Park, Faulkner and Schaller 2).
As the story progresses, the father and grandmother die, the sister marries, and the mother
sells the house and moves out. This situation proves an issue for Lusus as it threatens to expose

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her, however, she solves this issue by becoming an apparition, then another; she becomes a rednailed hand touching a face in the moonlight; she is the sound of a rusted hinge, until the
house becomes her own (par. 29). During this time, when people run from a half-glance at her,
she takes to wearing a black dress. She wears it constantly, as she scares locals to keep them
away from her house and steals eggs and potatoes from the neighboring farms for food. The
dress she wears symbolizes her continued loss of humanity as her disease progresses. When
looking in a mirror, I saw something, but that something was not myself: it looked nothing like
the innocent, pretty girl I knew myself to be, at heart (par. 29). She, for the first time, sees what
everyone else sees, her disease, not her innocence.
Her mistaken attempt at trying to join a couple in the woods, fully exposes Lusus. When
she approaches, and subsequently bites the young male, He woke up, he saw my pink teeth, my
yellow eyes; he saw my black dress fluttering; he saw me running away. He saw where (par.
36). Which brings the reader back to Lususs white dress and veil, the same dress she wore to
her funeral. The one she wears as she soars through the sky from her roof, towards the Earth and
the mob which readies to kill her for being a monster a devil. She leaps from the roof of
her burning house, wearing the one dress, accomplishing the only act that could most completely
symbolize her innocence and the cruelty of a world that could not accept her for herself. All
while her sister participates in the approaching mob, ready to help in bringing her own sisters
early demise. This moment, as Lusus blazes like a comet (par. 39), she looks forward to seeing
heaven; Perhaps in Heaven Ill look like an angel. Or perhaps the angels will look like me.
What a surprise that will be, for everyone else! Its something to look forward to (par. 40).
Only reinforcing her purity and good nature in a world that could never accept her because of her
physical appearance cause by her diagnosis of porphyria.

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The story Lusus Naturae by Margaret Atwood, clearly demonstrates societys rejection
of individuals with disorders and diseases through the actions of the townspeople, though mostly
through the actions of the protagonists family and the dresses she wears. She wears black
dresses mourning clothes when she is the most rejected and when she loses acceptance both
by her family and the townspeople. She wears pure white to prove her inability to change her
disease (her curse), her innocence in everything that transpires through the course of her life.
Lusus was truly unable to change anything, and in the end, resigns herself to her fate and leaves
before society the townspeople and her sister could completely cast her out; before they
could remove her themselves.

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Works Cited

Atwood, Margaret. "Lusus Naturae." Mays, Kelly J. The Norton Introduction to

Liturature. New York: Norton & Co., 2013. 224-28. Print.

Park, Justin H., Jason Faulkner and Mark Schaller. "Evolved Disease-Avoidance
Processes and Contemporary Anti-Social Behavior: Prejudicial Attitudes and
Avoidance of People with Physical Disabilities." Journal of Nonverbal Behavior
27.2 (2003): 65-87. Web. 24 February 2016.