Fear of the Unknown

Fear of the Unknown

In our society madness is not very well accepted by the vast majority. I believe that the reason for this unacceptance is because we, the typical person, do not fully comprehend the concept. What we seem to not fully understand is that individuals who are considered “mad” or crazy can be very normal. This is all a matter of acceptance and opportunity that we must show to allow those individuals to know that they are accepted in our society. We must face reality and not fear the unknown because some of those “mad” individuals can be our neighbors, friends, or even family.

In Salman Rushdie’s book of short stories, “Fast, West” his short story, The Harmony of the Spheres, Rushdie writes about a man who is insane, the main character, Elliot Crain suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. Elliot is a writer who has a wife and friends and seems to be a normal individual, but this is only one side of him. On the other hand Elliot is an unstable and compulsive man who believes that a woman named Lucy is listening in on him by hiding a microphone in the butter. When asked why we lose our minds, Elliot’s response was well put, “A simple biochemical imbalance,” (pg. 134).

Rushdie titles his story The Harmony of the Spheres, because Elliot seems to balance his brain’s hemisphere fairly well. This eventually comes to an end when Elliot begins taking medication for his schizophrenia. “The drugs are working, the drugs are not working … he seemed better as long as he did not try to write …” When Elliot took medication he was unable to do what he loved doing; writing.” … he seemed worse because not writing plunged him in such deeper depression, he was passive and inert, he raging and violent, he was filled with guilt and despair,” (pg. 128).

Elliot's lifestyle soon becomes too overwhelming for him to handle, and Elliot eventually places his mind to rest by committing suicide. It was unfortunate because although Elliot suffered from schizophrenia he seemed to live a pretty normal life with the exception of his mental attacks. If his condition might have been better understood maybe Elliot would be writing one of his novels right now.