By definition, an outcast is "one who is cast out or expelled; rejected as useless"(Webster's Dictionary).The term "outcast" can be used to describe many of the characters in the novels Black L:ike Me, My Left Foot, and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. These characters were expelled by society because of their physical and mental disabilities. The reader is presented the stories from the outcasts' point of view. It is this outlook that creates a sense of compassion for the characters as it is made clear that every person is useful.
             My Left Foot tells the life story of a man named Christy Brown who is suffering with Cerebral Palsy. Christy struggles to lead a normal life. He is able to go out and play like the other kids when he had his "chariot", but after it breaks Christy realizes the severity of his handicap. He is forced to stay home. Although Christy is aware of his disability and the restrictions it places on him he still makes an effort to perform tasks which most would think impossible. This is clearly shown when Christy wants to try and swim.
             This is one time when Christy was able to overcome his disability and prove that he was a capable person. Throughout the novel Christy fights to disprove the diagnosis the doctors placed on him as a child. QUOTE. It is not until the end of the novel, when the first chapter of his autobiography is written, that Christy is able to prove to the world that despite a physical sickness he is a capable person.
             In the novel, Black Like Me John Howard Griffin speaks of what it is like for a white man to live as a black man in the 1950's. He becomes an outcast for physical reasons as well. He is an outcast because he is black. There is no disability that prevents him from living a life that is similar to the "white man" (36), it is only the color of his skin. When Griffin first becomes a black man he too cna on
             ...