61 pages • 2 hours read
Susan NussbaumGood Kings Bad Kings
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2013A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Wheelchairs
The wheelchair is a common symbol in this novel, a tool that allows disabled characters to access—or to be prohibited from accessing—physical mobility. What makes the wheelchair more than simply a vehicle for movement is that it also represents social mobility and the worth of each character based on their chair’s ability. For example, Mia—a Mexican American youth who is in the lowest stratification of society—has a “manual chair,” even though she can’t move. The lack of her physical mobility also underscores her lack of social mobility—or her ability to have a voice and representation. Joanne, on the other hand, a wealthier, middle-aged white woman, has an electric chair with various capacities that provide her with a more comfortable experience as a disabled person. Joanne is aware of this discrepancy and notes the discriminatory implications of Mia’s wheelchair:
Mrs. Phoebe said Mia wasn’t ready for a power chair. But I’m looking at her, she’s planted in this one spot all by herself, can’t move an inch on her own, can’t talk to the other kids, has to wait for a staff person or one of the kids who can walk to notice her so she can get a push. Mia looks about as ready for a power chair as anyone I’ve ever seen (14).
The “manual” versus “power” language is especially charged with labor connotations—historically represented as the have-nots who work “manually” with their hands versus the haves who hold the comfort of “power.”
The Plumed Serpent; The Center for Disabled Justice; Access Now
There are many ways this novel introduces the idea of disabled justice through the repetition of imagery and organizations related to equity and fair representation. In particular, Joanne’s fanship of The Plumed Serpent magazine is a gateway—for readers and for certain characters like Ricky and Yessenia—into the notion of equality for disabled communities. The photo of the young black “fierce” boy chained to his wheelchair during a protest recurs throughout the narrative as a symbol of strength and resistance, especially for Yessenia. Joanne’s involvement with groups like the Center for Disabled Justice (CDJ) and Access Now also serve as motifs, a pattern of organized resistance in the text against institutional oppression within the disabled community. Both groups, literally and metaphorically, stand up for the protection of disabled rights, especially at the end of the book when Yessenia begins a protest.
The idea of accessibility goes beyond a wheelchair ramp or a bathroom stall for these equal rights groups—it extends into the social realm and advocates for independence beyond assistance: “I want you to start spending time at Access Now and sign up with the Mi Casa Project. Learn some good skills, talk to other people there who moved out of institutions back into the world” (156). Here, a director at CDJ—Elaine Brown—is preparing Teddy for life beyond ILLC, acting as a conduit for social justice and empowerment. Without exposure to these magazines and organizations, the disabled patients at ILLC may have never found the inspiration to take action and demand better living conditions.
Organic Signs of Life vs. Industrial Environment
Throughout the novel, there is a subtle reference to trees—or lack thereof. In literature, trees are commonly used as signs of growth, roots, maturity, positivity, and life. The fact that ILLC is located in South Chicago—in an industrial and bleak environment without much vegetation—represents the lack of life and support there. When describing the outside appearance of institutions like ILLC, there is a sense of depression and decay, which may be interpreted as a metaphoric commentary on the morale and mood of the patients inside. Michelle describes a mental health institution as a place she would “rather die” than live in:
It’s just this beige brick building near some old train tracks that must not get used anymore […] There are some stores too, like a Denny’s and a place you can buy giant spools of wire if you happen to need a giant spool of wire, and a shoe repair store with dusty shoes in the window (190).
The signs of abandonment (i.e. “dusty shoes in the window”) highlight how little society values the disabled community by placing them on the fringes of cities and ignoring them. Importantly, Yessenia’s decision to chain herself to a tree is largely symbolic of how she is able to see past this urban dilapidation to take root in life. When she connects herself to the tree, she is rooting herself in a system of nurturing and growth while rejecting the “brick” buildings she and others like her have been relegated to. Her action sparks a network of others who root with her.
