Message Received: An Examination of Disabled Voice, Choice, and Understanding in Susan Glickman’s The Discovery of Flight and Lynn Coady’s Watching You Without Me

Abstract

This thesis examines how disabled voice, agency, and understanding are represented in two Canadian novels: Susan Glickman’s The Discovery of Flight and Lynn Coady’s Watching You Without Me. Using a framework that I call the “Pendulum of Understanding,” I explore how characters with physical and intellectual disabilities are listened to (or not) by those around them, and how this affects their narrative presence and autonomy. Through close reading and the lens of disability studies theory, I argue that while both novels attempt to centre disabled characters, the type of disability significantly impacts how voice is facilitated and understood. Libby, a physically disabled character with access to assistive technology, is given narrative space and agency. Kelli, who has an intellectual disability, is often filtered through the assumptions of others. This comparison reveals a broader discomfort with voices that require a form of intellectual facilitation, and a tendency to either neglect or assume understanding. Ultimately, this project calls for a more nuanced, ethical approach to imagining disabled voices so that knowledge and humility are balanced to achieve appropriate understanding.