Writing against the stigma

Abstract

Wonder (2012) tells the story of ten-year-old August Pullman, who was born with Mandibulofacial Dysostosis or Treacher Collins syndrome (TCS). The disorder causes craniofacial differences, affecting cheekbones, jawbones, and frequently impeding one's hearing ability. When August, who was previously homeschooled, enters middle school, a story of societal stigma, apprehension, and discrimination unfolds. Narrated exclusively by generally marginalized child and young adult narrators, Wonder emphasizes the social model of disability and sheds light on life with and around facial disfigurement. As a work of children's literature, Wonder significantly contributes to the diversification of the discourse on facial disfigurement by detaching it from the popular literary trope of depicting evil through disfigured faces. This chapter will show how being August Pullman, a middle schooler with diverse interests, is complicated by seeing August Pullman, which is societally distorted by stereotypes surrounding difference, disfigurement, and disability. The children's novel offers readers of all ages neglected and humanizing perspectives on TCS, while also negotiating Otherness, stigma, socialization, and themes such as bullying, prejudice, self-acceptance, and friendship. By portraying the hero – and not the villain – of a work of literature as facially disfigured, Wonder attempts to reconceptualize disfigured faces while also critically engaging with the assumed norms of ableism, adulthood, and a young disfigured child's obligation to be a wonder in order to claim his place in society.