The Speed of Dark by Kendra

The Speed of Dark by Kendra - April 2014 Scholarship Essay

Lou Arrendale is among the last of his kind.

A high-functioning autist, his generation was the last before the development of a cure to the psychological condition known for decelerated language development, unusual reactions to stimuli, skewed interpretations of the world, and the flimsy formation of relationships.

As the narrator of much of his story, The Speed of Dark (Moon, 2003), Lou is an interesting communicator. Because of innovative teaching aids and learning methods, he functions reasonably well in the midst of everyday people, though he often struggles with the social norms and emotional cues that his peers take for granted.

Now 35 years of age, he has found work at a biomedical firm that employs a team of autists for their remarkable pattern-recognition abilities. However, when a hostile new manager takes control of his department, Lou is faced with an existential crisis: Should he take part in an experimental procedure that will “cure” his condition but also irrevocably change him?

These questions spotlight the fine line that separates handicapped from normal and disability from ability. Is Lou actually “sick”? Does he really need “cured”? After all, he has found a place in several social groups, including a fencing class in which he is fast becoming the star pupil. He’s even fallen in love with his fencing partner, Marjory, a young woman who clearly feels the same way about him – though Lou’s frame of mind and incredulity keep him from seeing this.

After a progression of plot twists and much introspection, Lou decides to undergo the procedure. He is reduced to a virtual state of infancy and must relearn everything. In the end, he is no longer a stranger to social norms and emotional cues, no longer conscious of the background patterns that form our reality, and no longer in love with Marjory. In short, he is no longer Lou – but he is “cured.”

I think The Speed of Dark is a riveting novel that explores the boundaries between normal and handicapped, ability and disability—a topic that I am quite intrigued by. I felt connected to Lou as he struggled with his identity and searched for his role in society. This book asks some tough questions: What is normal? How does one weigh the value of identity in the face of progress? And what is the speed of dark? In the end, these questions are left unanswered. Or, rather, the author leaves it to the reader to draw their own conclusions.

So, here are my conclusions. We all view the world through different paradigms. By asking the question “Who is normal?” I can’t help but feel that we do not have the right to determine who is and isn’t. Let’s be honest, Lou’s paradigm was and is very different from mine, but he had a lot to offer his company and his friends. His autistic framework gave him a view of the world that was both profound and necessary. Who am I to say that this is abnormal?

Seeing Lou grapple with his identity over the course of the book made me realize that one must be secure in one’s identity if he/she is to withstand the pressures of “progress”, changing ideas, and changing times. In the end, Lou underwent the procedure and essentially restarted his development from square one. I think, because he wasn’t secure in his identity and because he was bothered by the opinions of others, he could not have been content as an autist. This was exacerbated by a pervasive thought that his autism was “holding him back.” So, even though he lost the chance at true love, I think he could not have been truly happy with Marjory with so many cracks in his identity foundation.

So what is the speed of dark? At the beginning of the book, Lou finds the answer to be just the same as it is in physics: Darkness is defined as the absence of light. But as Moon tells Lou’s story, this question takes on a deeper, allegorical meaning. Darkness comes to represent willful ignorance, or the absence of knowledge and empathy. This is seen in other characters such as Crenshaw and Don. For these people, the speed of darkness is very slow – or even stationary. But for some others, such as Marjory, Lucia, and Tom, the speed of darkness is much faster – maybe even approaching the speed of light. What I mean by this is that their growing friendships with Lou dispel their ignorance, and that is then replaced by understanding, compassion, and love. Darkness is overtaken by light.

I can honestly say that few characters have affected me as deeply as Lou did in The Speed of Dark. This book inspires me to shine light on my own darkness.