Essay Questions

Explore how the concept of discrimination and unequal treatment are brought out in this novel.

Discrimination, particularly that of people who are either physically handicapped or mentally unstable is quite commonplace. In this work, the unequal treatment of people of this kind is quite evident when Kristi notices that Jason is handicapped and that Catherine did not tell her about it. Kristi is very rude with regards to the same and even though Catherine does not pay substantial attention to Jason’s physical disability, it is clear that Kristi pays too much attention to it and that is why she treats him differently.

Show how autism as a medical condition is brought out in Rules.

Autism as a condition is very clearly brought out in this work and in particular, the effect that it has on the interaction between the patient and the general public, as well as his family, is brought out. In this novel, David is autistic and his life is largely dependent on Operational Therapy (OT). Since Catherine accompanies David on these visits, her life is also influenced as she spends less time with her friends. As a result of fits that David suffers from time to time, Catherine is often embarrassed. In this way, the difficult life that is associated with handling autism is explored.

Show how the idea of true friendship is brought out in this work.

Friendship is a concept that is quite well explored in this novel. For instance, Catherine is brought out as being quite good when it comes to making friends and when she meets Jason, a friendship strikes between them. Also, Catherine befriends the girl next door, Kristi but when Kristi meets Jason and realizes that she is handicapped, she becomes very rude about the same. In that moment, it becomes explicit to Catherine that Jason is the only true friend she has. In this way, true friendship as a theme is explored in the novel.