Spatial Marginalization of the Disabled in All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr and The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais

Abstract

Disabled individuals often experience forms of spatial marginalization shaped by ableist geographies. This study examines how such marginalization is depicted in Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See (2014) and Alison Gervais’s The Silence Between Us (2019), with a particular focus on how disabled protagonists spatially marginalized in space and place where they lived. Using a close textual analysis, the research explores how these characters spatially excluded in ableist geography. The theoretical framework draws on Chouinard’s work on disabling geographies, Imrie’s conceptualizations of disability and the notion of ableism and ableist geography. The findings demonstrate that ableist geographies not only impose physical barriers but also reinforce discriminatory attitudes, thereby limiting disabled individuals’ access to social inclusion and spatial autonomy. By foregrounding these ableist attitude, the study underscores the urgent need to challenge the structures that perpetuate spatial injustice for disabled individuals.