Week of June 14

I was struggling understanding the transition between "Nights at the Circus" and "Never Let Me Go" and so I once again googled Freak in search of a definition. After first arriving at a very helpful rhyming dictionary, I found this denotations particularly useful:

"one that is markedly unusual or abnormal"

Though we have focused on the freak as being a state of mind, the physical qualities of freaks are undeniable as well. The definition insists that the freak is marked as unusual or abnormal and this is consistent with all of our texts. In "Geek Love" and "Nights at the Circus", the freak is marked by physical deformity or extravagance. The freaks of "Never Let Me Go" may be less obviously marked, but they too are. The clones are freaks because of their genetic makeup. Their existence as clones marks them as abnormal in that they are not truly human, and and are marked as separate from humanity. While the freaks of the carnivals/circus have marks that create discomfort in the "norms" because they stretch the "norms" notions of humanity. The clones marks solidify the notions of the human and clearly divide the freaks from the "norms." And that is how I managed to let my mind segue from "Nights at the Circus" to "Never Let Me Go."

Also, I found out freak rhymes with bezique, which I also learned is a real word.


"freak[1]." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010.
Merriam-Webster Online. 14 June 2010