Are you a freak?

Since our class discussions on the novel Geek Love by Katherine Dunn I’ve been pondering the definition of a true freak. Although the novel emphasizes the physical differences of a true freak, it also brings attention to another type of freak:

“[..] There are those who feel their own strangeness and are terrified by it. They struggle toward normalcy. They suffer to exactly that degree that they are unable to appear normal to others, or to convince themselves that their aberration does not exist. These are true freaks, who appear, almost always, conventional and dull.” (Dunn, 282)

Although the characters in the novel are physically unusual, Dunn brings attention to the fact that the freak does not necessarily have to be obvious. I found the physical uniqueness of each of the characters intriguing, but what I found the most freakish about them was their skewed morals.

Arty gets off on overpowering others and capitalizes off an entire clan of aimless misfits. The parents, Al and Crystal Lil, create a freak show family for capital gain. Miss lick, who I found the most disturbing, creates an entire philosophy to justify her deranged need to deform others in an attempt for moral normalcy.

Regardless of our appearance we are all freaks in own way, but the scariest of all freaks is the freak of the mind.