From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia My Left Foot (book)
My Left Foot (book)
My Left Foot is the 1954 autobiography of Christy Brown, Teenage years
who was born with cerebral palsy on June 5, 1932 in
At the age of 18, Brown went to Lourdes in France. Here,
Dublin, Ireland. As one of 13 surviving children, Brown
he met individuals whose handicaps are even worse than
went on to be an author, painter and poet.
his.
For the first time in his life, he begins to experience
Plot summary energy and hope. He begins to accept himself as the per-
son he is and do the best with what he has.
Childhood He starts a new treatment for cerebral palsy, which
led to the improvement of his speech and physical condi-
Brown begins his book by telling the reader about his
tion.
early childhood. When he was four months old, Brown’s
mother was the first to notice that there was something
wrong with his health. He could not hold his head up-
Writing years
right or control his body movements. After seeking med- In his teenage years, he met the Irish doctor Robert Col-
ical advice, the family’s worst fears were confirmed: lis. Collis had established a clinic for cerebral palsy pa-
Christy was physically handicapped and suffered from an tients and Brown was his very first patient at this clinic.
incurable affliction called cerebral palsy. Collis was also a noted author so he provided supervision
Although the doctors did not believe in Brown’s men- of Brown’s writing. This included two first drafts of this
tal intelligence, his mother did not lose faith in her son book and its final version.
and supported him as a full member of the family. The autobiography makes reference to its own cre-
A transforming moment occurs in the young boy’s ation. The final pages tell of Collis reading the first chap-
life that proves him to be intelligent. He discovers that ter of the book to the audience at a fundraising event.
he can control his left foot and toes. At the age of five, The chapter was warmly received by those in attendance.
he snatches a piece of yellow chalk from his sister with
his left foot. He marks the letter "A" on the floor with
his foot and the help of his mother. He had wanted to
Cultural references
make, what he described as, "a wild sort of scribble with My Left Foot, the Academy Award-winning film version
it on the slate". It is from this incident that the book re- of his autobiography, was directed by Jim Sheridan in
ceived its title. In this moment, Brown had found a way 1989, with a screenplay by Shane Connaughton. Daniel
to express himself since he could not speak like a healthy Day-Lewis starred as Christy while Brenda Fricker played
child. Brown’s mother.
Throughout his childhood, Brown played with local The Irish rock band The Pogues paid tribute to
children and with his siblings, assisted by a small cart Christy Brown with a song titled "Down All the Days". It
that he called "Henry". As time went on, he became more is the seventh track on their 1989 recording, Peace and
introverted, as he began to realize that his handicap Love.
made him different from his family and friends and im-
peded his enjoyment of life. Through this struggle, he See also
discovered his creative and artistic talents, becoming de-
voted to literature, writing and painting. He used his left • Christy Brown
foot to carry out these tasks.
References
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Categories:
• Autobiographies
• 1954 books
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia My Left Foot (book)
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