In class we have discussed Sammy's time at the DSS office and his struggles there, but we have yet to talk about Lise's interactions with the form she is filling out for her doctor, or a DSS-like institution. Sammy is plagued by a inability to have his words create the meaning that he wishes them to, this is why he ends up telling the representative that he "cannay remember what I said exactly; as far as know I just telt him I lost my sight ... I woke up and it was away" in regards to his own words, only a short time previous (Kelman 103). Lise experiences a similar breakdown of her language. As she fills in that form she recalls that her doctor wants her to "Keep a diary of how it feels, what it feels like. Tell us about yourself" in which the only thing thing Lise has to offer is that she is a "nice/sick" person (Smith 86). Both Lise and Sammy are dealing in a situation where the governmental organization supposedly they are relying on for assistance is limiting their use of language.

Sammy's language is limited directly by the recording that the clerk took in his preliminary interview, Lise's is limited by the form itself, She is to to input only information about related topics, even if they are not related to her current ailment, she is asked to define herself within the confines of a few lines. Lise sees herself as nice, but nice has a page worth of qualifiers to explain that, how could she ever fit that onto a medical form? There is no way, just as Sammy could never truly express himself in the correct way so that the DSS interviewers would understand what he was trying to accomplish. What is the purpose of the state in this case then? For Sammy and Lise is it to excise the ability to represent the self in the case of disabled bodies. We see this when the doctor does not ask Lise what her symptoms are (86), he only wants her to write it down and report it. He does not have to interact with the disabled body, the system does not have to interact with the disabled body. Her ability to form her own language is constantly promised but then revoked by the governmental structure.

This can be tied with Lise and Sammy's value as a economic bodies as well, on the form Lise is warned to send it in promptly or "you could lose money" (87). Sammy is questioned about why he is not seeking filing a claim for compensation against the police if they did indeed harm him. Each of these systems are more concerned about the economic promise of the disabled body rather than the ability for these people to represent themselves in full language. Both of these characters find an inability to make the language connect to itself and to the ones hearing or reading it. Their linguistic agency is excised because of their bodies, Sammy's inability to see and Lise's constant pain, which both preclude them from functioning in the normative space defined by the governments they are applying to.