My friends expressed considerable surprise when I announced my determination to undertake a continental tour, and I believe many of them to the last moment doubted whether I seriously intended it. They did not fail to question how, with my personal defects, I proposed to make progress through a strange country, unaccompanied by even a servant to assist or protect me, and with an almost total ignorance of the language of the various peoples I was about to visit.
'my personal defects' refers to his blindness of course, but also to bouts of chronic pain which often laid him low for days. The choice of words bluntly aligns with the medical or tragedy model of disability. I wonder if these are his words or whether he is mimicking those of his friends.
Departure from England
'my personal defects' refers to his blindness of course, but also to bouts of chronic pain which often laid him low for days. The choice of words bluntly aligns with the medical or tragedy model of disability. I wonder if these are his words or whether he is mimicking those of his friends.