Our own preconceptions of abnormality is something that is hyper focused on in today’s society, especially as conversations of oppression come up. In a lot of ways how the world sees the Binwiski family is much like the treatment of major minority groups in America, such as the LGBTQIA+ community, people of color, low socioeconomic status communities, and women. What is to be focused on is how being labeled as abnormal, or normal has affected each character in how they act. This concept is a detrimental theme within the novel, the concept of normality and abnormality drives many characters to do crazy, and outlandish things in order to uphold their version of what normal is. In many ways Dunn has redefined what normality is by providing the perspective of the Binewski family.
The Binewski family, in general, is a very interesting family in the least. Normally parents would strive to have “normal” healthy looking children, but Lil and Al strove for just the opposite, and even went as far as “ experimenting with illicit and prescription drugs, insecticides, and eventually radioisotopes” (Dunn 7) while pregnant. The Binewski parents have gone as far as attempting to give up their own children, if they seem too normal. Growing up with this mentality that being “normal” is bad, the Binewski children being deformed, were unapologetic and reluctant to conform.
Olyimpia, also known as Oly, has very deep seeded confidence issues, in her own way she never tried to conform to society, but she did try to conform to her families ideals of striving to be abnormal, this in many ways, resulted in Oly exchanging societal ideals for the ideals of her parents. The Binwiski children were not raised in a “normal” setting, they were raised on the road, traveling with the circus. All the children were taught that their abnormalities made them special. Oly’s view was that a freak is born, not made, and projected this out look from the time she was young to the time she was an adult, Oly stated “I get glimpses of the horror or normalcy. Each of these innocents on the street is engulfed by a terror of their own ordinariness. They would do anything to be unique” (223). This concept got to all of the children in their own way, and as you watch the children grow up you can see this. The Binewski’s found a way to shift the narrative, and embrace their uniqueness. In argument, making them more profitable and less boring. Though Oly was considered the most normal or “norm” one in the family, until Fortunato was born, this concept of being normal was used as an insult, because it meant that you were not special. Due to this notion of not being abnormal enough, Oly was almost stuck in that awkward position of not fitting in anywhere; the real world, or her family's private world.
Arty on the other hand, was the person who decided who fit, and who did not. Arty wielded power over his entire family, the circus and his cult. An interesting concept to dive into is parallels between president Trump and Arty. The power that both of these characters hold over a mass amount of people is insane, and in their own rights, both men have a cult of sorts. President Trumps being his supporters, who have been known to idolize him, and Arty’s who do the same. These parallels between Dunns fictional world of freeks, and present day America blurs the line of normal and abnormal. Comparatively to the rest of the children, Arty, was the most different from his other siblings, not just from the power he wielded, but from his intellect as well, from a young age it was evident as Arty was reading at night with Oly, that he saw the world through the view that was centered around himself, through competition with his sisters, and him being hyper focused on the way he looks, in the perspective that he is to be feared by “norms.” After having such a centralistic world view, this is how he gained the loyalty and power over his family, circus, and cult members. Arty’s cult, Arturism, embraces abnormalities of all kinds, so much so that people gradually start cutting fingers, hands, feet then arms off, in order to show loyalty to his cause. It is quite evident that one can assume that the Binwiski children and parents embraced deformities and abnormalities over all else.
While Oly and the Binewski children were taught to embrace their deformities, Oly’s daughter Miranda did the opposite. In conversation with Oly, Miranda asked Oly if she ever wished she was more normal, and contemplated removing her tail. Miranda very much represents the society that has raised her, as do the Binewski children. What Dunn really highlighted throughout this novel is not just conceptions of abnormality and normality, but how society affects the definitions you associate with both terms. Miranda's society resembles that of the real world, and the Binewskis society being the one they created.
Someone who is interesting to look at is the bag man, aka Vern. In the beginning of the book Vern is introduced as being unaccepting of abnormalities, being that he tried to assassinate the Binewski children to “put them out of their misery” (87). As Vern’s story develops you notice that he progresses in his thinking, this relates to the progression of todays society in the sense that we are everchanging and forever moving forward, for example as of 2015 gay marriage was legalized. Vern moves on in the book to being Arturo's assistant, and eventually goes on to love the abnormal so much that he tries to marry the twins. Thus being an example of progression within our own society that Vern represents.
What Dunn truly capitalized on in this novel is the concepts of normality and abnormality, Dunn successfully redefined these terms to be seen as relative to the individual. This reassignment of definitions has allowed all readers to relate this novel to everyday life, even though it seems to be so strange.