Edward Hoagland: On Stuttering

I thought this essay was pretty interesting. At the heart of it is a person who has struggled with a physical impediment, but has still managed to lead a pretty normal life. Even something as important as speech can be overcome. And I also thought the allusions he made were interesting. I've never read Billy Budd, but I at least know about Demosthenes, and know the two must have met similar fates. Why he would choose to allude to these cases is strange to me. It seems that the tone of his writing is acceptant of his problems, but still optimistic about his abilities to lead as good a life as anyone else. So why then would he choose stories with endings as sad as these? I was expecting a more uplifting end. But I guess his main point is to just emphasize the reality of the situation.