Literary tropes are used by authors as a means of figurative language in literature, that is, they are a figure of speech in which words are used with a non-literal meaning (“Trope” 1). With this in mind, readers come across the use of literary tropes in some works of American literature. Specifically, readers encounter clichés in the short stories "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver, "Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor, and "A Distant Episode" by Paul Bowles. Within these stories, disability is the literary trope that is made explicit. In the literal sense, disability, in most cases, is a “physical restriction or inability to perform an activity in the manner or extent considered normal for a human being” (Lefers 1). However, in reference to the cited examples of literary trope, the authors of these works emphasize that disability is not always physical. Rather, it may be mental, meaning that those who are “disabled” cannot understand a certain concept. In the midst of disability in these stories, a sense of superiority is expressed by the main characters and each has a kind of self-realization that extinguishes their feeling of arrogance. First, the literary trope of disability is found in the short story, “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver. In summary, the story follows a couple who host a blind man for the night. The husband is our narrator, and the narrator's wife (neither of the spouses' names are revealed to readers) declares that her friend, Robert, will come to visit them. Robert is a blind man whose wife recently died. The narrator's wife met Robert while working as a reader for the blind. The narrator is not thrilled that Robert is coming to stay at his house and is disconcerted... mid-paper... Pewell, and the professor learns that their superiority over others, once deemed superior to others, is really a flaw of character. , i.e. a disability. All in all, simply because one is physically disabled does not mean that one is intellectually incompetent. As a matter of fact, those who are “physically able” may be intellectually immobilized. As a once great Sioux Indian, Black Elk said that "his power lay in understanding its meaning" (Neihardt 169). This statement is true in this day and age because many people take the physically disabled for granted and act superior to those who cannot walk, talk, see, or hear. Understanding the meaning of things is power. Coming to this realization is an event that will strengthen a person and allow them to live better. Simply put, knowledge can be power, but sorry Sir Francis Bacon, insights are a superpower.