Reply To: Did you read the author’s note?
Cyrus remains an enigma. I have lost track of where I read what details, but I think he is widely expected to have some disability although it is unclear what that might have been. He is noted to have been quite outside of norms of the time in that he never married. I believe it is Ulrich’s biography that notes he moved in and out of his parents’ home and had trouble keeping a job. In the biography, it is Jonathan who ultimately takes over the home of his parents, not Cyrus.
I was curious about whether there was any objective evidence that a long term effect of Diphtheria infection could involve the vocal cords. I have not found any specific evidence to support that, so I would consider that as an explanation for Cyrus’ muteness as part of AL’s creation of this story. Diphtheria can involve the larynx and almost certainly did for Cyrus given how ill he was described as being. And, the toxin can cause nerve damage including to the cranial nerves, some of which control speech. So, it seems like a plausible explanation in TFR. But no sources I could locate report long term vocal cord paralysis from following diphtheria infection.
