This thesis is comprised of three short stories that explore the pathologization of perceived social abnormalities and the isolation that often follows. "The Firmament" focuses on ostracization due to social difference, while "Shards" and "A Box of Rocks" focus on a specific 'abnormality'—schizoid personality disorder and high-functioning autism, respectively. These stories are not exact representations of a specific disorder, but my interpretation of the materials that I encountered during my research.