The idea of the carnivalesque can be argued for and against in Katherine Dunn's Geek Love, but I think that it is evident partially through Baktin's idea of the inversion of social hierarchy or role reversal. In Geek Love, the "norms" are the freaks, and the "freaks" are the norms. The Binewski family, especially Arty, views those without deformities as the outsiders and freaks, something which in a typical society is reversed. Chick, the most physically normal of all the children is regarded as the lowest in the hierarchical chain, and spends most of his time with fellow norm outsider Dr. Phyllis, a physically normal woman. In a typical family where the children are "normal", a deformed child may be excluded and felt to be the outsider, but in the Binewski family, this is the exact opposite. This aspect is carvinalesque within itself and contributes to the theory that people will gravitate to that which they know and that which is most similar to themselves. As human beings we are often fearful or uncomfortable towards the unknown, and the Binewski children are rarely amongst the norms (except for their parents, though arguably Al and Lil are not completely mentally normal, proven through their practices and actions), so they feel discomfort and avoidance towards the norms, and tend to stick within the family or workers in the carnival. I found this interesting that whether people are "normal" or "freaks", the human brain operates the same, gravitating to that which we know, seeing ourselves and those like us to be normal and those different to be unusual.