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As far as i am concerned, beauty should be judged by how productive, respectful, and caring a person is. NOT by physical appearance. The major issue in this world is the fact that people seem to only care about looks. Its a natural thing in humans, to put looks over personality, but the world would be much better if this did not occur. If the world is to improve there is only one option. People need to give the best people at heart and work the titles they deserve. All people are beautiful in their own way, regardless of face and stature. The only people who are ugly in this world are the ones who steal, cheat, and lie. A sin or negative action is not beauty, everything else is.

In the real world, it is both inside and outside that counts.

On the inside of a person is their emotions and their attitude. These types of things are what cause people to behave the way they do, react in certain ways, and achieve certain accomplishments. On the inside is where we find a person’s personality, which is responsible for what relationships he or she forms over the years of his or her lifetime. In this novel, the inside of Lucy is what keeps her relationships with family and friends. It is where she holds her outlook at life. It is also where her mood swings from joy to self pity occur. The “inside” is the center of a person.

However, there is also an outside of every single person, and it is not only the inside that matters. As much as some people want to believe, it is not only the inside that counts. We might wish it that way, but the way we appear to other people does play a very important role in life. Lucy’s facial troubles caused other people to be repeled by her, to laugh at her, and to pity her. Her face problems cause people to think of and treat her in a certain way. Therefore, outside does count in the sense that it affects the way other people think, say, and behave regarding a person such as Lucy or any other person.

That is how, in life, it is not only the inside that counts, since it is outside, too, that impacts interpersonal behavior.

As I was reading Autobiography of a Face I was fascinated by Lucy’s struggle to stay part of society, and her own family, while suffering from cancer. Despite her efforts, society rejects her because of her physical appearance. Lucy was forced to go through adolescence alone; without anyone else to help her shoulder the burdens life thrust upon her, especially the chemotherapy. As she learns to deal with her hardships she becomes physically weaker, but mentally stronger.

“When I woke up on the fourth day I felt only a little weak, a little washed out, but glorious and high, that sanguine, comfortable feeling one gets after performing some great physical feat. I had swum the Channel. I had climbed Mount Eiger”(80)

As I was reading Autobiography of a Face I was fascinated by Lucy’s struggle to stay part of society, and her own family, while suffering from cancer. Despite her efforts, society rejects her because of her physical appearance. Lucy was forced to go through adolescence alone; without anyone else to help her shoulder the burdens life thrust upon her, especially the chemotherapy. As she learns to deal with her hardships, she becomes physically weaker, but mentally stronger.

“When I woke up on the fourth day I felt only a little weak, a little washed out, but glorious and high, that sanguine, comfortable feeling one gets after performing some great physical feat. I had swum the Channel. I had climbed Mount Eiger”(80)

This is the turning point of Lucy’s mentality towards pain; forever shaping the way she views pain. She realizes she must grow strong to conquer her pain if she is to survive the chemotherapy. With this realization Lucy finally understands why her mother tells her not to cry when Dr. Woolf gives her the shots: crying in the face of hardship only allows one to despair. By not crying one can use that emotion to build a defense against the thing that made you despair. Her chemotherapy became both a blessing and a curse; it made her suffer greatly, but gave her the strength to endure more intense sufferings, an ability she would need for the rest of her life.

To say the appearence of a person doesn’t count at all seems just as farfetched to me as saying you should judge beauty based on how productive a person is.

Beauty, to me, is a proper noun (as God is). It is something holy and divine that exists within every moment and every being. The beauty is there, whether we see it or not. The beauty is that we exist at all, and that we are alive.

To say that Sin or negative traits can’t posess some sort of Beauty is odd, to me. Murder and suicide are both beautiful in the works of Shakespeare. The poetry and stories of Bukowski (a major jerk) are still beautiful when you take into account his character, and why he is the way he is.

It’s often hard to see Beauty in depressing subject matter like, for instance, Hiroshima. It’s all in the context of how you view it. If we view it in a historical or moral perspective, it is an unforgiveable tragedy that possesses no trace of beauty. But if we are a scientist, we can say that the bomb essentially tore apart the universe at it’s smallest component and unleashed the power of the sun. There are so many more dimensions to things than we see at first glance.

For instance, it’s very easy for me to say that Robert Oppenheimer was a beautiful person, you just have to view it from an artistic perspective. While the largest repercussion of his life was the detonation of two atomic bombs that killed thousands of people, and changed the political landscape forever, that doesn’t do the man justice. He felt like humanity’s Judas, and quoted the Bhagavad-Gita “Now I am become Death; the Destroyer of Worlds.” Just view him as a sort of tragic hero.

Followers of Pythagoras believed that mathematics and symmetry were Beautiful, and it really isn’t that hard to see. Most every major art movement had its own ideas of beauty, some even claimed that “Anti-Beauty” was Beautiful.

I apologize if I digressed from the topic at all, but I would like to comment just once more on the topic of physical beauty. Our society has it’s own views on physical beauty, and it is unforgiving in its criticism of “ugly” people. But for the most part, most of our views on physical beauty are manufactured by society (which is like saying the opinions of the masses influence the opinions of the masses, I know, but as ideas and perspectives and times change, so does our idea of beauty.

Different people give different definitions of what beauty is, as well as different opinions on which people are beautiful.

The more frequently referenced type of beauty is the beauty on the outside. It is how people see each other and it is how some people experience “love at first sight.” This outer beauty is what is typically referred to in most of modern American culture. Typically, when people talk about a beautiful person, they are referring to the neatness of his or her looks or attractiveness. The opposite of beautiful is ugly, and this is how Lucy refers to herself often. She talks about how she would never be beautiful because of her face, and this makes it clear that she is talking about her outer beauty. When others look at her and think she is ugly, it is because of her outside.

There are also people who think that beauty is what is on the inside. While this is not the only meaning, it is a type of beauty. People who know and love each other’s personality are seeing each other’s inner beauty. Of any typical relationship, this is a step, seeing through to one’s inner beauty. Lucy’s friends and family think that she is beautiful because they can see her inner beauty. They know her personality, and anyone who has a good personality can be considered beautiful on the inside.

So that is why there are two types of beauty: inner, and the more noticeable outer.

I don’t believe that outer beauty is the more noticeable type of beauty. As mankind, we are learning to adjust to others and differences. One day, I know our world will not judge others by their looks but by their skills. Look at Lucy Grealy’s parents; they care about her regardless of her looks. More and more people will also be caring for her today, and I could make a safe bet that her life is much better now. We as a society WILL learn to strive and look at the inside of person; not the outside. I think that outer beauty WAS the more noticeable beauty, but now we are at a dawn of change. Change that will bring inner beauty to the front lines. Outer beauty is losing its power; slowly its value will cripple to oblivion!

How can anyone say a nuclear bomb is beautiful. Every scientist knows that a nuclear bomb will result in death and shortened lives for survivors. Regardless of the scientific knowledge gained, it is a KILLING MACHINE. We are all humans, regardless how we look. We live in a world orbiting the sun that provides us life. Is this not true. Then killing it is beautiful! I don’t think so! Fine, outer beauty might have some value, but it’s value is limited. If somone values their lives, their children, then they know that a nuclear bomb is bad. Scientists have children, so, do they not know that their children could die from their invention in their future? Of course they do. Weapons are never beautiful, unless you believe death and killing is a magnificent thing…..I hope you do not!

William Shakespeare was a brilliant author due to his wonderful writing style and plot lines….NOT because he murdered and killed people. That, in my mind, is just something he had to add in to please his audience. Groundings would not sit and watch “proper stories”, they need to be satisfied with “gore”. Groundings are not the smartest folk because they resort to death as beauty, but no one can blame them. That was a long time ago and times have changed. Shakespeare’s works were beautiful, NOT because of murder. His stories beauty was in the essence he captures in his story lines.

On the cover of Lucy Grealy’s book, her face is mostly covered, and this is because she wishes to conceal its “ugliness” and the bad feelings that accommodate it.

After the operation that removed one-third of her face, she is very ashamed of the way she looks and pities herself often. She notices the way that other people think about and react to her, and she knows exactly why. There are even some very rude boys who persistently harass Lucy for their own pleasure. This face problem of hers leads to a low self esteem and self image on her part. This is why when she goes out on Halloween in her costume with her face disguised, she feels free since her face is hidden and she no longer feels the burden of people looking at her face.

Because Halloween proves that she enjoys hiding her face due to the uplifting of self image, it can be determined that this is why she is covering her face in the photograph.

Your comments are superb-The distinction many of you are noticing is between characteristics of the beautiful and the nature of Beauty (capitol C, thanks Jordan). Most of you have the next book, Truth and Beauty, in hand so I’ll refer you to the title. Is truth beautiful even if it’s painful, or destructive?

Many works of art dipict violent, disturbing, or destructive events. Religious art and icons are loaded with violent and disturbing images but are still very beautiful. Are Goya’s drawings less beautiful because they dipict the horrors of war? Are Diane Arbus’ photographs ugly because they people in them are poor?

Violence has always been part of our art and literature. I’m not sure that the deaths of Romeo and Juliet are there simply to satisfy our baser instincts. Cormac McCarthy’s works are very violent, remember the cannibals from The Road, or read Blood Meridian, or see No Country for Old Men, but this violence works toward a larger truth. He’s making a point about human nature, or deconstructing the myths of the American West-myths that form much of our national idenity-in ways that challenge us to see the truth.

Grealy’s book is making us think about how we draw these distinctions. The truth of her face is that she is disfigured-it’s unavoidable. What makes her work compelling, for me, is the honest way that she deals with it. She doesn’t make herself into a martyr for inner beauty. She’s confronting and avoiding the truths of her situation. It’s her struggle that I see as Beautiful. The same way I see Beauty in the Father’s death in The Road, or in Romeo and Juliet’s deaths or in the struggle in face of Tommy Lee Jones’ overwhelmed sheriff as he confronts Javier Diem’s violent killer.

Check out the Slauterhouse Five page on the blog. Go to the links for Goya and Jeff Wall and think about what these artists are doing with their art.

’nuff said,

RK

Aditya, I appreciate your response :]

I’m not saying that I think the nuclear bomb was a great invention, and I’m certainly not saying that I think mass destruction is appealing. Maybe I didn’t make myself clear enough, and if that’s the case, I apologize. The case I was trying to make is that Beauty is everywhere, and that sometimes you have to look at things from a different perspective.

Judging from the tone of your response, I think you misunderstood my post. It’s very possible that is my fault. I’ll attempt to elaborate and clear some things up.

I don’t think that Hiroshima is beautiful. But the detonation of a nuclear device, to some extent, I do. It’s tearing apart the universe at one of it’s smallest components and generating unthinkable amounts of energy. Things can be beautiful in different ways, and for different reasons.

And as for Shakespeare: Let’s use the example of Hamlet. In Hamlet, most all of the Beauty that I see comes from so called “negative” things. Hamlet’s despair and inner turmoil is beautiful to me, and death and murder are ESSENTIAL parts of the plot. What I’m taking from your post is that you believe Act Five was thrown in there for mere entertainment, for the audience? I don’t study Shakespeare, but after reading some of his works, and enjoying them, I tend to think that he saw the beauty in Hamlet’s existential and moral crisis, along with the general atmosphere of despair that permeates the whole play. You don’t think Hamlet’s monologue, as he’s holding the skull of Yorick, is beautiful?

I feel like this discussion may take up alot of space on this blog. If you want to talk outside of the blog, my email is jordanmwalsh@gmail.com .

I was intrigued by the debate between Aditya and Jordan, and would like to add my own thoughts to that. In this world of sexual appeal and external beauty, the truly beautiful are not appreciated for their contributions. Though science has evolved to improve and even serve as a necessity in the world, it has made society more reluctant to accept internal beauty as superior to external beauty.

In Autobiography of a Face, Grealy shows the virtual separation between the rich and the poor, and in turn the physically handicapped and the externally beautiful,

“You could only look at [the doll house] from behind a glass partition, but it was too nice to be played with anyway” (40).

She goes on to desribe the intricacy and beauty of the dollhouse, but never speaks of it with a lust. Instead, she states that “[it] had absolutely nothing to do with any of our lives”. By saying this, she symbolically shows her own beauty. This beauty that I refer to is not of any physical attribute, but rather beauty that resonates through the soul. She has the ability to touch hearts and convey her message, though she is frowned upon by certain groups of society.

By writing this book, Lucy Grealy demonstrates her pride and courage. She does not believe her role in society is impacted negatively by her physical inabilities, but rather strives to inform others of this internal beauty that few actually possess.

Points of view are always different and inspiring. One thing about beauty that i seem to realize is how all of us humans have found beauty in all the smallest things in the world. I encourage mankind to find beauty in everything. I wont argue too much, I agree that beauty can be found in the darkest corners, but all I’m saying is that we should try to enjoy the pleasures in life more than the darker things. We need to enjoy the laughter, the smiles, the joy one gives another. That is what we should focus on when it comes to beauty. Once in a while, we can stare at more dark things as inspiration and beauty, but as mankind if we look towards the positives our lives will improve. All i ask all of you blog-readers is enjoy positives in life more, who knows where it will take you next!

Aditya: I forgot to ask, what was the “essence he captured in his [Shakespeare’s] storylines”?

On the subject of Truth:

[Note: I’m an Atheist (agnostic, really, because I won’t flat-out deny the existence of a higher power. I’m just willing to say that chances are, it’s not a DEITY]

Are “Truths” something that come from experience, or logical reasoning? I don’t know how much more I can say without turning this into a rant on epistemology and knowledge. Without a higher power, one would infer that there is no absolute truth. What I’m saying is maybe Absolute Truth is the higher power? That there is objective truth and an objective reality, but due to the nature of our existence, we are unable to KNOW for sure that we are right. This is where an Atheist like me must have FAITH in our own subjective perspective on reality, and establish our own Truths from experience, logical reasoning, and to some degree, gut feeling (I plead guilty to not completely examining every aspect of what I believe and weighing it against it’s opposing argument in every way: in the end, it’s all just speculation).

The existence of Truth implies the existence of untruths, and in a world where the latter must be MUCH more common, Truth is a divine treasure.

Truth, in itself, is Beauty.

I feel it is unrealistic to say beauty should only be judged by actions and personality. Yes, it is a nice thing to think, and it would be great if the world worked that way — but “Beauty is only skin deep” is really only a saying, and one used to comfort ugly people, at that. It is a fact that people are judged by outward appearance. People connect good attributes, like intelligence, success, and kindness, to people who are physically beautiful. Attractive children are given more attention, and are better-liked by their peers; schoolteachers rate such children higher on intelligence and potential (Watson 620). Humans prefer associating with beautiful people, with incredible bias. If one’s content, instead of his/her physical appearance, was the only thing that mattered, people would not go to painstaking lengths to make themselves beautiful — a man would not shave cleanly and don a suit to go to a meeting or job interview; a girl would not agonize over what clothes and makeup to wear. People generally have a higher opinion of you if you look your best. It may be shallow, and it may be cruel, but it is true.

I am not dismissing other forms of beauty — the beauty found in one’s character, in one’s art. I am only addressing the most prominent form of beauty, which I feel others have been rejecting. Of course there is beauty in Lucy Grealy’s character as she struggles with the consequences of not fitting into the conventional definition of physical beauty. I have explained to you why physical beauty in her world was so important, that led to others judging her harshly: physical attractiveness is important to humans. There is deviation in what is judged as physically beautiful too — but most people find someone with a near-symmetrical face with average-sized features and a smile the most attractive, and, sadly, a person who is disfigured does not fall into that category. After getting to know someone, you may overlook any physical flaws and find them to be a beautiful person. I agree that sometimes what people consider physically beautiful is outrageous, and by no means should outward appearance be the only thing upon which one judges others, but I disagree with Aditya when it comes to the importance of physical beauty. Physical beauty is sometimes arbitrary, but in most instances undeniable.

Outside sources:
Watson, David. Psychology. Belmont: Wadsworth. 1992.

I have a follow-up on Aditya’s above comment that “Outer beauty is losing its power; slowly its value will cripple to oblivion!”

Unfortunately, I disagree with this in all aspects. The value of outer beauty is not fading at all. In fact, I think that the opposite is more true because of scientific innovations. For example, the demand for plastic surgery has increased exponentially throughout the decade, and physical beauty has been, for lack of a better word, “sold”. People are not able to see past external features. For this, the world is getting more ruthless, and the price is being paid because more and more people are falling prey to the physical beauty. In most contexts, the raw passion for beauty is targeted more towards external features than towards the beauty of the soul.

The society in which we live in today does not believe that our looks do not matter, but that they are very important. People will rarely take a person’s personality into account when that person is unappealing, and automatically assume the person is rotten. However, an attractive person in society has his or her appearance looked at better, considered above unappealing people, and has his or her personality later looked at. This is obviously not true about all people, but this is how our society is in general.
It is true to say that unappealing people do not get too many chances to be successful in society, and this is because appearances seem to be a major part in our society. However, those with the nicest and friendliest personalities that are able to express them will be the successful ones because personalities will eventually over power looks in the long run. But let us face it, an attractive man with a great personality is more likely to become successful than an unattractive man with the same personality.
Another example is that of the marriages among celebrities. You will hear about someone getting married, but quickly getting divorced the next week. This happens because celebrities will think looks are so important, but when the selfishness and rottenness of their personalities are exposed, chaos erupts and the marriages will result in divorces. Again, I’m not saying EVERY celebrity marriage ends, but the majority of them do.
The main point that I’m trying to make is that looks are always looked at first, and personality is always looked at second.
My opinions are very arguable, so feel free to disagree with me.

Jordan- I appreciate you bringing up a controversial topic. It made me think about what truth and beauty are, and why things, including violence and death, may or may not be called beautiful.

I came up with:
An object, event or idea is called “beautiful” because it reveals truth to the beholder.

I looked at the pictures Kreinbring mentioned in his post, and I admit, I was surprised. I think their violent nature does not make them less beautiful, their nature simply reveals a different truth. To Jordan the atom bomb might be beautiful, to another it might not be. That doesn’t mean Jordan is wrong. I believe there is no distinction between a “good” or “bad” thing. Good and bad are merely ways to describe something, and since there are infinite ways to describe any single thing, the distinction is subjective: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Therefore all things must reveal a truth to somebody, making all things beautiful and all opinions correct: at least by a shred of truth.

As I followed through with my thought of beauty being subjective, I asked myself: what if truth is not absolute? What if truth is unique to each individual, because everyone has a different point of view, and therefore sees a different truth in everything around him?

In Autobiography of a Face Lucy Grealy wrote:

“I used to think truth was eternal, that once I knew, once I saw, it would be with me forever, a constant by which everything else could be measured. I know now that this isn’t so, that most truths are inherently unretainable, that we have to work hard all our lives to remember the most basic things.” (222)

I think she was on to something…

Although it is a sad fact physical beauty determines a lot in today’s society, for this reason physical beauty is a very important thing. People may ask what is more important physical beauty of “inner” beauty? At the risk of sounding harsh I would say physical beauty. We live in a judgmental society; people pass people on the street and automatically draw conclusions about them. Look at it this way physical beauty is the reason we approach people and inquire about their inner beauty. Is it shallow? No, I believe its life.
Forever men and women have judged physical beauty, idolized it, and aimed to achieve it. People know that beauty is the key to getting things in this world. Studies have shown that “attractive” women make more on average than “ugly” women. Our country is in economic troubles and yet the plastic surgery industry is booming. More people had cosmetic procedures done in 2004 than the number of American soldiers that died in the Revolutionary and Civil wars combined. Lucy goes through many traumatic operations because she wanted the physical beauty cancer robbed from her.
Is it fair that society taunted Lucy about her jaw and that so much is put on physical looks? No its really not but in the words of Bill Gates “Life is not fair; get used to it.”

Nabil- I’m glad my comments inspired some reflection. I tend to agree with you on the idea of subjective beauty: just because i’m unable to see or appreciate the Beauty in something, doesn’t mean I’m willing to say it doesn’t exist at all.

But at the same time, I think that there is objective, absolute truth (but it’s unknowable in the sense that, unless there is a God or higher power that we can communicate with, it’s out of reach.)

I still don’t have either of these books. Maybe I should go pick them up later today. Once again, thanks Nabil for the interesting thoughts!

May Chow-

I very much agree with what you have to say. You are saying basically the same thing that I am, except you used different words. Just like I said, you acknowledged that there is more than just one type of beauty, whether people like it or not. It is inevitable that people will make judgements based on outward appearance and will discriminate and accept people for the reason. I am not saying this because I like it that way–I am saying it because it is what I believe to be the truth.

And to Aditya, I don’t think people are changing that much regarding the way they perceive beauty. Outer beauty will not cripple to oblivion anytime soon. And I said that outer beauty is more noticeable because it is quicker to notice since it takes one second, whereas inner beauty takes a developed relationship to notice. And most people we see in our lives, we will not know what their inner beauty is, because we don’t get to know most of them well enough.

When reading Autobiography of A Face I truly felt like it was a book that almost every person could connect to. This is not to say that we have all gone through events as traumatic as the ones Lucy faced but many of us have been teased about things we could not help. Honestly, who can not remember ever being teased? Lucy did not have a choice in being deformed and yet kids and some adults still made fun of her and treated her as though she did. I read about Lucy’s struggles and could not help but relate them to some of my own experiences. In elementary school kids would tease me about having a birthmark to the point of where I would feel I needed to where turtle necks to cover it. I felt shame and embarrassment when kids would comment because it was something I had no choice in having. When reading the book these memories would come back to me and help me to relate a little to Lucy’s situation.

My patience lost its bearings about three quarters of the way through this blog.

I haven’t read any of the summer reading books yet, but I feel that my 17 years of worldly experience will justify this post.

Reality is subjective and relative to perception. Therefore every note and chord within this opus of human experience leaves the ear to distinguish if the sounds that fall upon it are melodic. All things that constitute reality are also relative to our perceptions. Our hates, fears, darkest dreams , passions and even tastes in food and life-views are shaped by each of us and each of us alone. The burden of deciding what is beautiful rests upon the shoulders of the individual.

Art mirrors life as life mirrors art. The tragedies at Hiroshima and Nagasaki are beautiful, as is Shakespearean tragedy. Both instate a sweeping, cathartic fever over those who are bold enough to delve deep enough into them; to their core, to find meaning and beauty. They reflect the human condition and serve as less than subtle reminders of the frailty of life. Oppenheimer believed himself to be a Benedict Arnold to the whole of human society, but there is even beauty in that.

Jordan again furthers my point. From a scientist’s view the splitting of an atom is beautiful. The average Joe or Jane won’t look that deeply into the issue, but that doesn’t mean the beauty isn’t there. Someone has pierced the veil that shrouds the eyes of Mr. Joe and by looking to the deepest fathoms of his soul and experience to conjure a beautiful portrait of the situation.

Well it’s officially 5:43 in the morning. I have no idea if what I have just written weighted an ounce of legitimate argument or coherency but the important thing is I tried. It has been enlightening ladies and gentleman but I fear
I must leave now. Not to worry, more useless, pretentious banter to come. Stay tuned. And not to your television. It’s a government conspiracy to opiate the masses.

p.s.- Why is everyone capitalizing “Beauty”?

p.s. p.s- About physical beauty- “It is better to be beautiful than to be good, but it is better to be good than to be ugly.” -Oscar Wilde. Think about that one.

p.s p.s p.s- Speaking of Shakespearean tragedy, I’m closing a performance in one this weekend. I’m playing Banquo in Macbeth at the Starlight Theater. The “Scottish Play” runs all this weekend. Send me an email if you have any interest!! stephendouglaswright@gmail.com

Frankly, beauty should be irrelevant to a person’s understanding or judgment of a person. It often doesn’t give us a full scope of a person’s identity or purpose.
Beauty can not be attributed to certain qualities whether they be physically, mentally, emotionally or psychologically. For example, Adam Smith, the founder of classical economics was pioneered the free-market system of economy. However, if you were to go back to the 1760’s and ask how Adam Smith was viewed by his hometown or the rest of the country, he would’ve seemed like an absent-minded, big-nosed, day-dreaming looney whose only real, personal relationship was with his mother. One may also be the opposite such as Nick Jonas, who all the girls rave to sweep them of their feet, but we would be highly skeptical if he were to become a professor of sociology at Oxford University. People are just as capable of being the opposite of both circumstances; an absolutely beautiful and mentally brilliant person maybe addicted to cocaine or other drugs and have psychological problems.
If beauty is attributed to purely great mental or physical attributes, there is no telling to what misfortune would happen. During the 1930’s, Adolf Hitler spoke to masses or poor, starving Germans promising them land and revenge against the nations. He was confident, persistent, ambitious and had all the qualities of a true leader and he was elected into power. He possessed the qualities of a great leader; however, it was ultimately his psychological issues as well as his morals that led to his demise. This is why Hitler isn’t regailed as a great orator (even though he was) but as a mass criminal. His actions spoke louder than his words and no one really predicted that Germany would try to take over the world.
To the point, there is no cut or dry case where beauty can be described. I don’t believe in judging a person as beautiful or ugly because I would want that same person to use the same standards as me to judge others. In “Autobiography of a Face”, Grealy clearly shows that what others think of you impacts you deeply; however, it is our resiliency, to view ourselves as different that make us truly beautiful. If one chooses to view by qualities and attributes of a person alone, beauty would be skin deep.

Beauty is what provides a society with happiness and respect. It holds the power and feeling of love and joy. Beauty is not a distinct trait, but rather an opinion that is determined by people. An object may be beautiful for one person, but for another, it may not be.
What makes a person beautiful is his or her ability to provide the happiness and respect to a society. A person who can be influential and understanding is beautiful, and his or her physical characteristics are not too important. Although physical characteristics play a role in our society, it is only because we assume that beauty is automatically derived from good looks.

I bring up a topic in this post that many may have just skipped over, but many others have pondered over. The essence of this blog is about what true beauty is, and whether beauty remains to be seen in the face or in the soul. Lucy Grealy seems to join us in this discussion, and she is dubious regarding this topic. What exactly is she feeling though?

We see Grealy in a Halloween mask in Chapter 7, where she banishes her differences from the rest of society, and brings a mask to her face. This is a symbolic moment, as she believes at this moment that she is unacceptable to society because of her incomparable, heinous leftovers of a face. She talks to her doctor, who tells her that he had acne as a kid. Does she not question him for the sole reason that she thinks she is uglier than him?

But yet, just one chapter later, we see her teased by the group of boys. Here, she thinks of her physical appearance, but also of her mental stability. She now prices internal beauty as more valuable than external beauty. Is it not ironic that in just fifteen pages, her whole perspective changes?

Some may argue that the ridicule she faced was easily avoidable because she changed her opinions so swiftly, but, correct me if I am wrong, she had been teased throughout the book. Why is this particular moment so much more significant than the rest? Why did this scene not occur six, seven years ago when the teasing had just commenced?

I can’t find a plausible defence for this excerpt, so I come to you all for help. I am not sure whether her views support or defeat my above comments. I look forward to reading your replies.

Dhananjaya-
I partially agree with what you said about beauty being based on our resiliency. Someone can have a face of a donkey, but if that person takes insults as a grain of salt, he or she can be beautiful by staying strong and ignoring the comments. But doesn’t resiliency relate to one’s emotions and mind?
However, I disagree with what you have to say about Adam Smith. You said “Beauty cannot be attributed to certain qualities whether they be physically, mentally, emotionally or psychologically”, but you claimed that his theories are a form of beauty (Mental). You also said that his physical characteristics could have been appalling. With that in mind, it is fair to assume that you think beauty is an opinion. Also, how would he be looked on as absent minded if he was so smart?
I agree with what you said about there being no place where beauty can be described about Hitler. I define beauty as something that provides happiness. Hitler did not provide happiness, and made the world only worse, in my opinion. Beauty is an opinion and to me, Hitler was not beautiful. However to some Nazis, Hitler could have been beautiful.
Your first example had the idea that beauty is an opinion, but in your second example, you said that there cannot be any judgment of beauty.
Let me know if I misunderstood any of your comments.
Sresht-
Lucy Grealy grows up rather fast in this book, and that is why her perspective and ideas change so fast. 15 pages may seem like nothing, but in this book, it can be a couple of years at some points. Her opinions change about beauty every time somebody insults her because she will believe in anything that will make her happy.
We can see her mature throughout the book and understand more and more why people are judging her by her looks, and at the end of the novel, she has a solid understanding. She does not question her doctor about his acne because she assumes the doctor does not know how rough her life is. Lucy thinks the doctor will not understand because he did not experience the same situation as she did.
Again, let me know if I misunderstood any of your comments.

Though I haven’t begun to read, I noticed RK’s post and felt the need to respond. It is scientifically noted that beauty is actually familiarity – if one sees someone universally deemed “average” each day, one grows more accustomed to the face and sees it as beautiful.

Beauty is simple in every sense. Faces we find beautiful are those that are easy to process with our brains.

“Balanced and familiar patterns and shapes are more appealing because they are easy for the brain to process, according to a recent study.”

I also found these interesting articles:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071012143057.htm

http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/why_the_pretty_prosper_9798

Ishan-
If you were too look at the histories of many geniuses, you would find that they have done many foolish things to make them seem a little queer or plain stupid. Bill Gates never went to college, which we think of as a sign of intelligence, but he’s one of the most successful men in the world. Albert Einstein thought of E=mc2 failed college and had to repeat his final year. Ludwig von Beethoven, who composed some of the most recognizable music on the planet, walked about the streets humming tunes everywhere he walked and would scream at anyone that interrupted him. All these men had their curious habits. All of them were looked as weird because no one really knew the full potential of their greatness.
To some degree, I can agree that beauty is an opinion; however, it is neither an opinion we are not capable of making of others nor are we truly capable of doing it ourselves. Beauty is also a standard of judment we place on others which is not really fair because we have other issues that cloud our minds from making the clearest judgments about characters, morals, physical attributes and psychological equilibrium.
Beauty doesn’t necessarily bring happiness; it just makes people look at you better. However, Hitler did bring happiness for awhile in Germany; before WWII, Hitler started building up new buildings and creating the idea of a greater Germany. This brought a lot of enthusiasm from Germans as well as the fact that he started the manufacturing of weapons and the employment rate started to increase. People were happy because they were acquiring new power and Hitler gave them the idea of getting revenge against the Allies for bringing them misery and vulnerability. They referred to Hitler as Fuehrer, or leader, because he was their helper in their time of need. Also, one could compare Hitler to Bush in the same way that he was seen as our great crusader against terrorists. Bush told the world that he was going to crush the Axis of Evil and find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. He’s never found those weapons, he brought about six trillion dollars in debt to the country, killed thousands of civilians and soldiers and he created even more tension in the Middle East because we were so happy to point our guns at whatever nation, oil producing nation we chose. However, didn’t George Bush make people happy? Yes, and for that small moment in time, many people viewed him as beautiful.
In the end, beauty is an opinion however to make our opinions may never be close to the truth and some fatal assumptions will be made and often lead to unhappiness.

Before I begin the novel, I would like to share my opinions on Mr. Kreinbring’s question posed at the beginning of the blog. I would say that most people in this world value physical appearance ahead of emotional or psychological attractiveness. While we can all see that humans today are driven by the pursuit of material wealth, this need applies also to our views of others. Success is measured on a physical level, with regards to how much “stuff” one can acquire throughout the course of a life, not necessarily how happy one is with their life. The attractiveness of another is also measured on a physical level in today’s age. So to answer the question, no, we don’t really believe that looks don’t matter.

This whole discussion furthers our point (me, Stephen, and Nabil). This debate concerns what beauty is and isn’t, and alot of these arguments seem incredulous to me. Some people are saying Beauty is irrelevent to one’s understanding of a person (I disagree, physical and “spiritual” Beauty are very important to me) and some people are saying that productivity and contribution to society is beautiful (at least that’s what I got from the posts).

But just because I don’t consider those things beautiful don’t mean they can’t be. I’m not so arrogant to say, “You’re wrong, I’m right, and that’s the end of it.” People have different values and ideals, from which they form their definition of Beauty.

Keep in mind that beauty isn’t only about what our eyes can see. Someone might read a poem and say it is beautiful, or hear a song and say it is beautiful. Relationships —like that of the father and son in Mccarthy’s The Road—can be beautiful. There is no visual image associated with these—just words, sounds, connections within and between us that create the same emotion as an image might—but we still classify it as “beautiful.” Beauty can be assigned to anything the five senses can experience.

Regarding physical beauty: When we look at a person, our schemas tell us we should see two eyes, a nose, a mouth, two lips, a jaw, all in proportion to each other. And when we see a face that is missing one of these components or is altered in some way, the brain may process the image as something other than “beauty.” It is unexpected–but not “un-beautiful.” Studies have been done that help explain why human beings find certain faces beautiful and others not as beautiful. In his article, “Isn’t She Lovely? – humans tend to [be] attracted to symmetric beauty ,“ Brad Lemley writes:

“The research results so far are surprising–and humbling. Numerous studies indicate that human beauty may not be simply in the eye of the beholder or an arbitrary cultural artifact. It may be an ancient, hardwired, universal, and potent behavior-driver, on a par with hunger or pain, wrought through eons of evolution that rewarded reproductive winners and killed off losers. If beauty is not truth, it may be health and fertility: Halle Berry’s flawless skin may rivet moviegoers because, at some deep level, it persuades us that she is parasite-free and consequently good mating material. Acquired, individual preferences factor in, but research increasingly indicates that their influence is much smaller than many of us would care to know. While romantic writers blather about the transcendence of beauty, Elizabethan poet Edmund Spenser more than 400 years ago pegged the emerging scientific thesis: ‘Beauty is the bait which with delight allures man to enlarge his kind.’”

What else in the world do YOU find beautiful? What about Grealy’s writing is beautiful?

I realized this morning that I have finished the novel without leaving any comments! So I thought I’d just jump right into the thick of things.

There is a particular quote in the novel that grabbed my heart. Lucy says, “We were taken to another floor with a playroom that boasted a large, ornate dollhouse, a real collector’s item probably donated by some well-meaning person. You could only look at it from behind a glass partition, but it was too nice to be played with anyway. Sometimes you’d see a child standing there, staring, but for the most part the giant miniature house, despite its prominent position near the door, was ignored” (page 40). I believe this passage is completely metaphorical. Lucy uses the dollhouse to describe her own loneliness to readers. Lucy looks through the glass at the dollhouse much as she looks at her own life. She feels isolated and alone. Everybody else is on the other side of the glass, watching her, but she can’t get to them. They have no means of understanding her situation, or hearing her plea for help. I believe the dollhouse also symbolisms Lucy’s desire to have a picture perfect place in which to live. If her life were as perfect and simple as the one in the dollhouse, Lucy feels that she would be free, liberated, and happy.

I also wonder if Lucy feels at times that she deserves her fate. Of course nobody deserves a life of loneliness and disease, but there is a certain quote that made me feel as such. Lucy states, “Being different was my cross to bear, but being aware of it was my compensation. When I was younger, before I’d gotten sick, I’d wanted to be special, to be different. Did this then make me the creator of my own situation?” (page 101) As a child, I feel Lucy blamed herself for her illness and disfigurement. Because she felt this way, Lucy allowed herself to suffer alone, thus almost worsening her situation. It seems to me like a vicious circle.

Also, if anyone has read this far, in the hospital bathroom, someone scratched “Be Here Now” into the door. Obviously this message has a significant meaning to Lucy, as she harps on it a lot. Does anyone have any ideas on this one?

More to come soon.

Natalie:

Read from 131-135, particularly at the bottom of 135

Have you started Truth and Beauty?

I agree with Jordan, that beauty is not irrelevant. On the contrary, we use that to judge others before we even know people. From the very moment we look at anything, we draw conclusions based either from prior knowledge or gut instinct. Then we proceed to find out more about the object or simply continue to over-complex and create new conclusions from old one. For me, the definition of beauty. Beauty isn’t espoused only by man; it is espoused in whatever man touches and whatever it encounters. Human create marvels to their own image of themselves and usually work for their own benefit. Also, nature contains some of the most beautiful marvels. Who could actually say that an erupting volcano (from a distance) or a waterful are marvels of awe-inspiring beauty?
In my belief, humans are egocentrists; no matter how often we may want to empathize or try to be in another person’s shoes, we will only get so close. We are individuals from the beginning and though we may cooperate and live together as a community, the community is always made up of individuals. Let me explain what this has to do with beauty; Beauty is an opinion or a judgment we form about others. It is based on our own values, our own standards and ourselves. This is why everyone will have a different definition of beauty. With so many definitions of beauty that are determined by people; there is no possible way to find a common ground. There will always be people who will disagree with someone elses point of view (mine, being far from exception). It is very similar to an argument Socrates made in Plato’s Republic, “If God is good, then he can not be the source of all things” . If all things were created by a God who is completely good, how can He create bad?
Beauty is like this because you have two ideals of different types of beauty that often don’t agree with each other and often don’t exactly fit the definition of perfect beauty. Many people will ignore this point of view; however, for me, all is beautiful and all is ugly, the question is how beautiful and how ugly. So will I see things as equally beautiful and the opposite, No. Would I see something a completely beautiful; I’ll try my hardest. Will I look at model’s legs and not gawk even though she may have gotten her figure from being anorexic; Probably not. Really, my response is just for people to see how they view beauty and why they see it that way. All the responses that are already up are great views to have and all are both very true and have major flaws at the same time. It’s when people recognize and accept their flaws, just as Lucy did, that we can focus on making ourselves and in turn, making a beautiful world.

Ahh thank you Bill!

Yes, but just barely.

It is easy for us to say that ‘looks don’t matter’ when we really don’t have anything big to worry about. But it is hard for people like Lucy Grealy who had a deformed face to go out in the world full of confidence. To them, their looks are so important because they feel that if they don’t look a certain way, they will turn other people off. One thing about looks is that they do give you confidence. People like Lucy Grealy don’t have that confidence because they are so scared about what the world will think of them that it stops them from living their lives. It is clear that Lucy was always afraid of other people’s reactions to her deformed face by the way she hid herself when going out in public. I’m not going to say that looks don’t matter because they do at times, but you can’t get so worked up about them that you forget about the important things like inner beauty. People in this day and age are so quick to judge people by first impressions which explains why they shut so many people out based on their looks. The thing that most people you will find today do is judge a book by its cover. We have all learned that it’s what is inside the book that counts. Even though we have learned the importance of this from our parents and other adults, few of us really act this way. It is so easy to judge people based on their physical appearance and whether or not we admit it, we are all guilty of this. It is just a fact in our society that people will always act this way. No matter what good there is in this world, nothing will ever completely change the way we act.

Though I have only read the prologue, I am excited about the questions brought up by Grealy and to see how she addresses them. She asks, “How do we go about turning into the people we are meant to be? What relation do the human beings in that picture have to the people they are now?” (13). I feel that the answers to this first question will also relate to the question that The Road posed, “Why do we live?”. I can’t wait to read the rest of the novel, as I feel it will force me to delve within myself further than ever before.

Imagine what people all over the world have to go through each and every day because of the evils in our society. When I read this book, I couldn’t help but feel empathy for others in the same position as Lucy Grealy was. So many people struggle every day to move past all of the torments thrown at them and step out into the world. I also remembered another book I once read that in some ways was very similar to this one. It was a book about a girl who had a tumor in her face and the doctors needed to open up her face to remove it. After the operation was over, half of her face was completely deformed while the other was completely intact. Soon after, she met a boy in the hospital who was temporarily blind. She began to like this guy but was so nervous and scared when she found out that he was going to be able to see soon. Eventually he ended up being able to see her face. His initial reaction was that he was basically shocked and scared out of his mind. This is the same way that most people in our society act when we see someone like this for the first time. Most of us can’t help but stop and stare at someone passing by us on the street who is in a wheelchair or has Down Symndrome or something else like that. Given more time, we can all change our reactions. Once you get to know someone, it changes the way you look at them. In the book I read, the guy was just scared at first because he wasn’t expecting was he was seeing. The girl was crushed because she knew that that was going to happen. However, the guy could still see the person that he liked while he was blind. He eventually moved past that initial fear he felt when he first took off his blindfold and let himself fall for that girl out of the way she made him feel, not the way she looked.

A person should be judged by how you see them blindfolded.

Lucy Grealy always felt that no one would ever love her because of the way she looked. However, this book made me realize that there really is someone out there for everyone.

While reading Autobiography of a Face, I coudln’t help but notice how similar Lucy Grealy’s experiences were to mine as a child. Being a “bigger” person, I’ve always felt ugly. Like Grealy, I thought that as soon as I became pretty, as soon as I became normal, as soon as I became acceptable to myself and others, everything will be perfect. My life will be fine, and I’ll have nothing else to worry about.
However (also like Grealy), I often contradicted myself. I wanted to be loved, but then I didn’t feel that I deserved it, or I felt that no one would or could love me if I wasn’t special in some way. Or, I would tell myself not to desire anything in life (because disappointment was definite and inevitable), but I couldn’t help wanting to be different, or to be accepted by someone, anyone. Despite what a person may say, EVERYONE wants to be accepted in some capacity, whether it’s by the world, by society, or even just by themselves. The third of these is what Lucy Grealy struggled with, along with myself and many others. Beauty does matter, but above all the age-old saying holds true, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. Though it may be easier said than done, as long as we each have a healthy perception of ourselves as individuals, that’s all that really matters.

The Autobiography of a Face truly touched my heart. I felt a connection with Lucy Grealy almost immediately. Lucy’s struggle for self-acceptance reminds me of my own. While Lucy had to overcome much greater obstacles than I, our thought processes were one in the same. Lucy sought to be accepted by others, but above all, she just wanted to be accepted by herself. It is extremely beautiful and enlightening. Lucy wanted to be accepted, while feeling at the same time that she didn’t deserve it. Often times I share the same feelings, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that many others do as well. Lucy set low expectations for herself often, to avoid disappointment. I admit that I too am guilty of this. In order to avoid failure I find myself not setting a high goal or expecting too little. Even when I was able to achieve these goals, I felt a lack of achievement and disappointment. I knew I was capable of more, so I got none of the satisfaction of achieving the goal in the first place. On the other end of the spectrum, sometimes Lucy set unrealistically high expectations. I am guilty of this one too. I hold myself to an insanely high standard and give myself no slack. I don’t tolerate excuses from myself, and I won’t accept failure. I believe Lucy was her own harshest critic, and I (along with many others) mirror her behavior.

Reading this novel has forced me to dive into myself to figure out who I really am and what is important to me. I have enjoyed every second of it. Obviously it makes one rethink their position in life, and be appreciative for what they have, but it also motivates. Lucy was not only able to overcome her misfortunes, she beat them. To say that Lucy achieved so much inspite of her situation is actually a discredit to her. She accomplished more in her life than many people ever will. Lucy Grealy certainly led a life that counted. Autobiography of a Face inspires me to make a difference, to be somebody, to make my life count. Lucy didn’t have to be popular or picture-perfect to be remembered.

This brings me to the concept of beauty itself. By now I have read many of the posts on the idea of beauty, and I enjoyed, as well as agreed with, the enlightening ideas. It is true that each individual has his or her own definition of beauty, and it is also true that society has a standard, a mold, so to say, that one fits if he or she possesses beauty. Beauty can be found anywhere, in anything. Some may enjoy simplistic things (a brook, the woods, ect.), while others marvel at development (for example life-saving surgical procedures). Beauty defines how we look at things. If something is beautiful, we want to hear about it, look at it, read it, or listen to it. Something that doesn’t possess beauty is often discarded and cast away by society. Beauty (in whatever form) matters greatly in our society, and even though beauty is subjective, it is desired by almost all of mankind. I agree with Bill’s post from some time back, that an object is beautiful if it reveals truth to the beholder. There are many kinds of beauty, and many kinds of truth. It is entirely possible that one could find beauty in everything around him, and what a wonderful truth that is.

I have been so intrigued by Grealy’s autobiography that I just now realized that I have forgotten to blog. No worries……….I have a lot to talk about. I think that much of the impact Grealy’s autobiography has on the reader will come from the strength in Grealy’s style.

1) Grealy has made it very easy to read. Furthermore, she blatantly writes what she has learned through various instances in her life, making these morals more apparent to the reader instead of “beating around the bush.” I believe this type of style is very effective for her autobiography.

This blatant style allows the reader to understand her point and/or feelings quickly, thus allowing more time to reflect on these ideas presented. Since this is an autobiography, Grealy documents her life but I believe that she also wants to show the reader what he or she may be missing in their own life.

2) Furthermore, to make her little epiphanies stand out so that the reader understands exactly what she felt at that moment, Grealy italicizes those few words. Examples can be found on pages 31, 58, and more. (The reason I did not include these in my blog is because and italicized word does not stay italicized once transferred from the word document over to the blog.)

3) The last thing I have noticed is that Grealy never bluntly tells the reader which “form of beauty” is most important to her. I think that stylistically this brings a lot of depth and complexity to her autobiography. Her blunt style makes it very apparent to the reader the importance of both physical and inner beauty and then leaves the reader to ponder which he or she finds most valuable.

I believe that it is important to have both, and in today’s society those who have both physical and inner beauty are the one who suffer the least. They fit the mold society has created for the physical beauty while feeling that their lives are fulfilled by having that inner beauty, that depth for their persona.

Now that I knew how I felt, I started to wonder how Grealy really felt….This is where having read a couple of pages of Truth and Beauty came in handy.

At first I thought that having a disfigurement would have made Grealy put more emphasis on inner beauty….and I was partially correct. Because of her physical disfigurement Grealy always looked for the inner beauty of others. Grealy comments on how she was never put of or grossed out by the homeless and insane people she saw while traveling to the city to get chemotherapy as a child. “Grotesque figures loomed everywhere, but they didn’t frighten me, nor did the filthy and the slobbering insane, the homeless and the drunk. I felt keenly the great expanses, the chasmal spaces between all of us, which one seemed prepared to reach across. Even as I was spooked, I was impressed by and admiring of the constant cord of toughness and strength, which acted to harmonize all the many and varied notes in the city, the thousand and one vignettes of overheard conversations, glimpsed lives.” (Grealy, 70) She also comments on how, as a kid, she never noticed physical beauty. She says, “I had no sense of myself in relation to the “normal” people I walked by every day.” (Grealy, 105)

However, at a second glance, I realized that it was true Grealy looked for inner beauty in others but that I was wrong in the sense that I did not think that she cared about physical beauty. After reading the first fifty pages of Truth and Beauty, I realized that though she looked for inner beauty in others, she searched for physical beauty in herself and that physical beauty was more important to her when she saw herself. This quote from Truth and Beauty supports my reasoning. “She joined a fancy gym in town. She went to the mall and bought a pair of black stockings and a garter belt. A few days later we went back for a pair of high heels and a short skirt. Then some shorter skirts…she made a decision to get some wonderful breasts to go with them [her legs]. (Patchett, 27)

So after all of this, I realized that her disfigurement allowed her to see the inner beauty in others, but that also because of this disfigurement she never stopped looking for the physical beauty she wanted to have but felt she didn’t. Does anyone else agree? If not, which from of beauty do you think Grealy put more importance on?

After finishing Autobiography, I couldn’t help but think how important physical beauty is. In this blog people have expressed that inner beauty is more important than physical beauty. Before reading Grealy’s autobiography I would have agreed, but now I find my opinion favoring physical beauty instead.

I find that one’s physical beauty shapes how he or she develops internally. Take Grealy for example: her disfigurement causes her to spend much of her childhood alone. Her solitude was both a blessing and a curse: she developed an emotional void that tormented throughout her life, but made her a fantastic writer. As one reads through Autobiography of a Face the pain Lucy endures is terrible, but it teaches her things that she would not have learned otherwise. One of these things is writing. She was free to observe the world from a neutral standpoint and write about it. Those accepted in the world would have never developed this perspective.

I’m not saying I don’t value inner beauty, because I do. I’m saying we should think before we label physical beauty as a shallow way to judge the world around us. One’s physical attributes are important because they determine the level of acceptance one receives in society. But then again one could argue that we as a society have the ability to determine if one is accepted, giving us the power to determine how that person develops internally. It all comes down to the age-old question:

Does art imitate life or does life imitate art?

I can’t argue the importance of physical beauty in this world. It does have major effects on you as an individual, but for one moment imagine this; A world where our skills and who we are is what truely affects who we become. The most intillengent get where they need to be to help the world become very successful. If a world like this existed the people of the world would reach a new level of happiness. Everything would run smoother. More ideas would flourish. In our world, looks have major power. An extremely beutiful person can make just as much if not mroe than a scholarly person ( actor verses doctor). I am not saying that these beautiful people are dumb, or deserve less money, I am just saying look for yourselves at these evident truths. We seem to give looks more value then skills. If we start to flip this notion, this world will reach a new heights. Time is finite, the sun wont supply us forever. We need to build a society that appreciates skills mroe to survive billions of more years into the future. If the world keeps valuing looks over skills, time might beat us and keep our race in shame. (Also, when i use the world “skills”, I am only reffereing to those that are beneifical to mankind, not skills that kill us regardless if it gains us knowledge beacause killing skilols dont help us survive. This i am sure.) Sorry if i strayed off a bit- point i am making is simple, looks do matter in this world to most people. I dont know how far looks will take us as a society. Lets hope we don’t shun the next enstien just because he is not as handsome as he should be.

Mr. Kreinbring,

I would like to let you know that I will be leaving for Costa Rica on Monday, July seventh, and will not return until Saturday, August second. It is a mission trip (as oppose to a vacation where I would lay on the beach all day), and by the nature of the constant work I will be participating in, I doubt I will be able to read the necessary books in the alloted time. Also, I will not have any internet access, so I will not be able to comment while I am away. I will make up for lost time when I return, but just know that my comments may be a little late.

Thank you.
Thomas

What you will see when the girl on the cover drops her veil is a girl. She will have blond hair, round eyes, and a face deformity. What you won’t see is her mind; you won’t see how she feels crying is a weakness and how she feels more comfortable in a hospital than at her own house. You might see an unfortunate girl with a terrible disease that you feel you should pity. She sees that she looks different than before but she still likes to play rough and be herself. If you see the girl later on in her life you might notice she has tried to cover up her deformity, but you wouldn’t know that she wouldn’t originally fix her face. When she was ten she didn’t care about the way she looked. When she got older though and boys teased her at school and people stared at her. That is what changed her mind of what beauty was. Society’s lack of understanding of people in different situations than their own caused her to become self conscious. Eventually so self conscious that she felt her life would begin when her face was fixed. That is sad, how stupid boys and other people can break such a strong spirit without much effort. If people weren’t so inconsiderate we wouldn’t need to wonder what is behind the paper on the cover of the book, because the girl wouldn’t be ashamed of how she looks so she wouldn’t be hiding.

In the prologue and first chapter, Ms. Grealy makes many intriguing comments on the way we live our lives. As we advance through childhood we are taught cliché after cliché that emphasize the importance of inner beauty and demean the value of physical splendor. We are told to, “Never judge a book by its cover,” or “What’s on the inside counts,” while both these statements are politically correct they are false in today’s society. In our culture, physical attributes often define relationships and ultimately personal success. Many young people strive to be models and entertainers in order to make a living; not on the content of their character, but solely on their “pretty face”. Ms. Grealy explains, “I was my face, I was ugliness.” (7) Despite her strong personality and outlook, upon each new encounter she was defined by her deformity.
I also found Ms. Grealy’s insight on childhood very accurate. She comments, “I passed through all those early moments with no idea of their weight.” (28) This is problematic of our entire adolescent society. As we grow into adulthood, our age group often makes poor choices that ultimately cast a negative light on our entire lives. For example, a teenager can end their life just by choosing to drink and drive. For one night of social pleasure, one may trade their entire future. Ms. Grealy noticed this also. In her early childhood, she experienced physical hardship, but merely dismissed it. However, in a matter of months her life was in the balance when she was diagnosed with cancer. As we grow older, “our bodies move ever forward on the time line, [but] our minds continuously trace backward, seeking shape and meaning as deftly as any arrow seeking its mark.” (27) The majority of our efforts in the future are spent dealing with the choices of our past.

When we say that Lucy Grealy’s “deformity” (asymmetric facial feautres) has influenced peoples’ view of her to the point where she is treated as a monster or outcast, and prevented from having a fulfilling life…We are forced to answer a few questions:

A) Are people judged by looks?Is this right? Is it conceivable that this could change? SHOULD this change?

B) Ultimately, is acceptance a good thing? What are the benefits, and how do we weigh them? What has Lucy gained from NOT being accepted, versus where would she be if she were considered pretty?

C) What constitutes a fulfilling life, and can we truly say that her “deformity” has prevented her from having one?

and my opinion: People are judged by their looks, and while this isn’t necessarily right, it is commonplace in our society. Our society has values physical attractiveness, among other things like wealth and social status…It’s not conceivable that this will change, because as a whole, people are shallow. But it would be nice, right?

Most people won’t argue that acceptance is a good thing, beneficial to everyone from young children to adults, but we must quantify and define “beneficial”. When we say “beneficial” we mean that things will be easier, there will be less obstacles and more friends. But ultimately, acceptance is a pretty shallow thing to want: Why should I want to be accepted by Society when it clearly doesn’t share the same values as I do, and doesn’t accept me solely based on my personal appearence? Sure, pretty people have it easier, and (i’ll make a few unwarranted extrapolations here) probably make more money and live happier lives, but if that’s how you measure a meaningful life….Then I don’t know.

What constitutes a fulflilling life? I guess that’s up for everyone to decide for themselves. But I don’t think being “ugly” prevents anyone from having one. It surely changes the nature of the game and the path of their life, but if anything, it makes things more interesting and gives them a deeper insight into life and society. And you know who your friends are, and that they like you for who you are, not how you look. And think of the freedom of never having to “look your best” or put on make up or anything.

Ultimately: we can say that “ugliness” is a social handicap, and nothing more.

In my mind, theres alot more to life than being pretty and being accepted, and if your not either of them, don’t worry. Why would you want to be part of a club that wouldn’t have you for a member? Why would you want to be accepted by the same society that shuns you?

Aditya:

I agree with your view that humans SHOULD be judged for who they are rather than how they look. It’s a great ideal, and I’m glad that you can see past appearances; but I don’t think people will ever cease to be judged by their physical appearances. Here is why:

Everyone’s mind starts as a blank slate. His or her mind develops by interactions with his or her environment and other people. When one interacts with others his or her physical appearance play a large role. This is evident in Autobiography of a Face: Grealy became a great observer of human nature because she was not accepted by society because of her face. Her detachment from society gave her the perspective to become an amazing writer. Grealy’s mind, just like all others, was shaped by how others treated her based on her physical appearance. My question: How can we be evaluated by our inner beauty when it is determined by our physical appearances?

Bil:

“How can we be evaluated by our inner beauty when it is determined by our physical appearances?”

A few things: If we assume that every mind starts off as a blank slate, and that experiences and our environment shape who we become, certainly “how we are treated based on appearence” would have a slight impact, and I suppose for someone with Grealy’s “deformity” it would have a huge impact. But “who we are” and “who we become” is not completely dependent on other people: their actions affect you, but you have a choice on how to react to them. Example: A kid gets teased on the playground daily, that kid could become timid or become a bully later.

(sure, that wasn’t the best example, but I think you catch my drift)

I think we can safely say, without overcomplicating things, that Society will not value inner beauty over physical attractiveness because

a) How do you measure inner beauty? If you had a half-hour job interview with someone, could you walk away knowing if they possesed inner beauty?

B) It’s simply too convenient for people to judge people based on looks, our minds are doing it before we even know. When we walk through crowded areas, our eyes dart around many times in one second, scanning the faces and other physical attributes of passerby. It’s something so deeply engrained in each and every one of us, and it won’t change.

Aditya:

Can you elaborate on your idea of a beautiful person? Name a few people (someone we would know, a luminary?) that might fit the mold?

In the cover of the book, Lucy Grealy is hiding from the society. She feels like a normal person when her face is hidden because no one knows about her deformity. No one can make fun of her and she can express whatever feelings she has. When Lucy is not hiding, she is an outcast from society and cannot act like a normal person.

Lucy is hiding her feelings and beauty when she is hidden and no one knows how good hearted she is. Instead of seeing true beauty, our society tries to look at what’s wrong with a person rather than whats right. Inside of Lucy is a beauty that only people in her position can experience. Her beauty can only be expressed when her face is revealed and when she is speaking from the inside.

When Lucy reveals her face, we will see a deformed face that only shows a fraction of who she really is. It is in our nature to judge people by their looks first, so when we see her for the first time, we will not know what her personality is like. But if we look at what’s right with Lucy, her inside, she is an ordinary girl experiencing difficulties in her life.

Everyone possesses his or her own beauty, and with that being said, all of the above faces are beautiful and it is not fair to say that one is not beautiful because of one flaw. We can see beauty when we focus on what is right with a person rather than what is wrong with a person.

This is a great story and I’m only about 50 pages in, however, I thought I’d jump into this conversation.
I agree with what a lot of people have said about society and inner beauty and its importance, etc. I feel that when it comes down to it, some sort of beauty is more than important, whether it be inner beauty of outer beauty.
Like Nabil said, outer beauty could be a determinant of your place in society; in school it certainly is. If you observe some of the cliques it’s obvious what sort of beauty pulled certain people together. When it comes to inner beauty, I also liked what Nabil was saying, as far as the fact that the outer beauty and society placement creates the inner beauty. I think that everyone is able to create or find their inner beauty. I think one of the obstacles is finding someone else’s inner beauty behind their outer beauty and approaching it.

I was watching the Wimbledon Gentlemen’s finals on Sunday and after the second rain delay a video commentary about Federer and Nadal was broadcasted (it was truly an amazing final, sorry if you missed it). Coincidentally, the video’s theme was the beauty of tennis and especially about the beauty of Federer’s and Nadal’s talent and hard work. The commentary ended with the phrase……Beauty lies within the eyes of the beholder… Though many of us have heard this quote sometime or other in our life before, I sat there thinking about how this quote summed up the last part of my first blog posting. I also wondered why it did not come to me then because it would have been a very powerful ending to my blog. Anyways, I shouldn’t dwell on the past, but this quote also relates to what I am about to write about next.

In the prologue of Autobiography of a Face, Grealy says, “I considered animals bearers of higher truth, and I wanted to align myself with their knowledge. I thought animals were the only beings capable of understanding me.”(5) I believe that she thought this because she felt that the animals were seeing her inner beauty through her love and compassion for them. (But back to this thought in a minute)

I believe that one’s physical beauty in our society leads to others witnessing his or her inner beauty. No matter how shallow that may sound, it is nonetheless true. If there is something about you that repulses people such as a smell, a sense or a “look” then they will not take the time to talk to you and thus see your inner beauty, as is my belief.

Furthermore, I think it is also society’s influence that has made this the case. In our society, some believe it is uncool or weird to be seen with “the fat kid,” “the poor person,” or “the mentally disabled,” etc. Though this is not my view, I acknowledge that this view exists and is sometimes the majority feeling in some areas. Grealy was teased due to this effect society has had on its inhabitants. She says, “When the first taunts and teases were thrown at me, usually by some strange kids in the supermarket parking lot…I understood that their comments were meant to impress each other more than harm me.” (105)

I also think that it is natural for us to stare, point, or share with one another the oddities we witness in others though this is always politically unacceptable. Then, if caught, we quickly turn away feeling embarrasses and ashamed that we did such a thing, but at the same time couldn’t have helped it if we wanted to. Grealy also describes such an experience. “They always looked away quickly, trying to pretend they hadn’t been staring.”(101)

However, there are those amazing people who never stare at these oddities in some even for a second and go straight to the inner beauty, and I would be lying if I said I have never glanced. However, I think you get to be one of these people if you have a loved one with a physical deformity, or other disease that makes him or her physically “abnormal.” Grealy, being such a person herself was in turn on of these people. She saw straight through a person to their inner beauty, not stopping once to see the outside. She says, “Anyone who looked truly shocking or particularly ill or sported and impressive piece of machinery was treated with respect. There was an implicit honor code: you never stared openly, you always did whatever you had to help, you were always a good patient…in the hospital a kind of dignity reigned.” (41)

So who else is able to see straight to the inner beauty? This takes me back to my thought earlier. Grealy’s answer to this question was animals. This was why she felt whole and loved whenever near them, and why she felt so alone everywhere else but the stables and the hospital. Because she felt that no one saw her inner beauty—not even her—but animals and others in her same predicament—usually hospital patients. The horses did not stare at her, nor did the gossip or tease—in a way that would be noticed by Grealy. They only returned her love and affection with their own. Also as explained in the quote above, patients would not dare stare, gossip, or tease.

Lastly, I believe that another group falls within this group of those who only see inner beauty and I think that this is children: children who have not yet gone to school, or those who have not yet been fitted or exposed to societies mold. Within my own experiences, children—ages one month to before kindergarten—see past the “deformity,” the “abnormality,” and go straight to the personality (one’s inner beauty). The innocence they are born with is truly enchanting and mind-baffling, but what’s more baffling is the little time it takes to lose that innocence.

So if beauty lies within the eyes of the beholder, then children and animals behold the eyes that witness inner beauty and society beholds the eyes that witness physical beauty.

Jordan:

Just as our surroundings affect whom we become, they also affect how we react to them. A kid who grows up observing his father abuse his mother is more likely to abuse his wife than a kid who grows up observing his father treating his mother with respect. We copy the behavior of others when we are young to learn how to engage in interpersonal behavior. The boy who witnesses the abuse is more likely to copy the behavior than the boy who does not witness it. Or take Grealy for example: her exclusion from society (resulting from her physical appearance) hardwired her brain to think nobody could ever love her. This thought shaped how she dealt with sex during her life (I would explain further but I don’t want to ruin Truth and Beauty).

One could say the kid in your example has a choice, and I believe he does. But his choice will be greatly influenced by the behavior he observes and copies, like in my example. The behavior one witnesses during his or her life (especially early childhood) “hardwires” his or her brain to believe that’s how he or she should act.

Bil:

I picked an oversimplified example, but in any case, it still holds true: We are free to define ourselves in any way we want to, and to make conscious steps to become who we want to become. There are many ways someone can react to the situation you presented in your post, and while statistically children who witness domestic abuse in their family life are more prone to continue that cycle, that doesn’t have to be the case.

All one has to do is acknowledge that they are completely free, and to accept responsibility for their actions. I’m not saying that environment and society don’t shape us, I’m just saying they don’t have to .

((this theory gets complicated when we apply this to people living in poverty, who are systematically denied resources. Of course, they still possess the freedom to change, but are severely less likely to realize and utilize it, and understandably so))

Maybe I’m overcomplicating things, but I don’t think it’s fair to say that our environment shapes us completely. It makes us more predisposed to go a certain way, but can just as well cause us to go in the opposite direction. Example: Jack’s mom smoked, and while statistics show he would be more likely to smoke, he doesn’t. He’s repulsed by the smell of smoke to this day.

And I may point out: “negative” events can have positive impacts.

(I apologize if this was off topic at all, or seemed like a rant)

Shibandri — I was also watching Wimbledon. I would like to add, however irrelevantly, that I find Rafael Nadal beautiful. (This is awkward, I know.) What was really interesting about Wimbledon was how TSN (Toronto Sports Network… because I was in Toronto) talked about the difference between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s respective styles of play. My father prefers Federer’s elegance and finesse, while I love Nadal’s passion and energy. We prioritize qualities differently, creating a different definition of beauty.

My sister and I also have a hobby of associating animals with tennis players. Lucy Grealy identifies with animals, which I find interesting. She likes horses and sympathized with the animals she saw in the “petting zoo”. At first I thought it was because animals didn’t care for looks, but then I remembered a discussion I had with my friend Levon about how animals themselves define beauty. After a few minutes, we decided that we would leave that to the animals (who wants to talk about dorsal fins, really) and changed the subject. Animals know beauty — in a different way from humans, I would assume — but they still do sense it. Perhaps they didn’t care so much for a human’s looks, and that’s my guess for now. My interpretation of Lucy’s love for animals will probably change as I read further into the book.

Tying the beauty-of-the-atomic-bomb argument to Liz’s post — yes, familiarity is a huge factor in beauty, and that is part of why the splitting of an atom is so beautiful to a scientist, who has been working with science and the atom project for a long time. He grows to love it. That’s not the whole story, as there are other factors (like truth and innovation, as others mentioned).
There are several factors that contribute to beauty, and several qualities that can be considered beautiful, but nobody prioritizes them in the same way, and most people have their own definition of beauty. My dad highly admires his friend who he describes as “handsome, athletic, smart, rich, and had the biggest lung capacity out of all of us”. I know this friend and do not like him at all — he is successful, but any positive quality he has is overshadowed by his giant ego and immense rudeness. My dad finds his friend beautiful; I find his friend repulsive. Likewise, my dad is puzzled as to why I would choose a kind man of average intellect over a smart man of so-so personality. We prioritize qualities differently. You may value truth, while I value kindness, etc.

Great work-May, I love the sports analogy. It fits really well with the idea of beauty being present in action aswell as repose. While an athlete like Nadal or the Williams sisters are surely fit and striking when they’re not playing; it’s when they move, and play their sport that they become beautiful. In Grealy’s case I think she’s drawn to animals because of their ability to transend their physical appearance. When a horse runs it becomes more that a pack animal. It’s beautiful. Maybe when something is in action, in motion, it expresses its own truth (Truth?). The beauty is in the objects nature; Nadal is supposed to play tennis; a horse is supposed to run; Grealy is supposed to write. It’s in their nature and we see beauty in the perfect expression of that nature.

If you’ve moved on to Truth an Beauty you need to check out this site. The book was assigned summer reading for an freshman class at Clemson and caused a bit of an uproar because some members of the community found it “pornographic.” Patchett answers this very well.

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200707u/ann-patchett

I read the prologue to Autobiography this morning and one point Grealy brings up caught my attention.
She says on page 7, “This singular meaning- I was my face, I was ugliness- though sometimes unbearable also offered a possible point of escape. It became the launching pad from which to lift off, the one immediately recognizable place to point to when asked what was wrong with my life.”
In this quote she explains how she uses her facial deformity as an excuse for when something negative happens in her life. I completely related to this concept of blaming all my problems on one thing and think it’s true for a lot of people. I had a friend once who constantly referred every problem that arose in her life back to the fact that her parents would not buy her a car. I think so many people are guilty of doing this because it may seem easier to blame everything on one thing, rather than acknowledging that there may be more than a singular problem.
Only having read the prologue, I can already tell that the issues Grealy talks about are not just restricted to her. The concerns she has about people talking about her and how people perceive her are matters that every person faces everyday.

Jordan:

I agree that the environment shapes people’s ideas.

But just as one’s environment can influence one to copy a behavior, it can also do the opposite: like the smoking thing. I strive to act nothing like my biological father, who my mother divorced when I was 8. He caused our family so much pain I promised myself I would never make the choices he did. Going off on a tangent…something you wrote caught my attention:

“All one has to do is acknowledge that they are completely free, and to accept responsibility for their actions. I’m not saying that environment and society don’t shape us, I’m just saying they don’t have to.”

I really like how you said that.

Sorry I have not been able to post for so long – I have been in Toronto, where I had no access to a computer. However, I will try to catch up to the ongoing debates as well as I can.

I notice that so far on this blog, we have seen 56 comments on what beauty IS and what it is composed of. But I would like to bring up a few new topics: what is the ABUSE of beauty? Is it the unfair nature of those that are physically fit to put themselves as superior of others? Is it the unfortunate behavior of those who are beautiful to assume they are sublime? Is it wrong to take advantage of personal beauty?

Also, what is the loss of beauty? How does one lose personal beauty, and what is a result of it? Though it is easy to lose external beauty, how does one lose beauty of the soul?

Finally, I wanted to follow up on my above point about abuse of beauty by talking about pornography. Personally, I think that pornography is a profession with little deserved respect, and is an abuse of beauty. However, is it right to assume that people with such professions are people without internal beauty?

While I was reading through some of the book, I noticed how Grealy seems to envy animals. When she is in the hospital, she is very anxious to see the animals. She explains how she feels about the animals on page 48, “I was crazy for animals.” Also, a little later in the book, she talks about how animals still give her as much attention as they did before her operations. Lucy makes a connection with the animals because they do not judge others. People, on the other hand, use their eyes before their minds.

There are many advertisements about how to lose weight, look better, be cool, etc. Are those advertisements drawing people into thinking beauty is only a physical trait or do people have that tendency automatically? If there was no pressure about being accepted, would people judge others only by who they are internally?

To answer Jeremy’s question, I would say that people would still judge a person based on their appearance. Throughout the animal world, judgement is being passed on physical traits. For example, the alpha male in a pride of lions only stays on top because of his physical prowess. If anyone were to challenge the male and win, then the dethroned king would be rejected by the group, because he wasn’t strong enough to win. Humans instictively look to the people who talk big, look cool, or make people feel secure, the reason being that they exude an air of confidence, of strength. the only difference between humans and animals is that instead of trying to overthrow a bad leader, humans merely give in and change their way of life to match that of their idol’s.

While reading Autobiography of a Face (I am currently on Chapter Nine) , I realized how silly it is for people to concentrate so much on their physical appearance rather than their personality and things important such as life and death. Lucy somewhat fell under a spell after her diagnosis of cancer by allowing the disease to dictate her life. She could no longer enjoy herself in the public because she was so insecure about her looks and what others thought about her appearance. Before her diagnosis on the other hand, she didn’t care about others opinions about her looks were despite being a tomboy; all she wanted was attention. Ironically, when she was diagnosed with cancer she started getting some attention but as she received it, she shied away from it and became embarrassed.

Lucy is unable to control others actions like those of the boy’s in her lunch, but she is able to control her reactions towards those making fun of her. I believe that people need to live their lives to the fullest and ignore others opinions. You only get one opportunity to live so you might as well make the most of it.

Finally, Lucy needs to become more optimistic. Instead of looking at things that are not going her way like her loss of hair, surgery on her jaw, and the problems with her teeth, Lucy needs to realize how fortunate she is that she can think clearly, interact with others, have a family that supports her and so on. Despite her optimism growing stronger throughout the book, i believe her pessimistic outlook on life is holding her back from enjoying the true meaning of life

Response to:
>>Aditya wrote @ June 24th, 2008 at 5:37 pm

Aditya, I believe that physical beauty is the more noticeable type of beauty in today’s society. Sure, I don’t believe that it should be, but it is. People today are obsessed with people’s outside appearance. For example, Autobiography of a Face proves that physical beauty is more important than inner beauty by how the boys reacted to Lucy’s appearance in the lunchroom with barely any hair, only 2/3rd’s of a jaw remaining, pale as can be, and extremely thin. In today’s society, if a boy had a choice, out of the blue, to pick one of two girls to date, one who is gorgeous on the outside but on the inside is a stuck-up, spoiled brat, and the other who is a not-so-good-lookin’ lady, but in the inside she is kind and considerate as can be, the boy would undoubtedly pick the good looking girl. I also believe that this will never change. Although not everyone believes outer beauty is more noticeable than outside beauty, there will always be more people that believe outer beauty is more noticeable. Even in today’s media, more and more songs are portraying girls as “things” with nice “physical attributes” as opposed to “people” with “good personalities.”

I would just like to support the comment that Jordan Walsh made, “We are free to define ourselves in any way we want to, and to make conscious steps to become who we want to become.” Though society does shape us, we are the only ones who can truly define ourselves, and we become whatever we make ourselves to be. Environment does not determine who people are or what they will be. For example, if a person wants out of the ghetto (a common scenario these days), that person will do whatever he or she needs to to get out of the ghetto and to have a better life. However, feeling “free” is often easier said than done, what with man’s habit to let the opinions of others (friends, family, enemies, superiors), to influence or decisions and how we see ourselves. It’s hard trying to ignore what people tell you that you are. For years and years (and not only with their words), people called Lucy Grealy ugly. Grealy though what almost anyone would, “If he says I’m ugly, and she says I’m ugly, and if they say I’m ugly, then I must be ugly.” But overall (and what Grealy later discovered) is that we, and we alone, can give ourselves a definition. Once again, I just thought I’d comment on Jordan’s wise words.

After reading the first couple chapters of The Autobiography of a Face, I was bewildered why Lucy wrote nothing about her illness. How she just talked about going to the hospitals, but not what treatments they gave her there. After reading further I realized the reason. On page 63 Lucy remarks about her inability to face her illness head on when she said, “This was the second time an adult had tried to approach me directly and seriously about my situation, and it was the second time I had turned it around, refused to tackle it.” When I read this and other pages I realized that adults had tried to tell Lucy about her illness, but she just didn’t listen. She felt that she couldn’t die, and didn’t want to hear anything that would tell her otherwise.

I am glad that Lucy writes this way. She writes about her childhood how it happened. She didn’t tell us about all the medical surgeries and treatments she had had. At the time she didn’t really understand them. I feel that this shows her innocence, that she doesn’t know about death and it is reflected in the fact that she is oblivious to her situation.

I have finished Autobiography of a Face and I must say that the most beautiful part about Grealy’s writing is that she states the truth, and everyone can connect with this book because they have learned the truth through experiences.

As I read this book, I was surprised by how many things Grealy experienced that I had experienced too, even the little things, such as her experiments with rusty nails and the torturing of insects.
Here is one of the events in my life that Grealy experienced before:
On one particularly moody day (Saturday April 12th, 2008), I found out something about my friend that worried me greatly, and I also got into an argument with this friend too. (I won’t say who or what it was that worried me) And so I was feeling depressed by this new piece of information and thought “what the hey? I feel like cutting myself.” So I took out a sharp object (it wasn’t a rusty nail though) and attempted to make blood come out of my arm, but there was something — some invisible force — that held me back. A part of me wanted to hurt myself, but another part of me wouldn’t let me. I didn’t get how I couldn’t draw my own blood, after all, it’s just one quick motion, but I was held back by something. In the end, I didn’t draw any blood because I simply couldn’t. When I read this book, I was very surprised that someone else had actually felt and wrote about that same invisible force that I had felt.

“I was listening to the screams of the neighborhood children I hardly ever played with anymore and trying to scratch myself with the top of a dirty tin can. Again something held me back; while I could raise a good welt, I never scratched forcefully enough to break the skin or draw blood. Something always held me back, and for the longest time I thought it was cowardice.” (97)

Though our situations were different ( I did not cut with sharp cans or rusty nails and I didn’t want to make myself sick), I was amazed that Lucy Grealy could so accurately describe the way I had felt.

There are many other things in the book that I’m sure everyone can relate to. For example, I’m sure almost everybody has been teased at school for something, and that he/she has felt and thought the same way that Grealy did when she was teased. I’m also quite sure that almost everybody has felt ugly in their life before and wishes to be accepted. I know I have.

I really like this book, and so do many of my friends. I think it’s because everybody can relate to this story in some way. I also think people like this book because Grealy is so honest about everything. She states the sad, but beautiful truths in this world that everyone can appreciate.

P.S. I don’t cut anymore and I’m not depressed and I don’t go to the asylum. I simply wrote about my story to show how this story of a real person relates to real readers.

The manner and honesty in which Lucy Grealy relates the events in her life resonate with me in the same way as my own personal memories of my younger years do. Although the events in my life were in no way similar or tragic it is in the way she processes and coops with the situations she is presented with that is familiar. I think by writing in general about fears, inadequacies, and perceptions about her world she relates to all people. As I walked up the drive way to my house after my first day of first grade I knew something was not right. My dad’s car was at home, and he was supposed to be at work. I walked in and my parents told us that they had something very important to tell my sister and I. They told us my grandpa had died. Instead of taking in that my grandpa had died I concentrated on my dad’s tears. I wondered when I had ever seen him crying before and if he would stop. This is similar to the way in which Lucy reacted when she found out she had cancer she concentrated on insignificant details instead of the overwhelming truth of cancer.

I strongly agree with Nate’s comment and believe if she would have dwelled on the horrifying and painful aspects of the disease and treatment or been melodramatic in her story telling it would have been either to hard to take in or would have turned people off because it would come across as a tribute of self pity.

In response to what jeremydoulbeu said, I think that if there was no pressure of being accepted then yes, people probably would judge people for what they are on the inside. Too bad the world doesn’t work that way though, because then Lucy wouldn’t have had to suffer through high school. High school is supposed to be some of the best years of your life, but it’s unfortunate that she had to be so self conscious. Life would be better for everyone if people had no pressure to be accepted.

Nate,

Im halfway through the book and i was also amazed that she doesn’t mention battling with her actual illness, but rather the journey of overcoming her physical differences. I believe that Lucy does this for a reason. She tries to make it a point that it wouldn’t matter how fatal, painful, or heart-wrenching the cause of her physical difference was. The point is that she’s has no outer beauty and the cause of this is unimportant. As sad and as wrong as that may seem, it is a very difficult and admirable way for her to deal with her situation. It’s almost as if she doesn’t blame her illness for her inner pain.

What do you guys think?

Having read through the first few chapters of the novel, I have truly acquired a taste for Grealy’s descriptive style. She is able to take feelings that most people have encountered at some point in the lives and articulate them with total mastery. With this, I can fairly say that she is one of the most widely accessible authors I have read.

Since the discussion of what beauty is comprised of is becoming slightly exhausted, I would like to open up a somewhat new point- a person’s attitude towards their appearance. As of this point in her autobiography, Grealy has generally displayed an attitude of trying to hide her distortions. The only time in which Grealy embraced her face is when she was younger and she felt she finally was the center of attention, something special to, interestingly enough, make her peers jealous. Yet as I read in the prologue, as she entered teenage years and beyond, her childhood ignorance to people’s true judgments soon faded away, as did Lucy from the life she was living.

Most of us have been told the pseudo-proverb that it is easier to make fun of yourself before others make fun of you. Why feel heartbroken about your deficiencies when you could just laugh along with them, right? In Grealy’s case, I noticed that she tends to be very uncomfortable with her face, rather then embracing it as a new part of her life, which is undoubtedly an extremely difficult task. A year ago or so I saw a stand-up comedian, Josh Blue, who suffered from a case of Cerebral Palsy, causing uncontrollable arm movements and varied speech qualities. His disability became his gimmick in the comedy world, and his unique attitude towards his situation can be summed up in his wise words, “I realize that people are going to stare so I want to give them something to stare at.” I found reading his bio on http://www.joshblue.com a very interesting follow up to the different attitudes one can take towards an impairment.

I don’t necessarily think that being able to poke fun at yourself makes you a stronger person, just someone who handles situations in a more constructive way. Clearly, Grealy’s constructive outlet turns out to be writing. The concern should really appear when a person feels they do not have our world’s “perfect beauty” and they have no strong outlet by which they can reshape their attitudes. One quote Grealy mentions when speaking of a hospital visit that I found symbolism in was “If I lay perfectly still, I feel no pain” (55). Sure it is easier to sit out and watch the beautiful live their beautiful lives, but eventually one must make a move.

In Autobiography of A Face I found the way Lucy described her hospital stays interesting. When Lucy was younger the hospital was like her second home being that she spent so much time there. She describes how when you’re in the hospital (or at least on Ward 10) there is a certain social ranking system; the sicker you are the more respect you get. Outside the hospital Lucy was respected because she could compete with the boys but inside the hospital Lucy’s “social status” was raised when she had a four hour operation. Also in the hospital all the patients could relate to one another. People at Lucy’s school could not relate to her having health issues so they chose to tease her about them. When Lucy was hospitalized she was not mocked. The hospital was in a way a safe haven for her.

I just finished chapter four of Autobiography of a Face. Diving into the reality of a cancer patient and the interworking of the obstacles Lucy was faced with leaves me almost embarrassed to admit that most people, including myself, do judge others based on their outer appearance. “I was, however, dependent upon my audience. Their approval or disapproval defined everything for me, and I believed with every cell in my body that approval wasn’t written into my particular script” (4). The fact that some people feel humiliated by their appearance and sense the need to hide it saddens me. It would be dishonest to say that appearance has no affect on an individual’s life. There is more to a person than their looks. I think true beauty lies within us. There is beauty in actions, words, and thoughts. I also believe that we can’t display this beauty until we recognize it ourselves.
What I really enjoyed about the first few chapters was Lucy’s perspective on her illness as a child. She saw visits to the hospital as adventures to the city. I also like how she considered herself a heroine of a medical television show. Grealy displays the innocence of a child that can easily be overlooked. I was shocked on page 43 when she admits to not knowing she had cancer until after her treatment.
I originally had mixed feelings about Lucy’s mother’s advice about crying. I found it harsh and inconsiderate for her mother to spend her time telling her not to cry instead of comforting and supporting her daughter. I felt that she was putting more unnecessary pressure on Lucy. My feelings changed while reading the end chapter four where I sympathized for her mother. It must be heartbreaking for a mother to watch their child suffer and have no way to prevent the pain. Once she sees her mother’s eyes swell with tears Lucy comes to a realization, “Suddenly my perception of the world shifted. I wasn’t the only person in the world who suffered. I had always heard other children wailing from behind closed doors all along the corridor outside Dr. Woolf’s door, so it wouldn’t be false to say that I found myself hearing them for the first time or more clearly. What happened was more hallucinatory. My sense of space and self lengthened and transformed, extending itself out the door and down the corridor, while at the same time staying present with me, with my mother, who, to my profound discovery, was suffering not just because of, but also for, me” (86). I know that quote was a paragraph but I found it both important and touching. Adding to what Bill said, Lucy, facing reality at such a young age, does contribute to her developing the gift of writing and understanding the value of life.

Beauty is what pleases another person to be around you. Like a funny laugh or thought that brings joy to life. Beauty is what a person does to bring happiness and meaning to the world. There is a broad line between what character and beauty are. Character is what people do to be characterized as intelligent, strong, bold, meek, etc. Beauty is the impact of being characterized. For instance, a firefighter is daring to run into a burning building and save anyone trapped inside. The character is daring. The beauty is the lives the firefighter saved. Beauty is also how different one human is from another. The beauty of an aunt is different from a grandson. That is the beauty of life: everyone is different, anything can happen, and anything is possible.

Beauty is what pleases another person to be around you. Like a funny laugh or thought that brings joy to life. Beauty is what a person does to bring happiness and meaning to the world. There is a broad line between what character and beauty are. Character is what people do to be characterized as intelligent, strong, bold, meek, etc. Beauty is the impact of being characterized. For instance, a firefighter is daring to run into a burning building and save anyone trapped inside. The character is daring. The beauty is the lives the firefighter saved. Beauty is also how different one human is from another. The beauty of an aunt is different from a grandson. That is the beauty of life: everyone is different, anything can happen, and anything is possible.

Well, I’ve hardly started Autobiography of a Face and already I find myself rushing to this wall to comment. I think I’m addicted to it.

There was a sentence at the top of this assignment that really caught my attention: “How is who you are formed?” That is an excellent question. I think who we are is formed by a variety of things: the circumstances in which we grow up, our parents, our friends, our skills, and — though we don’t like to admit it — our looks factor in there as well. For some, it’s such a miniscule factor that it’s often overlooked. For those of exceeding “beauty,” they perhaps become conceited on one end of the scale or self-concious and unsure of their looks on the other.

Then there are people like Lucy Grealy. Her looks played a tremendous role on who she is. As she said on page 7, “I was my face, I was ugliness”. The way she looked overtook her until that was who she became.

I also think her parents’ attitudes had a part in the person Lucy was to become as well, not to mention the people around her and they way they reacted when they encountered a young girl with half a face.

Be back soon!

In Autobiography of a Face, inner and outer beauty are obviously the main themes that echo throughout the book. Lucy Grealy is constantly struggling with the way she presents herself to the world and how she wants people to percieve her. All of the taunts and comments that are thrown her way prove that outer beauty plays a major role in how society acts towards others. This is because of human nature; people automatically form a judgement in their mind about how others look (especially if they look different) before they get to know the person. First impressions are often based on how people look. This is what Lucy Grealy had to deal with throughout her life. It is unfortunate that people base so much on outer beauty when inner beauty is what truely counts.

By discussing the definition and existance of beauty, we are not doing the word justice. “Beauty” in itself is an abstract word, so it is defined arbitrarily by different people. I was reading Jeremy’s post, and he brought up an excellent point, as the environment people are immersed in makes a difference in their feeling towards this topic. To justify this point, I provide three historical cases, and compare and contrast them:

1. Going in chronological order, I will start with Ancient Mesopotamia. This civilization was arguably the first completely developed civilization in the world, and had a unique way to distinguish the rich from the poor: the rich could afford to eat, so the richest people were the fattest people. The priests and kings in this time period were honored as Gods, but were also the fattest people in the complex civilization. Therefore, they use this principle to show the richness and beauty.

2. For my second case, I go to one of the most intellectually famed countries in the world: China. The Mongols invaded China in the early 1300s, and brought with them their own principle addressing beauty: the women with the smallest feet were the most beautiful and belonged to the most esteemed families. For this reason, the fathers of families would bind their children’s feet to decelerate the growth rate. While at the time this beauty was appreciated, science has proven that these actions have affected generations of families. For this reason, this Chinese art of foot binding has the most severe repercussions, but the most rewards at the time being, for carrying forward with it. As we can see, even the smartest of the civilizations have made mistakes regarding this widely controversial topic.

3. I bring up a case from the 1550s, where Akhbar the Great ruled India. He was a Muslim, so he naturally inclined to converting most of the Hindus in India to the Islamic religion. Therefore, he required that the women in India must cover their faces with articles of clothing, similarly to what the cover of Autobiography indicates. By doing this, he makes it impossible for the Indians to judge the women by their physical appearance. As we can see, Akhbar of the 1550s followed the ancient customs of the world by judging people based on emotion and soul rather than external appearance.

For a comparison, I would like to point out some similarities between the actions taken between the Mesopotamians and the Chinese. Their definitions of beauty were both externally idealistics, and were representative of power. For this reason, I think their definitions of beauty had a direct correlation to ego. One could promote herself in society in Mesopotamia simply by eating more, or in China by making her feet smaller.

However, what is the difference between our definition of beauty and these discredited, grotesque definitions that, for lack of a better word, ‘primitive’ civilizations of the world used? In essence, is it not the same? As a civilization, we are resorting to crude measures such as Botox surgery and breast implants for the “ideal” features. We also believe ourselves as striving towards trying to look the best we can. So in this sense, are the visions of beauty that the different parts of the world contributing all essentially identical?

When you wake up in the morning, how long do you spend in the bathroom? For some, the answer is an hour while for others it’s five minutes. We’re all told to not judge a book by its cover, so why do some of us spend so long worrying about our appearance? It’s because, in society today, no matter how much we want to believe image isn’t everything, it is. Our society is filled with magazines, television shows, and movies that lead us to believe that looks play an important role in life. As much as we don’t want to admit it, it’s true.

Lucy Grealy’s story reinforces this point. As Lucy grows up she is teased and given dirty looks; she is judged by the way she appears. She feels the need to hide behind her blonde hair. Since Lucy is treated this way, she is convinced that she is ugly. When Lucy goes to the hospital to get her face fixed, the waiting room is filled with people getting a nose job and their faces lifted. These people had perfectly normal faces but believed that somehow they didn’t look good enough. On the other hand there was Lucy, trying to get her face back from cancer, hoping that one day she could look like one of the faces of those in the waiting room.

When she goes to the hospital she often makes friends there. This is because people in the hospital don’t judge her. They know what she’s going through because they’re in a similar situation. This is also why Lucy feels so connected with her animals. Unlike humans, animals don’t judge people by their appearance. The animals allow Lucy an outlet.

By discussing the definition and existence of beauty, we are not doing the word justice. “Beauty” in itself is an abstract word, so it is defined arbitrarily by different people. I was reading Jeremy’s post, and he brought up an excellent point, as the environment people are immersed in makes a difference in their feeling towards this topic. To justify this point, I provide three historical cases, and compare and contrast them:

1. Going in chronological order, I will start with Ancient Mesopotamia. This civilization was arguably the first completely developed civilization in the world, and had a unique way to distinguish the rich from the poor: the rich could afford to eat, so the richest people were the fattest people. The priests and kings in this time period were honored as Gods, but were also the fattest people in the complex civilization. Therefore, they use this principle to show the richness and beauty.

2. For my second case, I go to one of the most intellectually famed countries in the world: China. The Mongols invaded China in the early 1300s, and brought with them their own principle addressing beauty: the women with the smallest feet were the most beautiful and belonged to the most esteemed families. For this reason, the fathers of families would bind their children’s feet to decelerate the growth rate. While at the time this beauty was appreciated, science has proven that these actions have affected generations of families. For this reason, this Chinese art of foot binding has the most severe repercussions, but the most rewards at the time being, for carrying forward with it. As we can see, even the smartest of the civilizations have made mistakes regarding this widely controversial topic.

3. I bring up a case from the 1550s, where Akhbar the Great ruled India. He was a Muslim, so he naturally inclined to converting most of the Hindus in India to the Islamic religion. Therefore, he required that the women in India must cover their faces with articles of clothing, similarly to what the cover of Autobiography indicates. By doing this, he makes it impossible for the Indians to judge the women by their physical appearance. As we can see, Akhbar of the 1550s followed the ancient customs of the world by judging people based on emotion and soul rather than external appearance.

For a comparison, I would like to point out some similarities between the actions taken between the Mesopotamians and the Chinese. Their definitions of beauty were both externally idealistic, and were representative of power. For this reason, I think their definitions of beauty had a direct correlation to ego. One could promote herself in society in Mesopotamia simply by eating more, or in China by making her feet smaller.

However, what is the difference between our definition of beauty and these discredited, grotesque definitions that, for lack of a better word, ‘primitive’ civilizations of the world used? In essence, is it not the same? As a civilization, we are resorting to crude measures such as Botox surgery and breast implants for the “ideal” features. We also believe ourselves as striving towards trying to look the best we can. So in this sense, are the visions of beauty that the different parts of the world contributing all essentially identical?

So sorry I posted the same thing twice… I didn’t purposely do it. Please ignore the second copy, as it’s exactly the same comment.

Sresht-
I don’t believe you’ve demonstrated that any of these ancient civilizations properly demonstrate that it is really the environment that influences beauty. Your examples have added more variables to consider with beauty: nutrition and tradition.
We don’t really even need to look so far to the Mesopotamians to see that the amount of food you got, determined your class and vice versa. If you look at almost every single regime, dynasty or dictatorship that has come since the dawn of man, the rich have profited from breaking the backs of the lower classes to provide them their sustenance. During the 1780’s, The French suffered years of famine while the Versailles courtiers feasted on the spoils of unfair taxes and centuries of tradition. If you look at those bourgeois men, you would see their portraits gleaming with bright clothing, illumination, paintings, fountains, and of course a heaping of food (whether in the portrait or in their bellies). However, loop-holes existed when you would have obese peasants or jolly friars or middle-class merchants who had no noble status. Even if you had a round belly, it didn’t signify much (except that you probably should join the ancient version of Jenny Craig) and that even if you belonged to another class, it would take you generations of years of being obese to become part of the nobility.
The Chinese and Moghul examples further the point of tradition are useless at determining the beauty of a person. The Chinese, had started the practice of foot binding almost five hundred years before the Mongols attacked China in 1215. Although it was viewed as a sign of beauty, it wouldn’t be proved to be deficient to one’s health until several centuries when the Europeans brought China out of their isolation.
When Akbar reigned, Muslims wore hijabs as a sign of deference for Muhammad and to maintain tradition. This tradition, which has been upheld, until fairly recently that women were inferior to women. Every faith, whether in writing or not, has shown women were to be segregated against. It was always the daughters of Eve who had to do everything to show that they were just as worthy of love and peace. Whether it was in Europe, where women with large hips and pouty lips were the fashion so they put on bodices and heavy makeup to make up for Nature’s “faults”; or in China where women stunted their own foot group or even in India (before the Moslems and after) where wives would cremate themselves after their husband’s death. These are all traditions that may’ve chosen beauty but, if you look at it, what type? You would look the same as everyone else; like dolls with the same painted faces and the same exaggerative clothes. To say that we’ve changed from the Mesopotamians and Chinese is so far from the truth, that even the ideas of beauty have warped into a new stage of erratic ideas.
However, true beauty lays in these archaic practices and ancient customs; it is those who stand above them, who can overcome the pressures of environment and even themselves, who are truly beautiful.

Beauty isn’t just how you look; it’s also how you present yourself. It’s easier to make fun of someone who’s alone and hostile, then someone who’s happily laughing with his or her friends. I feel the reason Lucy was accepted at the hospital and not so much in the real world was because she let her guard down at the hospital. She didn’t act as if she should be treated differently so she wasn’t.

On Halloween night Lucy realizes that she has become a meek, self-conscious person. She talks about how bold she was now that her face was covered. About how since people couldn’t see the deformity they treated her with more respect. Really if she acted that way when people really could see her face, they’d treat her the same as they did on Halloween. The problem is that when everyone can see her and her deformity she shrinks back into her shell waiting for her face to become ‘normal’ and then she’ll be accepted. When what she should do is just be herself and act as if nothing is wrong then people would do the same.

Perhaps Sresht should have phrased his argument differently; he should have pointed out that since the Mesopotamian and ancient Chinese societies defined something as beautiful, the people of the society are trained to see it so. Being a Canadian of Chinese descent, I notice that people of different backgrounds think different things are beautiful. Living in the United States, I find that many people like blond hair with blue eyes. Fair enough. There are a lot of Caucasians in the U.S., so I’m not surprised they find Caucasian features attractive. I used to live in Toronto, which is one of the most diverse cities in the world. A lot of boys there have — without a better way to put it — “yellow fever”, when they like the Eastern Asian look. There are a lot of Eastern Asians in Toronto, so perhaps seeing so many of them got the Torontonians defining them as beautiful. When everyone around you thinks something is beautiful, you are trained to think it is. You might even judge different things. Like, when I lived in Canada, I would only judge a boy by his face (and unless I’m much mistaken, most of my Canadian friends do mostly judge by face) when deciding whether or not he was physically attractive. Then, I moved to the United States, where people obviously factored body into the equation. I was at first very confused, and then finally learned to go along with this new standard.

The definition of physical beauty does differ, depending on the beholder. There are a lot of reasons, such as your background, your personal history (you might have loved this particular person a lot, and certain traits remind you of him/her), etc. Beauty is definitely subjective.

Of course, personality is still a big factor in terms of overall attractiveness, and like Mr Kreinbring pointed out, beauty is present in action, too.

Beauty cannot be defined by a certain single straight forward definition. Sresht talked about this in his latest post. For many different society’s of today, or in the past there has been many examples of what they thought was “beautiful.” Some depending on just if they were rich enough or born into the right family. But to many people in today’s society its all about looks, no matter how wrong that is all everyone cares about now is who is hot. Now I do think that beauty is outside but mainly beauty should come from inside of the person. Lucy Grealy is one who is beautiful on the inside, many people would just tease her or shoot her down becaues of her looks and not get to know her.
So my main question is how did many today get to the point of where they are so rapped up in the “model” look and now ignore the true beauty of so many around them?
To me the beautiful people will not always be pretty but will have a beautiful soul. Many times i believe the truly beautiful are made fun of at school or are the people you see many times depressed because noone will stop to be their friend or get to know them. Now this does not mean that i you cant be good looking to be beautiful, you can, and there are many people out there that are like that. You can be blessed with good looks and still have a great personality. Lets take a step back from society’s view and look at the true essence of the word “beautiful”

I agree with Sarah P that although we are all told that image isn’t everthing in our society, it really is. That is because we feel that we must live like certain celebrities or people we see in the media. We feel like we must live up to certain expectations and we can do this by looking a certain way. Doesn’t everyone have a famous idol that they look up to and want to be like someday?

I also agree with Sarah that people who are going through a similar situation as you do not judge you. Obviously that is because they understand you and what you are dealing with. Often, it is easy to make friends with these people. Lots of times, shy kids, who are outsiders at school, make friends with someone in the same position because it is so easy to get along. You both understand each other and therefore have a lot to talk about.

There are so many different aspects to beauty. Obviously there is the inner and outer parts of beauty. The inner half is made up of personality and character. Most people realize that kindness, sensitivity, tenderness, and compassion are all more desirable traits that physical qualities. I’d rather have someone think of me as someone containing these qualities than being a shallow person only known for physical qualities. As a teenager physical qualities seem like the most important thing to you. Girls always wear makeup and buy the latest fashion trends. They go shopping all the time to get the perfect outfit to impress some guy. At this age, this seems to be the number one priority on every teenagers list. The thing is that when we get older and look back on our lives, we will realize how silly we were about getting so worked up about these things. As an adult, we will all understand that outer beauty does not really matter because in the end, the furthest it goes is to our grave. We have all heard the saying that you take beauty to your grave. This is because outer beauty does not matter when you are dead. No one will actually remember you for your beauty. They will remember you for your character and the way you made them feel. All of those wonderful inner qualities come into play when you die. If you want to be remembered when you die, you need to be someone that means something to others. That way when you die, people will feel an emptiness in their heart because a big part of them is gone. My grandmother was the kindest person on the planet. She lived through many horrible things throughout her life including escaping China during the Japanese attack and coming to America. She raised six kids in a small apartment above a laudromat and yet, she was the greatest mother to them she could be. She was also a wonderful grandmother and friend to many. That is how I remember her. I still remember all of the speeches people said about her at her funeral. All of them were about her character and her impact on the lives of many. So many people can still feel her in their hearts each and every day. This made me realize how much more valuable inner beauty is to people than outer beauty. Who you are on the inside is how you will be remembered when you die.

So I am about half-way through the book and I find myself getting annoyed with the parents. From a young age it seems they abandoned her just because they couldn’t deal with the reality that their child was extremely ill. The first time Lucy realizes that she is on her own is on page 37 when she says “It was the moment when I understood unequivocally: I was in this alone.” I also think it unfair that the mother would get so upset when her child cried. Lucy’s parents reactions and mood around her make her feel that everything happening is her fault.

Another point I would like to make is that when Lucy was younger she saw nothing wrong with her appearence. It was not until she started losing her hair that she realized she was not to society’s standard of beautuful. It is intersesting how one thing can cause you to realize they way you appear. Also I am noticing that as she gets older she becomes more self-consious about her appearence. I cannot imagine going through the same ordeal she has.

Lucy’s childhood had been riddled with pain and shame regarding her appearance. I find it very interesting how Lucy dealt with that pain. One way she overcame her pain during her chemotherapy treatments was by starting to play a game. She would try not to cry, and that would consume all of her energy so that she didn’t focus on the pain. Even though the reason she did this was unconventional, it ended up working. She did it because she felt that if she cried she would be a failure, but it helped get her through chemo. This is supported on page 30 when Lucy said, “One must never, under any circumstances, show fear and, prime directive above all, one must never, ever cry.”

Another way that she helped deal with the shame of her ugliness was by recognizing that others in the world are worse off. Because of this she never allowed herself to feel sorry for herself. Lucy used both of these tactics during her childhood to help get her through the tough times.

I just finished Autobiography of a Face and I can honestly say it was one of the most heart wrenching books I’ve ever read. Throughout the whole book, Lucy strives to not let her illness get the best of her. It’s hard to believe that even when she was battling cancer she still felt the need to minimize her problems since there were people in Vietnam without food. As I continued to read, I found that her will to be “brave” through her treatments only added to her attachment to them. She equated being brave and undergoing the surgeries and chemotherapy to being worthy of love. One example of this is if her treatments end, she says, “I wouldn’t be special anymore; no one would love me.” (136)
Another way Lucy describes as a means of gaining love is through physical beauty. Her lack of a boyfriend seems to prove this to her. In her head she is too ugly to be loved and thinks if she was beautiful her feelings would be enormously different. “When I tried to imagine being beautiful, I could only imagine living without the perpetual fear of being alone, without the great burden of isolation, which is what feeling ugly felt like.” (177)
I also found it interesting that Lucy talks indebt about being an observer of the real Beauty in the world. She feels that her unique position, being “ugly” allowed her to see that Beauty. Being this champion, she utilizes this to help deal with her perceived lack of physical beauty. Her difference between the two was expressed on the bottom of page 157. “I had put a great deal of effort into accepting that my life would be without love and beauty in order to be comforted by Love and Beauty.” To Lucy she tries to make her greater definition of Beauty seem important, but as she recognizes the other form is still very important to her.

I agree with Bridget on how Lucy tied love and physical beauty together. It was interesting how Lucy thought everyone didn’t like her because she wasn’t physically attractive in any way. I also found it really odd that even though Lucy had friends in college, she still had this mind set.

I just finished Autobiography of a Face and I agree with Bridget that this story is really emotional. I don’t think that we could ever truely understand what Lucy has gone through. Cancer is an ugly disease and cause’s its victims a lot of pain. One of my good friends Michael from my previous school found out he had cancer just last year. The change in him was incredible. He was no longer the strong athletic guy we all loved, he was weak, pale, and always sick. The chemo killed his body and it was very hard to watch. However, the one thing that suprised me was how optomistic he was. When ever I would come back and see him he would joke about his appearence just to make everyone else around him more comfortable. That kind of self-sacrifice amazed me. He didn’t want everyone to feel bad for him, he just wanted to be treated like he was before. He wanted that sense of being normal.

Lucy is the same with her optimism and the way she looks at others as having it worse off. For example when she came out of one of the many operations she met Michael. She felt sorry for him, despite her own problems. She says ” Michael had lost something he was never going to get back; my face had only changed into the next shape it was meant to have. I could not dare to think I might actually want or like the shape, but I had a sudden realization that to have it at all meant something.”

I would like to leave you all with one final thought. Those that complain rarely have something to complain about, those that have something to complain about rarely complain.

Lucy Grealy’s strength is one of the things that really enlightened me in Autobiography of a Face. To go through so much is almost unfathomable. From the jaw removal to the taunts, to the chemo and hospital stays, to realizing her “ugliness” and struggling to find beauty within herself. I know that I couldn’t stand it. On top of having this disease, I have to deal with the word “ugly” constantly being thrown at me, have to keep undergoing surgery after surgery with disappointment as the recurrent result, AND manage to keep my head up about my situation? No, absolutely not. I couldn’t do it. But Grealy’s resiliency and ability to cope was amazing. Whether it was telling herself that her predicament was insignificant because others had harder lives than her, or continuously promising herself that there would be a happy ending in order to keep from giving up, she made it through. Though, in the end, she didn’t get the perfect face that she’d originally wanted, she got something so much better. After years of trying to be this or to look like that, she finally discovered herself. Grealy was strong enough to endure what she had to, but she was also strong enough to realize that she was whole even without a “beautiful” face. I just hope that I can become a person who has the same strength as Lucy Grealy.

For Lucy image was everything. She based her entire life on doing everything she could to make herself beautiful. Once all the procedures were done Lucy still isn’t comfortable with the way she looks. ‘Without another operation to hang all my hopes on, I was completely on my own.’ She never really decided how she was going to live her life. She thought that once she had a ‘normal’ face everything would just fall into place.

Laura’s comment about complaining really struck me. Why is it that people who have no reason to whine always complain? Is it to make them feel better about themselves? Where on the other hand, people who have every reason to complain usually don’t because all they want is to be “normal”. Reading Autobiography of a Face has made me reconsider my thoughts towards myself and everyone around me.

I found Lucy’s love for Halloween captivating. She was able to put on a mask, hood, or scarf and for one night pretend she was living the ordinary life of a young girl. “I was breathing in normalcy, that this freedom and ease were what the world consisted of, that other people felt it all the time. How could they not? How could they not feel the joy of walking down the street without the threat of being made fun of? Assuming this was how other people felt all the time, I again named my own face as the thing that kept me apart” (127). After reading this, I realized how unappreciative society can be.

Lucy, spending a great deal of her childhood ill, experienced emotions differently. “I discovered that, for me, joy could be measured in negative terms: of what I didn’t have, which was pain and weakness. My greatest happiness wasn’t acquired through effort but was something I already had, deep and sonorous inside of me, found through a process of removing walls of pain around it” (130). Was she considered “happy” when she wasn’t feeling nauseous from chemotherapy? Happiness can be interpreted in many ways. I found it heartbreaking how a young girl had to experience such trauma. I also feel Lucy never had anyone to talk to. Going through the experience seems difficult enough. Keeping all of her feelings to herself must have been so hard. Her loneliness began as a young child. Her parents should have made more of an effort to help her emotionally. I find Lucy’s inter strength admirable.

I agree with Dana about how Lucy’s love of Halloween was very interesting. When I read those parts of the novel, it really caught my attention. It opened my eyes to how bad Lucy’s life really was. How one of her few happiness’s as a child only lasted one night a year. And that that happiness was when nobody could see who she was. That was for me the saddest part of Lucy’s life.

The Autobiography of a Face was definitely different then what I was expecting. Grealy and her view of beauty is very different and was very important to her. Although in the book she writes about how she never truly spent time looking at herself in the mirror, she really cared what she looked liked and how other people saw her even if they didn’t know her story. Grealy lived in her own world for most of the book and enjoyed thinking about other people’s lives instead of her own. I thought Grealy’s opinion on this was very interesting. If you even look back at when she’s placed in the plastic surgery ward at the hospital she thought the woman next to her was so beautiful and didn’t think it mattered that she only had one breast; the fact that she had a pretty face was most important. But she also understands the need for people to feel even more beautiful and feels she understands better then most people because of her so called “ugliness”.

I know this doesn’t have anything to do with any of the previous comments, but I found this quote intriguing.

“Up until that point my great trials in life had been the emotional upheavals of our painful family situation. This physical drama seemed a bit of light relief to me.” P. 26

This quote shows how important mental health is. I know I must sound like a health teacher, but honestly, I think when this topic comes up most people don’t like to discuss it. I know numerous people who deal with mental issues such as depression, suicidal thoughts, bipolar disorder, dyslexia, ADD and even OCD. These can interfere with their life, yet not many people like to talk about them and most barely acknowledge them. In the quote above, it shows that Lucy dealt with much pain because of family problems. But the book is not about those trials, it’s about her many surgeries, and life after them. Although, of course it discusses how she was affected mentally because of her cancer.
But I suppose my point is that bad things happen in life. Despite whether they are physical or emotional/mental problems, people need to be considerate of them.

To me, the saddest part in Lucy’s life was after her second horse died. At this point, she had already lost her first horse, which used to be the closest friend she had, not to mention her father. Grealy tells us that somehow she found ways to blame these losses on herself. “I told myself that anything I loved was doomed…” (182). Can you imagine that feeling? Imagine thinking that you were alone in the universe; that anything and anybody you cared about was destined to be destroyed, just because YOU were somehow involved in their lives. Everyone, especially somebody in Lucy’s situation, needs at least one person whom they know loves them, someone who will be there in times of pain, be it physical or otherwise. Lucy felt that she had nobody in her corner and no one to talk to, and yet she still pushed on through what must have seemed like years of torture, no matter how good she thought she was at ignoring it. I can’t even fathom the possibility of having abosultely no one, not even family, to rely on; it would crush me to think that I was the only person who cared.
To me, beauty means strength of character. Physical strength means virtually nothing if you don’t possess the heart to press on through hard times. Lucy had no choice; she was stuck with her life, and even though she felt that nobody was there for her, she kept going. To me, that kind of strength is impossible to comprehend.

Physical beauty doen’t mean anything. It’s the beauty inside of you that means everything. Lucy tried to make herself beautiful, instead of seeing her inner beauty. She talked about how beautiful her mother was, wishing she was like that. She was worried about what people would think of her, what the little kids were wispering to their parents. What questions the kids were asking them, and what the parents were saying back. Lucy needs to see that she is beautiful inside and out, she just needs to believe in herself. She tries to make herself sicker, to raise her white bllod cell count, which would just make her situation worse. Everything will get better as time comes, and she will grow to love herself. She will see that outer beauty dosen’t mean everything.

I find it interesting that Grealy’s beauty came from her physical deformity. Though she tried to compensate for her inner feelings of ugliness, with sex and an intense wanting of assuring love, she nonetheless embraced her deformity. Many say, to those with disabilities/deformities, not to let those disabilities/deformities define who they are but Grealy was the exact opposite. Grealy embraced her deformity. She thought of it as something that made her unique; something that made her especial. She says, “…It didn’t occur to me…that people might actually pity me…If this type of attention wasn’t always comfortable for me, it nonetheless further defined me. Most people struggle all their lives to avoid fading unnoticed into the crowd, but this was never my concern. I was special. Being different was my cross to bear, but being aware of it was my compensation…I’d wanted to be special, to be different.” (101)

This is why I think that though she doesn’t mention it in her book, she may have been partially grateful that her reconstructive surgeries were not successful, because otherwise she would look like everyone else. This is where the common phrases “What you wish for is never really what you want,” or “Be careful what you wish for,” can be addressed. There would be nothing except was she knew, herself, for others to use to distinguish her and make her especial; make her unique. This is why I think that though she writes about her sadness in the fact that her face was flawed and wishes that it was otherwise, she would have been sadder had her surgeries succeeded to make her like everyone else because she would have lost her unique identity, her unique face. After all her book is called Autobiography of a Face because Grealy was her face. “Everything led to it, everything receded from it…”(7)

Nate:

I agree with your blog a while back when you said that because Lucy’s childhood was filled with so much trauma and sadness that she started playing a game. Indeed, she played many games and set many goal like “wanting to be the best patient” and “not wanting to cry; wanting to be brave,” and later “wanting to know that she was loved.” These “games” which I would rephrase to “acts” helped her focus of her deformity.

However I disagree with you when you said that another way of taking attention off her face was by “Recognizing that others in the world are worse off” and that “Because of this she never allowed herself to feel sorry for herself.” I don’t think that she ever took pleasure in seeing someone who was worse off then she was. Actually it was the exact opposite. She says, “Anyone who looked truly shocking or particularly ill or sported an impressive piece of machinery was treated with respect. There was an honor code…” (41) She respected those who were worse off than she was because she knew what they were going through. Thus by respecting them, she could never take pleasure in or even pity someone who was having a harder life than she was.

I agree with what lidiam wrote. Lucy based her life on what she thought she looked like and how other people thought of how she looked. She would always get done with one operation, not happy with the results, and hold on to the hope of the next surgery to make her beautiful.

Once she had her ‘normal’ face, Lucy still didn’t feel attractive. Even though her friends were telling she did, she didn’t believe it. After many operations, Lucy thought that once she got her face back she could go on living a normal life, “Wasn’t my fear just supposed to fall away, wasn’t someone supposed to fall in love with me, wasn’t life supposed to work now? Where was all that relief and freedom that I thought came with beauty?”(204). The fact is that Lucy didn’t need beauty, she needed to believe that she was beautiful.

At the end of Autobiography of a Face Lucy goes from having to cope with her deformity to accepting that a surgery was successful and her face was ‘normal’. Since every aspect of her life revolved around her face, Lucy didn’t know where to begin. “Without the framework of when my face gets fixed, then I’ll start living. I felt there was something empty about me” (221). Despite reassurance from her friends, Lucy found herself still searching for something. Lucy’s mindset is one that many of us have. We’re never satisfied. Never taking the time to live in the now and embrace the beauty within our lives. We base our lives around an upcoming event or time period. Telling ourselves, “Everything will get better when…” Lucy comes to terms with this, “It was easy for me to ascribe to physical beauty certain qualities that I thought I simply had to wait for. It was easier to think that I was still not beautiful enough or lovable enough than to admit that perhaps these qualities did not really belong to this thing I thought was called beauty after all” (221). Lucy put so much effort into avoiding mirrors and refusing to face herself. The truth is Lucy was the same person with or without her deformity. “A part of me, one that had always been there, organically knew I was whole. It was as if this part had know it was necessary to wait so long, to wait until the impatient din around it had quieted down, until the other internal voices had grown exhausted and hoarse before it could begin to speak, before I would begin to listen” (221). Many of us are unaware of our best qualities. Once we accept who we are, only then will we acquire the ability to share our unique beauty with the rest of the world.

When I picked up Autobiography of a Face, I thought that it was going to be a book all about someone being teased because of the way they looked. As I read through it, I found that the teasing and harassment were a small part of a larger picture. The book was more about Lucy’s inner struggles; it was about her almost perpetual confusion throughout her life, her frequent disappointment, and her brief, glowing memories of happiness.

Through most of the book, Grealy spoke more about her feelings towards others than the effect her face had on her own life. It’s only later in the story, when she is out in the world, that she speaks of how this unfortunate event impacts her. Grealy’s true beauty shows in the fact that she ultimately doesn’t let other people’s opinions affect her self-esteem. Even as a child, whether unconsciously or not, she really didn’t care what she looked like; her main focus was having fun. There were a few times that she doubted if she was lovable, if she was good enough for anyone, even if she met her own expectations. Lucy was finally able to accept herself as she was, though, which shows that she possessed a quality few of us ever use: humility.

Lucy accepted that she was never going to be the most beautiful, at least not in the eyes of the general public, but she was happy with who she had become. That, to me, matters a lost more than what others think of you, because if you can’t face yourself in the mirror and like what you see, then no amount of popularity will make you happy.

What is beauty? Can beauty be defined? Each individual has their own perception or definition of what they hold to be beautiful. This can be based on something they need or something they aspire to. A person is defined by physical concrete characteristics and traits as well as personality attributes and moral constitution. While we appreciate and enjoy the physical beauty of people and of nature the hazard exists when we place importance and great priority to it. Even though we mainly think about judging others unfairly we also, like Lucy, can judge ourselves by false criteria. Inner beauty is lasting and can make an imprint on someone else’s life. If you are patient and thoughtful I think that beauty can be found in everyone and everything. I also think the reason Lucy has a connection with animals is because they don’t see her physical imperfections they only know how well she looks after their needs and they feel her love and kindness in her touch. To animals the inner beauty of caring, responsibility, and kindness is obvious while the physical beauty is obscure.

I disagree when lidiam wrote, “It’s easier to make fun of someone who’s alone and hostile, then someone who’s happily laughing with his or her friends”. It’s not so much that it’s not untrue, it’s that you have to consider why that person is alone or hostile. In Lucy Grealy’s case, she spent the better part of her childhood from the first grade until her last days in high school in the hospital and away. Her old friends became concerned acquaintances and then they became simply the people who would look with horror or with disgust. At one point, she was one of tom-boys of the school and admired by all the boys for her masculinity., so why couldn’t all those boys remember back to those days of milk cartons and dodgeball to see their old friend?
They wouldn’t do this because time had changed them. It’s useless to look at what makes us beautiful or ugly if we don’t consider what changes us. If we don’t see the circumstances and understand the external as well as internal conflict of ourselves, then we make the wrong assumptions that lead us into problems. For example, would you punish a destitute Darfurian woman for stealing if she wanted to feed her children. To the victim of the stealing, the woman is breaking the law and to the woman she is trying to feed her starving children. Which one would be considered right?
Another of Lidiam’s points is that if Lucy Grealy would’ve acted confidently without regard to others’ opinions would ensure that she would be accepted. She wouldn’t be really accepted, she’d be more like the freak who doesn’t know what’s on her face. In Lucy Grealy’s case, this solution would’ve proved in her favor because she was strong enough for it; with years of chemotherapy and internal conflicts about her childhood, family and experiences, she might even seem invincible. However, look at all the others who are even more fortunate than her but are still affected by peer pressure. As I’ve noticed in years of living in the US, I’ve come to see how kids will group themselves by abilities, personalities and experiences. You’ll have a table of drama people. a bunch of athletes at the other, some cheerleaders and some nerds. They all talk about pretty much the same things (video games, teachers with crazy assignments, ridiculous things they saw on TV,parties, friends and crushes. To me, it’s sad that we have splited ourselves from each other and formed our own boundaries. Then, if one of us chooses to sit at another table we are compelled not to do so. We’re scared to do so because we fear that other people will not accept us and the group may not want that person because they feel that it would taint their table, their status quo, their own little bubbles. It’s the circle of fear that drives society and to break it involves us looking into ourselves and understand that we are just parts of the whole; we are more connected and able to understand each other better. This is what makes us humane, the ability that we can go beyond the bonds that nature intended and explore all the possibilities that were given to us. Each of us is individual and each of us has a common bond to someone else, but we must understand the circumstances of others and go a mile in their shoes as Atticus Finch put it.

I find it interesting how people tend to want to give, or pity those that look less attractive then others. Remember, the beggar who wanted to beg her for money but ended up giving her money and apologizing. That really got me thinking, is society really structured in such a fashion. Do we just keep giving tot he less “fortunate”. Does the looks of a person determine their wealth. Perhaps it does, i just want to say: All rich people are not super attractive. I bet we could think of some examples but beauty is all perception so i wont do that. Just thought i would point this out

A while back, Laura said that “Those that complain rarely have something to complain about, those that have something to complain about rarely complain.” Why is that? Why don’t the people who are really suffering rarely ever speak of their pain? Grealy gives us an inside look at why that is. She felt that it was her own fault that things in her world were going badly. She knew from a young age that there were other people far worse off than she, which understandably confused her. Why should she get to whine about her pain when their were children in Vietnam who were going hungry every day? It’s possible that many people who endure pain similar to Lucy’s think the same way. But then what about the rest of us? Why DO we get to complain about our problems?

We hear these complaints every day: “I’m hungry!” “My feet hurt!” “I’m tired!” and the worst one by far, “I’m bored!” So what? Your hungry? At least you have access to food. Your feet hurt? At least you have shoes. Your tired? go take a nap, because at least you have a place to sleep. Your bored? GO HELP OTHERS LESS FORTUNATE THAN YOU!!! What gives you the right to whine and scream so everyone can hear that you have a tiny, trivial problem in your life right this very moment?!?!? There are people ot there in situations not unlike Lucy’s who need help. She mentions having to apply for Medicaid more than a few times for various reasons, and as stated in the book, not everyone makes the cut. Sticking to what I said in a previous post, my interpretaion of beauty is inner strength. People who are truly suffering already possess the will to combat their ailments. The rest of us need to show that we too can use a fraction of that strength to help those who are truly in need.

Zach-

We complain because we’re spoiled and we live in the U.S.

May, Dhananjaya, and Steven,

I appreciate your comments and rebuttals on my earlier post. I obviously did not make my point clear, and I will attempt to do that at this time.

I meant to bring the connections between the ancient societies, in which their own forms of beauty are widely accepted physical characteristics. The definition of beauty in all cases comes from a mental ego from those in power. We are no different. We have an influence upon us that makes us want to look more ideal, and, though more traits are accepted as beautiful, we still fit this category. I agree with May when she says blond (blonde?) hair and blue eyes are idealistics in our society. Once again, we resort to PHYSICAL characteristics instead of HUMAN characteristics. In this way, I believe the ideas regarding beauty have not evolved since the 1200s.

Straying from this topic, I would like to bring back an argument that I’m sure someone mentioned very early in the blog: we cannot judge Grealy’s decisions and actions as accurately as we would desire because we could never truly ‘take a step in her shoes’. We have not faced the difficulties that she did, so we cannot be perfect judges. We have never been completely ostracized from so many aspects of society. Instead, we are taking inferences on what we would do in her shoes, and also commenting on a much larger scale, which happens to be the topic of beauty itself.

A person’s identity has a lot to do with who they are and who they will become. People will judge someone based on their looks and label them without finding the true inner beauty of a person. As I read Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy, I realized that people might like to think that they love someone based on their inner beauty, and that’s probably true. But looks are what attract a person in the first place, that’s how they were able to find beauty. Looking at that picture of Lucy when she was grown up, I didn’t see ugly. Sure she looks different but she isn’t ugly, nobody is ugly. Some people may be more attractive than others, but I don’t believe that it makes the person standing next to them ugly. Lucy thought of herself as ugly and didn’t think she was worthy of anyone’s love. Throughout the story she was made fun of and her self-esteem was destroyed. She let the people around her decide who she was before she could decide for herself. She had hope, and after her operations were healed and her face went back to the way it was before the operation, she lost almost all of that hope. But every time she was offered another fix, she regained that hope, she wanted to be beautiful and most of all loved. When a person is in that same situation Lucy was, they base their life on hope. Hope that they can become beautiful, hope that they can find love, and hope that they will be like everyone else and not the target of humiliation. All a person really needs in life is hope, if they know that better can come, it takes pain away. It makes it better. In the end of the book, I thought that Lucy found what she had been hoping for all along. The man talking with her in the end, made her look at herself for the first time in a long time. As she looked past him and at her reflection in the window, she found beauty.

Sara Goodnight:
When you wrote on July 5th about how society’s lack of understanding for another person’s situation can destroy someone’s self confidence, I agree with you entirely. The reason Lucy thought of herself as ugly was because that’s what the boys at school made her believe. That’s what the drunken men on the street made her believe, and that’s what people’s stares made her believe. At ages nine and ten she thought of herself as tough, she thought of crying and any other sign of weakness as being a disappointment to her mother. She never thought about her looks until she was forced to realize that she was no longer pretty to the boys and she was no longer worthy of anyone’s loving. When people started making fun of her, she began to think less and less of herself until she only thought of herself as ugly. It amazes me what other people’s opinions can do to a person, and that is really sad.

I read Zach’s post about how Laura said “Those that complain rarely have something to complain about, those that have something to complain about rarely complain.” Why is that? Why don’t the people who are really suffering rarely ever speak of their pain?” People who are really suffering don’t speak up because they choose not to. They would rather prove that even though they’re suffering, they can stand on their own two feet. It’s human nature to prove that you are able to survive on your own. It’s also human nature to help support others. That’s another reason why those who truly suffer say nothing. They want to protect everyone else. They don’t want everyone to worry to much. They don’t want to spread the suffering around. Not when the suffering is real.

When nothing is really wrong people complain to get attention or to get out of something. They tell their parents that they hurt their arm so they can’t clean up or do any work. Who hasn’t made some excuse that they hurt something to get out of cleaning their room or the dishes? Anyone who say’s they haven’t is lying.

I shouldn’t have been so blunt in my comment. What I meant when I said “Who hasn’t made some excuse that they hurt something to get out of cleaning their room or the dishes?” was that people over exaggerate little things. Some people flat out lie but most just milk a tiny injury a bit.

I agree with aditya’s comment on the connection between looks and wealth. Appearance is something that man has used since the beginning of time to place his or herself above the rest. The same applies to wealth. So it is possible to be the richest man in the world and, at the same time, be the ugliest man in the world. So it is impossible to judge appearance based off of wealth and vice-versa. Obviously, this connection is more apparent in certain areas of the world than others, but it is still always there. It is there, and will remain forever, because it is human nature to be the best.

Reading Autobiography of a Face, I can really relate to Lucy. I have never been through anything as bad as she has but just being a girl I can relate to her struggles. In my opinion she had to have the most horrible thing happen to her at the worst possible time in her life. She was in junior high, basically where you’re defined as a person for the next six years or so of your life. The kids in her school saw her as a girl with little hair, and as they would probably say, a messed up face. In middle school, people’s cruelty can destroy a person. And that is exactly what it did for Lucy. If that group of boys hadn’t made her situation recognizable, she probably would have had a pretty good, almost normal life. Instead she had to live in humiliation, self-consciousness, and most of all fear. Fear of the operations, fear of what the boys would say about her the next day, and fear of never being beautiful. To make matters worse, her horse dies and then her father. In my opinion, she is an extremely strong person, and she is faced with things I would never be able to get through and that is where her inner beauty comes from. Every girl is teased in her life and every girl thinks about what people think of them. When they get dressed in the morning, and when they are walking down the street. When people say something to a girl it will either make her or it will break her. In Lucy’s case, it broke her. Reading that book, I really did feel something, that at some parts I really just wanted to stop reading. I could feel the pain she felt when she was getting her shots, and I could feel the humiliation she felt when the boys made fun of her I could almost feel all the pain and hurt she felt.

Sresht–

Just wanted to make a quick comment here. You said that the ideas about beauty haven’t changed since the 1200’s. Firstly, I think that’s too broad of a statement, and second, I don’t think it’s true. Let’s say we were to narrow that statement down so that it would apply to the Western World. The definitions of physical beauty are fickle. In the days of knights, castles, and princesses, the common man had a much harder time finding food than the average person today. If you could eat, you were rich, so fat was considered beautiful. In the 1920s a boyish figure was prized in women, and in the 1950s a curvaceous form was considered beautiful. In the 1980s a more lean, athletic look was desired.
Even in terms of intangible beauty (in personality, success, etc.), the Western world’s standards have varied. Now, an intelligent, successful woman, to many people, is beautiful. This was not so back in the day. If you were a woman and you chose to be independent, to speak up for yourself, to fight for what you wanted, and to not succumb to orders, you were considered obnoxious. Essentially a woman was to be seen and not heard; a pretty woman who followed tradition, who would do your chores and bear your children was considered beautiful. So the standards (which I would assume fall safely under the label of “ideas”) of beauty did change.

By the way, I say “blond” and not “blonde” because “blonde” is French. Spell-check should be able to correct this for you.

Many people say that looks don’t matter and it’s who you are on the inside that really maters; but I’m not sure if we really believe that. Seriously, most likely, the first time you see a person, you base them on their looks. Some people don’t want to get to know a person because that person is overwieight or, like in Lucy Grealy’s case, has a different looking face or body part. The boys in Lucy’s middle/high school never saw Lucy for who she really was, just what she looked like.

I agree with Caitlyn M when she says that ” We live in a judgmental society; people pass people on the street and automatically draw conclusions about them.” This is true for almost all people. Everyone has judged people based on looks; we don’t even have to try. We do it instictively, and it’s sad to think that that’s what our instincts say to do.

Real beauty is on the inside- this theme is carried out in thousands of movies, literature, on television, and is pounded into our heads many times through out day to day life. But how many people do you know, however, that actually put this phrase to action when getting to know a person? When taking a first look at someone what do you notice? Of course you would be forced to judge off of physical appearance- nice hair, perfect teeth, thin, fat, pale, whatever. You can’t find someone beautiful on the inside until you get to know them. Unfortunatly, too many people want nothing to do with inner beauty if the outer isn’t pleasant as well. But what makes someone beautiful? I think that it is the people like Lucy Grealy, who some would consider wasn’t as strong when it came to physical beauty, who would be considered truly beautiful. Not having a pretty face, she was forced to shine through her personality. She was not as strong on the outside, so she was forced to show her strength by what she had inside. She was brave, and looked at her most horrid situations, where some might cry, or not want to continue on, as almost an adventure and even added a touch of humor. Lucy Grealy was beautiful. She didn’t need a flawless face or body to be so, and that is a rare beauty that a lot of people don’t tend to see.

Zach posted early about how people complain about the little stuff but never about the big stuff. He noted how Laura posted “Those that complain rarely have something to complain about, those that have something to complain about rarely complain.” Why is that? Why don’t the people who are really suffering rarely ever speak of their pain?” So after he made the post, Ishan said that we complain because we are spoiled. We complain about the little stuff for two reasons. The first is that the little stuff can be easily changed. It can be fixed in minutes. Lucy rarely complained because she knew that complaining wouldn’t help. All it would do is make those around her upset. People don’t complain about the big stuff because they don’t want others to feel bad. Many want the people around them to be happy so they can share in that happiness. The second reason is that we use the little stuff as an excuse to get out of something. Everybody has used a little injury or extra homework to get out of something. If someone tells you that they haven’t they’re lying. Everybody has milked a small thing to make their life easier. That’s just human instinct. People use the little stuff to get attention or out of something and keep the big stuff separate so no one feels bad about it.

Most of us have heard of the saying, “Money is the root of all evil.” This is true, or at least in Lucy’s mind, with the Grealy family. On page nine Lucy states, “Lack of money, it was driven into us, was the root of all our unhappiness.” Lucy also states, “I saw the bills, I heard the fights. There was no doubt that I was personably responsible for a great deal of my family’s money problems” (10). Unfortunately, Lucy feels that this is mostly her fault because see has cancer. Although it was not her fault she was diagnosed with a deadly and expensive disease, she still felt that it was her fault for most of their money problems, and her mother’s unhappy life. This is true for most children when they hear their parents arguing about money. They think, for example, this is my fault. If I were not born, my family would not have this problem. It is sad that Lucy has to deal not only with her cancer, but also with her family’s financial problems.

Now that I’ve reached the end of this autobiography, I have realized the subtle similarities of the actions and emotions of the protagonists in The Road and in this novel. The first time I made any sort of connection was when Grealy discusses her feelings upon hearing that her necessary treatments will last over the next ten years. She plainly says, “For the first time I wished I was dead” (155). This suicidal quote immediately sparked a connection between the extraordinarily tough situations both Lucy and the man in The Road underwent. The two both reached this point when they felt that nothing positive will ever arise from their future lives. The struggle just to move onward and continue living deteriorated both protagonists, as they realized that their hope for salvation was relentlessly decreasing.

It is clear that the driving force which kept the man in The Road from simply giving up on his life was his son. The more debatable question is what kept Lucy in a relatively positive mindset. In this, I would have to say that Grealy’s “son” was her face, although ironically it was very mentally damaging. It was her face, after all, as others have mentioned above, which was the thing she could easily point out as the one thing wrong with her life, the thing by which all her other problems were masked. Also, even as she grew older, Grealy’s occasional positive hope always rested in the idea that her next facial reconstruction would be the life changing momentum she needed, not realizing that this momentum would truly be able to arise through her attitude.

Lucy Grealy’s face was undoubtedly her true enemy. It was the problem which would never escape her mind; but it was also her sole savior, because in that face laid the mindset which would encourage her constantly to keep moving forward, just as the son provided to his father.

Spencer Sitto-

I agree with your statement that Lucy’s face was both her enemy and what kept her moving forward. Lucy’s scars made her self-conscience and subject to many taunts when she was younger. As a result of all of constantly being teased over her deformity Lucy devoloped a thick skin. This defensive mentality allowed her to throw off hurtful comments and push forward in life. WIthout her scars and struggles she may not have been the best selling author she was.

So, I’ve definitely been procrastinating with the comments. I wish I had posted here right after I read it when my thoughts were all fresh and new. Sadly, I’m just going off of my notes and the memories of the initial feeling when ending the book.

I thought the book was very nicely written. Originally, I didn’t care for the novel, but as it developed and I eventually began to grow accustomed to Lucy’s thoughts and notes on life, I enjoyed it. Perhaps it was the writing style that enchanted me the most. Not only was Grealy sensible and to-the-point, but she managed to be poetic and inspirational without being the least bit tacky, which is no easy task for any writer – especially for one that has documented some of the most painful moments of her life.

Though this book is not one of my favorites, it is one of the best autobiographies I’ve ever read. I felt very grateful that someone would even want to share something like this with the world, due to the often private and intimate material.

I think I prefer books like “The Road” mostly because the concepts are very obvious and the things the writer desperately needs to make a point with are placed on a pedestal. In a novel about real life, there are too many things to sort through, which provides complexities and frustrations that force one to examine themself.

For some strange reason, I loved the afterword written by Patchett describing Lucy answering the questions and responding to comments from fans. Above all, she wanted the book to be praised as literature. It wasn’t an outlet for her to gain admiration from. It was just something she used to express her ultimate beauty.

more later.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” This is one of the many things that we have been taught since day one. However, although all of us have said it a time or two, do we really go beyond the cover, or do we rely on what our eyes are telling us? Before we really get to know someone is our initial judgment based on looks or the character the person seems to have? Judgements of Lucy Grealy were made before many met her because of what was apparent on the outside: a deformed face. Because of this, she was never given the chance to show off her inner beauty. Grealy always believed she was ugly and longed to be beautiful. She had many surgeries in order to get that chance. However, those that took the time to get to know who she really was did see her as beautiful. Grealy had many remarkable traits that made her who she was. She was able to observe many details in the world that others would not take the time to notice. She was a fighter; she never gave in to the negative results of her surgeries and let them get the best of her. She was able to understand people. These inner qualities are what make a person beautiful, no matter the color of their hair and eyes or the shape of their body. Contrary to what she believed, Lucy Grealy was always beautiful. Not because of her face, but because of who she was.

I agree with Christina Tebbe when she said that Lucy had a rare beauty. Like she said, many people don’t see this kind of beauty, but to be honest, I don’t think many people have this beauty. Most people don’t go through what Lucy went through; they don’t have to be as strong as her. Most people aren’t forced to shine through their inner beauty, they can just rely on their looks, and people will like them. Lucy proves that anyone can be beautiful, you don’t need to have the prettiest face in the world. I think she gives hope to so many girls who put themselves down each day because they think they are ugly. Lucy proves that strength and courage are traits that really matter when it comes to true beauty.

After finishing the book, I went back through to reread what I had underlined. I found it ironic that before Lucy finds out she has cancer, she wanted to be different and special. After the first surgery, she feels that being in surgery has given her that. However, as the book goes on she would do anything to be ‘normal’ like everyone else. As Lucy gets older, to try and hide from looking different she hides under her hat and when her hair grows back, her hair. As long has she had her sailors hat on she feels protected, “as long as I had it on, I felt safe” (106). Her hat becomes a part of who she is. Lucy wants the hat when she goes out in public because she feels that people are making fun of her because of her hair. She doesn’t realize that the reason they’re staring at her is because of her face. Since the boys are teasing her and strangers stare at her because of the way she looks, we can see that people do judge a person by the way they look.

At the beginning of Autobiography of a face Lucy writes about how no matter how complicated things are you must stay strong. “One had to be good. One must never complain or struggle. One must never, under any circumstances, show fear and prime directive above all, one must never, ever cry.” (30) I pondered the beliefs Lucy had as I read. The way Lucy thought about expressing emotion shocked me. Most people including me show lots of emotion and most can not get through a day with out complaining. For a young child like Lucy to go though heart ache, pain and not cry or complain would be a challenge. Lucy was a strong person I believe that although her thoughts were very deep and strong I believe it is ok to show emotion but it can be annoying and irritating when people get over dramatic.

I agree with Jenna. It is almost impossible for anyone to go through one day without finding something to complain about. However, Lucy managed to do it. This shows how much strength Lucy has emotionally and mentally. She has more problems in her life than any of us can imagine yet she still doesn’t complain and she stays strong. Part of this is influenced by her mother. Her mother tells her that crying shows weakness and how Lucy should not cry during chemotherapy. Lucy tries her best to stay strong so her mother isn’t disappointed in her, “She went on to explain how disappointed she was that I’d cried even before Dr. Woolf had put the needle into me, that crying was only because of fear, that I shoudn’t be afraid, it would be all right,” (78). The idea that crying shows fear got planted into Lucy’s mind by her mother. She didn’t want to show people that she was scared so she didn’t cry or show emotion. Her desire to please her mother was more important to her than expressing her own emotions.

According to answers.com, beauty is ” the quality that gives pleasure to the mind or senses and is associated with such properties as harmony of form or color, excellence of artistry, truthfulness, and originality”. What this means is beauty is more than just a pretty face; it is skin deep. Beauty is something that comes from within, something more than physical appearance. Unfortunately, most people in the world consider physical appearance before actual beauty. Truly beautiful people are always being teased just because of their physical features, and the world would be a lot better place if people were not so judgmental about looks. Basically, what I’m trying to say is that just because someone looks good, it doesn’t mean that they are a kind and courageous person; which I believe satisfies the “pleasing” aspect of the definition of beauty far more than a pretty face.

Another shocking event in Autobiography of a Face (and I’m pretty sure somebody already mentioned this) is Lucy’s mom’s reaction to Lucy’s tears. I wondered why anyone would ever tell their child to not cry, even though she was in much pain. This was very surprising. I always thought that showing emotions and letting out feelings was a good thing. Otherwise, one may be accused of being a robot. For example, in the movie “A.I.” (stands for Artifical Intelligence), you can distinguish between the robots and the humans because the robots don’t have emotions. They don’t love, laugh, cry, or feel pain. There’s this one part in the movie where the robot boy (who is the only robot programmed to be able to love, and thus, have other emotions) is about to be burned alive by some humans, and it is his ability to express emotions that ultimately saves him from his fiery fate. When he is about to be set on fire, he starts to cry, and begs them not to kill him. This action allows him to escape death. And so, because of this movie, and of course, other things, I was taught it was stupid to suppress emotions.

There are so many people in this world who bottle up their feelings, and studies show that bottling up feelings has a negative effect on mental health. This is why I find it important to express emotions, and why I was shocked that a mother would tell her child not to cry.

I am not saying that what Lucy’s mom did is a bad thing. Telling Lucy not to cry helped Lucy show how much courage she had, and it also showed how much Lucy’s mom loved Lucy.

” … with my mother, who, to my profound discovery, was suffering not just because of, but also for, me” (86).

However, forbidding Lucy to cry made her feel like she didn’t deserve to be comforted, that she had failed to please her mother, and made her blame herself for not controlling her emotions. She tried her best, but she would still feel like a failure.

“At night I dreamed that the children I was baby-sitting for had slipped down to the bottom of the pool we were standing by and had drowned. Try as I might, I could never fill my lungs with enough air to reach the bottom, where they lay struggling, the eerie light lapping over them. Afterward their useless corpses rose tot he surface. I had to go to their parents, my empty arms outstretched towards them, my clothes soaking wet, and explain what had happened, how I had tried my best, really I had, but still, it wasn’t enough” (87).

I agree with Alyssa DelPup, people might like to think that they love someone based on their inner beauty, and thats all that matters. If you really get to know someone and the relationship grows into love, you really would love their inner beauty. But looks are what attract a person in the first place, that’s how they were able to find that persons inner beauty. In Grealy’s story she wants someone to desire her and want to love her and she feels that since in her eyes, shes ugly that no one will ever want her in that way. What grealy needed to realize was that looks are just the first thing a person notices when they meet another person. As she found out with her new friends at college it’s okay to let people inside her head and see her world. She finds out that, that is how people truley fall in love not just by physical attractions.

By the way, I [Liz Silverman] was also the last poster and this is only my third post. There are two Lizzes on the board, so I just thought that might clear up any confusion.

I was thinking about the definition of beauty yesterday. Like earlier posts mentioned, beauty is very versatile and can apply to nearly everything. The ideals concerning beauty differ from person to person.

Observing RK’s earlier post, this particular quote drew me in.

“Many works of art depict violent, disturbing, or destructive events. Religious art and icons are loaded with violent and disturbing images but are still very beautiful. Are Goya’s drawings less beautiful because they depict the horrors of war? Are Diane Arbus’ photographs ugly because the people in them are poor?”

Because the violence depicted has substance and meaning, it can make the work beautiful. To me, beauty is not solely the appearance or even just the mind. Beauty is the whole thing.

I know this sounds stereotypical, so let me clarify.

A snapshot of a battle can be beautiful. It can be made beautiful by the very delicate touches – the way the light moves across the scene, the overwhelming expressions of the soldiers faces – even the angle.

It can also be made beautiful by the context. Perhaps the person that took the picture aimed to do so in a plight against war. Plastered across the cover of a magazine, the photo could easily display the horrors and sickening reasons behind war. The scene itself could be a plea to get out of a horrific situation. Because the photo was used in this context, it can be beautiful.

On the other hand, the photo could be used as a reason to continue a war. Instead of a disgustingly brutal scene, one could view the photo as a patriotic message – men sacrificing their lives for something greater than themselves, which is also very beautiful.

On a seemingly strange note, I saw the Dark Knight yesterday and was definitely enticed by Heath Ledger’s character. The Joker was indeed evil, disgusting, pathetic – but it was portrayed so flawlessly, I found aspects of beauty in every one of his scenes. The complexity of the character made it beautiful.

Beauty is incredibly versatile.
My point is, there are so many ways to view beauty. It all depends on the individual.

The kind of beauty Lucy Grealy had was indeed inner beauty – but she was beautiful as a whole. The things that she lived for was beautiful and her suffering was beautiful as well. Despite the fact that she didn’t want to be a “shining light” or even a role model, the fact that she served as one to many women was beautiful.

I guess I don’t like the fact that “beauty is on the inside” is constantly reiterated. Sure, it’s true – but the individual as a whole is beautiful. Perhaps – since Lucy’s disfigurement was what guided her and made her that beacon, it was beautiful as well. The very fact that she was such a unique human made her even more lovely.

A good example of beauty in the unique lies in some music choices. I like “The Dresden Dolls” because their sound is different and their lyrics are interesting. The songs may not be very popular and the lead singer’s voice is not necessarily “better” than most, but it’s so different and strange that I absolutely adore it.

Lucy’s lack of physical beauty made her suffer, but to suffer is beautiful. The very ideals she embodied because of her disfigurement made her beautiful.

I’ll type more later.

I agree with Sam’s point made earlier. Lucy felt she was to blame for the money situation her family possessed. She feels it’s her fault she has cancer, and there is nothing to be done. Lucy should not feel sorry about life turning corners so quickly. Money seems to make the biggest impact in the world today. Families put their values upon it. My own family struggled like Lucy’s to pay the bills. I thought I was to blame because I was old enough to understand things. Coping with problems that involve money is very difficult. I can see where Lucy felt the way she did, because I have felt that same way. But it’s a good thing the world keeps turning.

While I believe this has already been mentioned before, one of the more fascinating aspects, to me, about Autobiography of a Face is that Lucy Grealy wanted this story to be renowned as a literary work, not simply an account of her life. The book isn’t simply recounting events that happened to Lucy; throughout the story, she characterizes herself. She provides insight into her mind and what she had been thinking at the time this or that event occurred. It is almost as if the story is simply one large characterization of herself.

“…I discovered that, for me, joy could be measured in negative terms: of what I didn’t have, which was pain and weakness” (130).

This is just one of the many passages in the story in which Lucy discovers how she thinks and what causes her to think this way. Instead of simply telling about her life as a child, Lucy adds in pieces to inform readers how that said event changed her life. While writing this story, it seems to me that she examined each life-changing event with utmost scrutiny and will usually explain a) why she believes she acted that way, b) what happened as a result of these actions, and c) how her way of thinking changed because of this action.

The difference between a biography and a story is that in a biography, the characters in it are real people while in a story, the characters are usually false. What makes a writer so renowned is that they are able to make these seemingly “fake” characters come to life and become believable. Everyone has a way of thinking that defines who we are and how we act in any situation. Some may be more courageous and willing to step forward; some choose to find a safe place and reside there for their life; while others want to simply backtrack, afraid of making mistakes. However, this type of characterization isn’t so simple. There are 6 billion humans on this planet and not one has exactly the same way of thinking. There are many variables to take into account; what about the people who only seem to want to step forward, but would much rather run in the other direction? These minute differences in our psyche is what differentiates us from another person. It is the job of a writer to create someone who is believable and at the same time unique. The character that is created has his/her own way of thinking and attitude that ultimately affect the outcome of the story that the writer chooses to create. What makes Lucy’s writing so interesting is that she trusts us as the readers to get a glimpse into her psyche; into her beliefs, dreams, and thought processes.

On page 181, Lucy explains her thought process as she realizes why she feels so much anger towards her crush, Danny, and his crush, Katherine.

“The cycle eventually ended with me: I hated myself for having even entertained the absurd notion that someone like Danny could like me” (181).

As said before, Lucy makes a habit to think through as to why she felt the way she did at the time. This book could have easily been a story; while the hardships she endured seem too tragic to be in a fictional story, the character she explains (which is herself) is believable enough to have been created.

I agree with the comment Keeta made earlier, about how Lucy learned to be strong and not cry because of her mother. Lucy learned at a young age how to face pain and people that made fun of her because of the way she looked. However, Lucy didn’t face what looked back in the mirror at her to the point where she coulnd’t even recognize herself.
Although, growing up, Lucy never felt bad for herself, she didn’t felt good about heself, “Because I had grown up denying myself any feeling that even hinted self-pity, I now had to find a way to reshape it” (206). Lucy showed how strong of a person she was by not feeling self-pity for herself. Throughout her life there were plenty of things she could feel sorry for, even though they were not her fault. Throughout the difficulties in her life, Lucy kept going and never felt sorry for herself.

Honestly I am only half-way through the book. However I feel like there is so much to write about, even after only reading half of the book.

The previous comments have ranged from discussing mental illness to physical or outside beauty, cleary there is a wide range of thing to discuss.

I think some people would like to call Lucy strong and in a sense she is. I think Lucy liked the attention though. It is clear that in her family she didn’t recieve much attention. So by being sick and constantly being in the hospital she was able to get the attention that she was lacking at home. I think this quote shows what I’m talking about, “I can reconstruct now that its important syllables probably charmed me, its promise of rare and dangerous implications made me feel important, but its lack of meaning provided me with just enough echo to act as background shock at hearing the word cancer”.
In this quote it shows that Grealy doesn’t really understand what is going on with her. She likes the attention and that’s all that matters at the moment, it is later in her life that she will realize how important and dangerous these words really were.

Another thing I found fascinating concerning Lucy Grealy’s story was her strangely strong bond with animals. Not only did she consider her animals her best friends, but she loved them as much as she cared about her family.

Even before she had her surgery, she maintained a strong bond with animals, respecting them for their simplicity. After the surgery, I believe her love intensified due to the fact that she assumed she would never experience romantic love due to her face – depriving her of a fundamental human joy. Because of this, I believe she viewed herself as subhuman.

Shibandri’s early post in response to Nate was interesting. Though Lucy never obtained joy by
observing the pain of others and thinking about how lucky she was, it was definitely a way for her to cope. Lucy’s coping methods were especially interesting. For a child that young to endure so much mental and physical pain, she dealt with this in a generally brilliant manner.

Throughout her teenage years her deformity was especially difficult to deal with. Blossoming sexuality created additional pain – and by the time she was in college, she flew to embrace her own sexuality to ignore her own self-hate and the sad truth that she may never be seen as “beautiful” in the physical realm.

Deeper than that, I think the sex was a way for her to become more human. Animals don’t love back and experience pleasure. They copulate in order to reproduce. Sex was a way for Lucy to ultimately separate herself from the animals and embrace human pleasure.

more later.

People have been talking about beauty for most of this blog but to me beauty didn’t really play a big part in the book. The life lesson I got from the book was that no matter how bad things got you have to keep going. No matter what happens, everything works out in the end as long as you keep going. Lucy got four or five grafts (not sure about exact number) and none of them worked. Most people would have lost hope by the second or third failed operation. I probably would have lost hope after two major operations. Every time the graft failed she would feel bad but would start feeling better once she started plans for the next graft. No matter how bleak things got she always keep going. That’s a life lesson everyone should learn. Too steal a line from Jurassic Park, “Life finds a way.” All you have to do is keep at it.

“Looks don’t matter, its what is on the inside that counts”. Growing up in this day in age I’m sure this is a quote that we’ve heard all our lives. It is unfortunate, however, that people in this day in age don’t stick to this phrase as they should. The society that we live in today is a judgmental and materialistic one that cares more about outward looks than what is on the inside. It really is a shame because there are so many people like Lucy Grealy who are beautiful on the inside, but made fun of because of their outward appearance. I believe that the world that we live in today would be a much kinder place if we as a people stopped paying so much attention to physical appearances, and paid more attention to a persons inner beauty.

Liz Silverman! –

Strangely enough, I do agree with you when you say that the Joker in The Dark Knight is beautiful. When I was watching the movie, I couldn’t help but feel that Heath Ledger’s performance was indeed quite beautiful (and flawless, like you said). The character of the Joker is quite repulsive and evil, but he is portrayed so beautifully that I enjoyed every scene he was in, even if he was killing someone, blowing up a hospital, or dressing up as a female nurse.

What is Beauty? There is no answer to this question. Beauty is undefined, like thirteen divided by zero. There is no one answer. Beauty is defined only by the person who uses the word. To some people (like my dad), the music genre of metal is a disgusting medley of harsh noises, but for others (including me), metal isn’t just a bunch of random noises. It is a beautiful arrangement of sounds that flow together into something wonderful.

And Sean–

Beauty does play a large role in this book. Of course, you are entitled to your own opinion, but I disagree with your view that beauty didn’t play a big part in this book. I believe Beauty is one of the central themes in this book. A lot of the things Lucy wrote about is how she felt about being ugly, how she thought she’d never be beautiful because of her face. She’d write about how free she would feel on Halloween when she wore the scarf. People wouldn’t always stare at her face, something she thought was hideous.

“I felt wonderful. It was only as the night wore on and the moon came out and the older kids, the big kids went on their rounds that I began to realize why I felt so good. No one could see me clearly. No one could see my face” (120).

Beauty was important to Lucy, and this was illustrated throughout this book. If someone were to randomly pick a page from this book and read the first thing he/she saw, the passage would probably have something to do with Beauty (well, unless the passage was from the beginning of the book, when Lucy was young and didn’t really think too much about appearances). Whether she was writing about her reconstructive surgeries or the tauntings she endured because she was “ugly”, she was still writing about Beauty.

Of course, there is more to this book than Beauty. There are other themes to this book, such as loss of innocence, bravery, and love. It is true that she also wrote about how she’d keep going with all her surgeries, and how hard it was to keep going. Maybe it is this part of the book that sticks out to you the most when you read this book, but I believe that people keep writing about Beauty on this blog because first of all, a lot of the things in this book deal with beauty and also because this book is a masterpiece, a work of art. This book is Beautiful.

It appears this discussion has been reduced to everyone reiterating the same thing over, and over, and over again.

So, I’ll ask some questions.

First off, there seems to be a general consensus that society is unjust in its ideas of Beauty: that society is shallow, and doesn’t value inner Beauty. This is fairly ironic considering that, in the end, we are all criticizing ourselves. If the majority of the people in this discussion hold the opinion that Society is unjust, and the traits we attribute to Society are really just the traits of the majority of people, what does that say?

Secondly, most people in this discussion agree that Lucy Grealy is a beautiful person, and that her inner beauty developed as a result of the pain she endured growing up. Is Beauty always a result of struggle, or can Beauty grow inside someone who lives a relatively easy life, never having to overcome any obstacles, and having everything handed to them?

And to comment on Ledger’s portrayal of The Joker: I found it fascinating. The whole movie, really, paled in comparison to Ledger’s Joker. I found Christian Bale’s portrayal of Batman to be mediocre at best, and the movie rushed along in a feeling of almost continuous climax. It felt as if they were trying to condense a whole television series into a two and a half hour feature film.

I did like Aaron Eckhart’s two-face, though.

In any case, The Joker made some very good points, and raised very good questions about human nature. He antagonized the establishment, and pointed his finger at every single one of us: called us hypocrites and savages in self-denial. And what do we have to refute his claims? Absolutely nothing. But I digress…

In any case, I saw the Joker as beautiful. There, you have it.

Adios.

(Oh, and Cat: Metal makes your heart black. But there is a cure, listen to the Beatles’ “Here comes the sun” on repeat! just playing.)

Derek,

I agree that we grow up with the merely unquestioned and vaguely accepted of phrases, such as “looks don’t matter”, etc. But think about the alternative: what creates the necessity for phrases such as the one above? Why is the world so in love with the ideas of physical beauty that we must be reminded time and again that it is the characteristic beauty that matters? Would it be a different world if we were not “obsessed” with this idea? Would we be reminded that PHYSICAL beauty is truly what matters?

Also, I would like to comment on the afterword, by Ann Pratchett. I believe this was the most beautiful part of the book, and I was deeply moved by it. Also, it answers some questions that were previously brought up. For example, Laura, Keeta, and Dana all wrote about the overriding power of Lucy’s mother. However, I must disagree with this. I agreed with this principle myself, as it seemed so elementary that showing feeling is good, and obstructing it is bad. However, I read the afterword, and believe it explained this action. The mother’s actions appeared as apathy, but Pratchett explains that the mother was trying to feign bravery. This explains it perfectly! She knew what her daughter was going through, and took advantage of this by being brave for both of them. She knew that it was not possible to actually REMAIN brave and look confidently to the future in Lucy’s given situation, so the best alternative would be to stop crying, and put on a happy mask. For the reasons above, I believe that the actions Mrs. Grealy was criticised for were actually brave and even admirable.

By the way, I agree completely with Jordan’s comments that this blog was interesting initially, but became repetitive once points were made four or five times. I will think about your questions, and will be posting to your comments soon, Jordan.

Towards the end of the novel something Lucy said triggered my mind. I have always felt that things happen for a reason but it is sometimes hard to believe. Lucy proves this to be true because she takes the worst and most painful event she had in her life and realized that it made her become a stronger person. “My face may have closed the door on love and beauty in their fleeting states, but didn’t my face also open me up to perceptions I might otherwise be blind to.” (180) Instead of dwelling on what made her life miserable Lucy looked at her issue from a different perspective that gave her a more positive outlook on life.

Though, Lucy is different from other people it doesn’t make her any less of a person. Her eccentric characteristics really give others bad thoughts and feelings about who she really is. Rather than having beauty on the outide, Lucy’s beauty lies in the inside. Unfortunately, we live in a society that tends to pass judgment solely on appearance. Lucy is a victim of this.

I also wanted you all to know that i thought Dark Night was worth every penny. The plot of the movie was great. Heath Ledger couldn’t have played the joker role any better. I think the joker and Lucy play somewhat the same role.

I have reached the half way point of Ms. Grealy’s memoir and have found the development of Lucy during childhood very interesting. The shift of Lucy’s youth from classical tom-boy to struggling cancer patient is far from prototypical. Lucy’s fears and cares are different from the average child. Lucy’s cares represent the selfless part of all human beings. An average child is consumed with themselves; often, caught up in their own problems and demanding of those around them for solace. On the other hand, Lucy is concerned by the cares of her parents and family. She shuns pity and strives to exude courage. Throughout her memoir, despite her immense pain, Lucy concedes her tears as weakness. She lives her life based on the ideal that, “one must be good. One must never complain or struggle. One must never, under any circumstances, show fear.” (30) Lucy feels her inability to resist tears are a failure to sustain bravery rather than a warranted reaction to her discomfort.
Lucy is also more perceptive than the average child. After she is diagnosed with cancer, Lucy barely comprehends the meaning of her disease. However, she is sentient to the tensions and fears of her family. Lucy feels accountable for her family’s struggles. When her father loses his job, she feels her medical situation compounds their family’s problems. Like all children, Lucy strives for her parents’ approval. Despite her situation, she believes it is her responsibility to maintain ideal behavior and limit her burden on her parents. Lucy explains she wants to prove her lovability to her mother, by showing she can “take it”. Lucy’s inability to resist nausea, tears, or meet goals ultimately contributes to her low-self esteem. Her selfless concern for those around her is often accentuated by a lack of regard for her own needs. Lucy commonly views herself as a failure, which contributes to a sense of self-loathing that is detrimental to her developing psyche.

Liz and Jordan:

I love how you two incorporated The Dark Knight into the blog. I too saw the movie and found Heath Ledger’s Joker to be the most fascinating part. As much as I wanted to hate him, I couldn’t help but see the logic of his actions. Here’s why:

Batman stands for morality; the idea that people should obey a set of laws in order to be safe and prosperous. Ideally, if everyone follows the laws, he or she can live his or her life in relative comfort because he or she knows he or she will be treated fairly. Laws attempt to establish justice in the unjust world in which we live.

In a truly just world anyone convicted of a crime should suffer the same punishment as his or her victim. But oftentimes the law cannot inflict the same punishment because our morals get in the way (the death penalty for example). Batman cannot kill criminals (including The Joker) because it would make him no better than those whom he fights against. Many times in the movie The Joker baits Batman to kill him, like the scene where The Joker, saying “hit me, hit me”, is almost ran over by Batman on his motorcycle. The Joker thinks Batman is a joke because when the time comes to truly administer justice, Batman cannot do it; his morals get in the way. So really Batman is chasing a goal he can never achieve, like a cat chasing it’s tail. The irony is undeniable.

Because there is no true justice, The Joker believes there is no reason to follow morals or laws. He represents chaos, while Batman represents order. Although the two fight each other throughout the movie, one cannot eradicate the other without destroying himself. If Batman kills The Joker he violates his morals and becomes a murderer. If The Joker kills Batman he will have no force of order to fight against. Again, the irony is undeniable.

With all of that irony floating around, it’s no wonder why The Joker is always laughing.

I agree with Jenna. I also am a strong believer that everything happens for a reason.
Because Lucy didn’t feel beautiful, she spotted the beauty in life. She was always picking out details that others would not take the time to notice. Yes, cancer definitely changed her life. However, you could say it changed for bad or good. Having cancer made Grealy feel as though nobody could ever love her. However, it also made her pick out minute details and become a remarkable poet. Although it would be easy to say that her life would have been better if she had not gotten cancer, I believe that this is not true. She was different than everyone else, of course. But she also formed an artistic mind which enabled her to write extraordinary pieces.

I agree with Jenna’s post. If everyone could take their worst experiences in life and let them change them into a better person society today would be so much better off. Many time today you see people who have been in major accidents or traumas and they don’t know what to do with themselves because they wont let the event help them change. Instead of dwelling on her past Lucy steps up and learns to look at it with a positive outlook which helps her quite a bit instead of just dwelling on the bad.

I don’t think that we truly believe that it’s who you are on the inside that counts. Many people judge people by what they’re wearing, how they look, and sometimes even how they talk. All the strangers and the boys at school in Autobiography of a Face judge Lucy for what she looks like on the outside. The strangers don’t even speak to her, yet they conclude that Lucy is ugly. Not many people in the world get to know the inside of a person unless they like the outside. If these strangers had gotten to know the inside of Lucy, they would find a strong girl. To go through what Lucy Grealy went through would be very difficult. It was difficult even for Lucy but she was brave. She believed she was in it alone so she kept her animals close, especially her horses. Lucy tolerated many stares and teases while doing something as normal as walking down the street. Many people, myself included, would not have been able to handle what Lucy had to go through.

I noticed a lot of people are answering the question “What is Beauty”. I agree with the answet Cat said, beausty is undefined. People view beauty differently and people are beautiful in differen ways. Some people apreciate only outer beauty and some only inner beauty. People have differnt personalities which makes their inner beauty different. A person is attracted to a certain someone because of their unique beauty inside and out. In conclusion, there is no answer to what is beauty because each person answers it differently by what he/she likes.
I also agree with Sarah’s comment, that most people judge by what is on the outside and not the inside. By reading the book, we know how Lucy felt and got to know her beauty on the inside so we see that she is beautiful on the inside. People that read the book see the inner beauty and realize how strong she was. However, other people would just see her on the street would stare. So would some of us if we didn’t know her real life story, what she stuggled with, and her inner beauty. It takes a while for a person to find what someones’ inner beauty is and it only takes one glance to see outer beauty.

I found it surprising at how different her family treated her after the operation. The school children will naturally treat her different, they aren’t mature enough to deal with the situation. The fact that Lucy makes such a point to describe how all of the sudden her siblings are nicer and her parents treat her different shows that she didn’t want special treatment, she wanted to basically pretend like nothing ever happened. It is also sad how mature adults that Lucy sees can be so uncomfortable around her and even ignore her or try not to stare, instead of confronting her and making conversation as to figure out what happened. Society is being predjudice against Lucy because of how she looks and its wrong. No one should have to go through that especially at such a young age when self esteem means everything.

After reading the novel, the characteristic that Lucy possesses that stuck out at me most was her maturity. She matured at such a young age, at age nine (when she was diagnosed with her cancer) and even before that, she amazed me with the different ways she thought of things. For example, the way she looked at her different surgeries and hospital visits as a scene on the television show E.R. This could be looked at as a young child’s way of playing a game, but I see it as a way Lucy found to get through her toughest times. At age nine, I think the most complex of my thoughts included the tiny bit of math homework I had, and when I would get the next newest Beanie Baby. It amazed me how creative Lucy was with finding ways to get through the cancer.

Another way Lucy shows her maturity was how she knew she couldn’t cry. Before her mother even told her not to, she was ashamed because she knew her mother was disappointed in her. It’s amazing how even at times when she was feeling what some might call the worst pain to be felt, she was thinking of her mother, and trying to be brave for her.

I agree with the point that Jenna made earlier. Lucy went through probably a lot of pain and suffering, and to expect not to cry, or show nearly any emotion? At her age? I defiantly could not have accomplished this fate. It would be unimaginable to not cry when you have needles stabbed in your skin once a week. Throughout the whole book, Lucy stays strong and does not cry or really show any emotion. Most of her ability to not cry or show any emotion came from the fact that her mother wanted her to be strong.

………………………………………

I also agree with Jenna that most of us can’t go through the day without complaining whether it is a small thing like, “You got me the wrong ice cream” or a major thing like having minor surgery and complaining about it. What was amazing about Lucy was the fact that even though she was going through a major problem (cancer and all other operations); she always somehow managed to think that other people in the world had it worse. For example, Lucy stated, “I told myself again and again how good I had it in comparison, what a wonder it was to have food and clothes and a home and no one torturing me” (126). At that age, I would not have been able to comprehend that I had “better” problems than other people in the world. As my Grandfather used to say, “If you were sitting at a table with other people and you all threw your problems in the middle of the table, you would always take yours back.” It is important to remember that there are people in the world who have worse problems than us.

I don’t think I would describe Lucy as mature. I just think she was incapable of fully comprehending the severity of her condition. She navigated the hardest years of her life with a sense of detachment, joking around and referencing B-flicks to further distance herself from the sickly skeleton she had become.

And I don’t think she had any other choice but to be strong. It actually takes more effort, I believe, for a child to be weak in those situations. It’s not like you have any choice but to endure: you can’t run away, you can’t fight it, so there’s really nothing to do but to tough it out.

Maybe i’m just jaded, but I didn’t see Lucy as anything exceptional. There’s a certain sense of zen in despair, and misery, and pain. We see it in the passages where she is heaving endlessly, vomiting up air into the bowl on the floor. Have you never felt a sense of transcendence from the depths of a fever?

When ever I see someone with a disability or minor deformity I can’t help but feel bad for them. Why though? Why does my heart go out to those who do not fit the physical standard that society has created? Lucy, and others like her, are stronger than anyone of us that live normal lives in my opinion. They go out everyday in a world solely based on looks and make it. Even with the stares and laughs, they stand proudly while we worry if our hair is perfect or if our outfit matches. We all complain that we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but how much of us actually live by that saying? I am not saying I do, but I believe that people like Lucy are stronger than I could ever be because they can see the beauty within others.

Sam-

My friend Sam has a good grasp about how money can affect a persons overall situation. Money is a big problem in the world today and it’s a shame when kids have to feel like it’s their fault when money becomes tight. Lucy can’t help that she was born with such an expensive misfortune as cancer. She already suffers enough that she doesn’t need to feel like she is the cause of her mother’s financial situation and unhappiness. That takes too much of a toll on a child to have that kind of weight put on their shoulders. So with Sam I agree it’s a shame for Lucy to deal with cancer and the family’s lack of money.

Christina,

Jordan makes a good point by saying that Lucy was incredibly mature. At the age of seven, nothing more than her difference from the rest of society strikes her in a significant fashion. Also, she doesn’t try to “get through” the cancer, as you say. She actually thinks of it as a gift that makes her different from the rest of society. In this manner, I disagree with you. I would like to talk about your final piece of evidence, in which you state she stops crying because of her embarrassment towards showing emotions. This is not true, as Patchett (thanks for the correction, Cathy) clearly says in the afterword. She says that Grealy’s mother showed signs of faking bravery, which she believes is as good as genuine courage. When her mother told her not to cry, Grealy simply took for granted that her mother had her best intentions in mind, so she listened.

But I must also disagree with Jordan when he says that Grealy is nothing outstanding. I think that her naïveté is what protects her from the horrors of cancer. While most cancer patients store some hope for the surgeries, Grealy simply sees the surgeries as nuisances. She has no idea there is a good chance she will not survive the Sarcoma. I think it is her naïveté that actually makes her so unique, and actually guided her through the chemotherapy and treatments.

I await your comments.

Cat Chow-

What you said makes sense. Most pages do have something about beauty. However, when I read between the lines and looked for the hidden meanings, I found that the need to keep going played a major role. If Lucy didn’t focus on what came next and how to achieve the outside beauty that she wanted, I think that the book would have been bland. Maybe that’s just me though. Like you said, everyone can have their own opinion.

Christina Tebbe-
I don’t give Lucy credit for her maturity about the whole thing. For one thing, we don’t know all of the details about what happened. Lucy probably cried and was upset more times then we know about. It’s human nature to try to emphasize the good parts and downplay the bad. I mean, how many little kids do you know that would be as mature about the whole ordeal as Lucy? She did seem more mature than some people would but you never know for sure.

Sresht, I didn’t say that she was incredibly mature. I said:

“I don’t think I would describe Lucy as mature. I just think she was incapable of fully comprehending the severity of her condition. She navigated the hardest years of her life with a sense of detachment, joking around and referencing B-flicks to further distance herself from the sickly skeleton she had become. ”

I apologize if I said anything in there that gave you the impression that I believed she was mature.

I’m just a bit confused as to how being naïve set her apart from other children and made her unique? I thought most children were naïve .

When you hear the word beauty, a lot of people will think of all the great things in life. The problem is that beauty is thought of as more of a physical trait than a inner trait. This causes beauty to actually cause problems for people like Lucy. Lucy knew that inner beauty was just as great as outer beauty but from all the teasing and mocking in her high school years, she felt shunned out from most of society. The teasing from the boys in the lunch room really got into her head and it showed when she started going to the counselor’s room to eat her lunch.

In another part of the story in the last chapter, Lucy describes how she feels her face is not really her face. She says, “I felt I was being mistaken for someone else.” Pg. 220
I felt sad for Lucy and how she could not accept her face and she went to the extreme with it. The way that she lived her life for the next year was circling around the thought of mirrors or anything that can reflect an image. She prevented all of them just so that she did not have to see her face.

Sean -

I don’t think the fact that Lucy may have cried at some points and broken down makes her any less mature. Granted, she may not have been fully aware of her condition, but she knew that in order to want to keep on living she had to distract herself and use various methods in order to cope.
Lucy was mature and different in the fact that she actually wrote about it and didn’t keep all of that pain inside herself. She gathered it up and – despite the fact that she never wanted her book to be used as an “inspiration”, it served as one for many individuals.

Writing a book is very difficult. I’m sure writing one displaying many intimate emotions is even more difficult. This, to me is what separates Lucy from everyone else that has gone through similar things.

Jordan -

I disagree with Jordan on his statement that Lucy wasn’t mature. I think she dealt with the situation pretty well in her younger years. But, obviously at those points love and sex didn’t play a huge role in her life and therefore, didn’t worry her as much as it did in Ann Patchett’s novel, which portrayed Lucy in a different light. If anything, I thought Lucy showed aspects of immaturity in “Truth and Beauty”, but I don’t know anyone who would have dealt with that situation without being heartbroken, depressed and somewhat clingy.

I agree with Jordan – it would have taken a child more effort to be sad than to keep looking forward and being positive. However, it doesn’t give her maturity and positive thinking any less value.
To me, the thing that made Lucy exceptional was the fact that she wrote about her experience. Otherwise, she would just be another person dealing with facial deformities. Her face was what made her different and, in a way, it gave her the opportunity to be successful. Of course she would be like anyone else without that.

“Have you never felt a sense of transcendence from the depths of a fever?”

I can’t say that I have. I had a difficult time understanding what you were implying there.
You’re saying that everyone leans on despair during times of trouble and Lucy took the same route, therefore she isn’t exceptional?
I’m not saying that Lucy was a saint. She indulged, wallowed and found solace in sex and alcohol.
However, she found time to write a book and affect others with her experiences and insight.

Also,
Jordan: I don’t think I would describe Lucy as mature.
Shresht: Jordan makes a good point by saying that Lucy was incredibly mature.

I partially agree with what Sean said about Lucy’s maturity. Probably any child in Lucy’s situation would become mature beyond his or her years. If you haven’t noticed, young children with problems similar to her’s are extremly mature and look for the good in things. This is because children still have their entire life ahead and just have to deal with their problem, so they become more mature. Since Lucy got cancer when she was young, she was forced to mature faster than the other children around her. Lucy also apreciated small things because of what she was going through. But, so would almost any other child that has to deal with her situation. However, I will give Lucy credit for looking for the good in something bad. I know from experiance that it is not always human nature to always look on the bright side.

Also, quick kudos to Spencer for the similarity between The Road and Autobiography of a Face.

Really interesting.

Jordan,

I’m sorry, I meant to say “Jordan makes a good point by saying that Lucy was NOT incredibly mature.” Now, reading the rest of my blog may make more sense to you. Sorry about the confusion.

Also, I meant she was unique among other victims of cancer because most cancer patients have matured and undergone worldy experiences, which Grealy has not done. I was not comparing her with other children, but instead other cancer patients.

I would like to talk a little about maturity with Lucy. Jordan said, “she was incapable of fully comprehending the severity of her condition”
Was that the case, or was she ignoring the fact that she had cancer? Was she just too young to understand the big picture or was she ignoring the whole thing?

I thought isent this comment out earlier but i don’t see it posted so i’ll post it again.

I agree with the comment Keeta made earlier, about how Lucy learned to be strong and not cry because of her mother. Lucy learned at a young age how to face pain and people that made fun of her because of the way she looked. However, Lucy didn’t face what looked back in the mirror at her to the point where she coulnd’t even recognize herself.
Although, growing up, Lucy never felt bad for herself, she didn’t felt good about heself, “Because I had grown up denying myself any feeling that even hinted self-pity, I now had to find a way to reshape it” (206). Lucy showed how strong of a person she was by not feeling self-pity for herself. Throughout her life there were plenty of things she could feel sorry for, even though they were not her fault. Throughout the difficulties in her life, Lucy kept going and never felt sorry for herself.

Again, Shresht:

To me, maturity is embodied by writing a book and using a personal experience to affect others. Writing takes an incredible amount of dedication and patience, both which I associate with maturity.

“Also, I meant she was unique among other victims of cancer because most cancer patients have matured and undergone worldy experiences, which Grealy has not done.”

I think writing a book is a pretty worldly experience. I also think Lucy was pretty worldly, but she didn’t always realize it. She was very social, made lots of friends and went through a lot of colorful “bohemian” experiences.

Grealy did have a tough time with maturing in her later years at certain times, but consider this – not all cancer patients wear their cancer on their face.

Liz: Lucy didn’t write the book when she was a child, she wrote it later in life, as an adult. So to say that writing the book shows she is mature is a bit odd.

Jeremy: I don’t believe she was consciously ignoring her cancer. Her ignorance of the whole issue, I believe, is not only due to the fact that she was relatively young. It’s a defense mechanism: she disassociated herself from the Cancer by only acknowledging the treatments. Plus, it’s alot easier for a child to understand the operations she is being forced to go through than the intangible, abstract idea of “Cancer” killing her from the inside,

And Liz:
As for the whole “transcendence from the depths of a fever” bit, it’s a bit difficult to explain. In literal terms, I’m speaking of the feeling of being so overwhelmed by a literal fever, when your temperature is at 103+, and has been for days, all your worries melt away. It’s just you and the fever.

I think the more I go into it, the more I will complicate things. Of course, I was speaking metaphorically as well, but if you can’t relate, then maybe I’m alone in the experience, and have a completely different worldview.

Jordan:

Not all adults act maturely.

I was addressing the fact that in “Truth and Beauty” Lucy was quite immature at moments – perhaps more immature than she acted as a child, but that true maturity and beauty was achieved by writing the novel.

Some thoughts on Autobiography of a Face:

1) Lucy is extremely attached to any and all animals. on page 5, she says, “I considered animals bearers of higher truth, and I wanted to align myself with their knowledge”. Perhaps this is because animals are nonjudgemental. They don’t care what you look like; they respond to how well you treat them. Also, animals can’t talk, therefore they can’t make fun of Lucy. This may explain her fascination with them.

2) On page 13, Lucy poses an interesting question: “How do we go about turning into the people we are meant to be?” I think her face, the way people around her reacted to it, and how she felt about it, led her to become who she is.

3) Throughout the novel, there is an underlying feeling that Lucy feels she deserves what she got. On page 112, she says “I made a silent vow to love them valiently, truly, with an intensity that would prove I was capable, worthy of…I wasn’t sure what, but something wonderful, something novle, something spectacular.” She also feels she deserves the depression that results from her situation: “If i couldn’t overcome my growing depression, I deserved it, and how unfair of me to inflict it upon everyone else, upon my mother especially” (93). She finds a need to prove to herself that her disease wasn’t her fault, that she didn’t have cancer because she was a horrible person. And yet, throughout the book there are also moments where glimmers of irony shine through: Lucy wanted to be different, and to stand out, and then she did. And she came to find it wasn’t all she expected it to be. On page 25, she says “I was vain and proud when it came to wanting to be different from everyone else. I wanted nothing more than to be special, and so far the role of patient had delivered.” In the beginning, she enjoyed being ill all the time – it brought her a lot of attention. But as time wore on, she discovered the severity of her situation, albeit slowly. When she was recognized for surviving her ordeal at her elementary gradutation, she was embarrassed to have everyone looking at her. “Here I was, the center of attention, receiving the praise and appreciation I’d been fantasizing about for so many years, and all I could feel was intense, searing embarrassment” (123). She finally asks herself the question that the reader has had in mind for several chapters: “When I was younger, before I’d gotten sick, I’d wanted to be special, to be different. Did this then make me the creator of my own situation?” (101). This may be the origin of her belief that she deserved her disease – the belief that she molded her life for herself.

4) On the topic of ugliness – It look Lucy an astonishingly long time to discover that most of the world viewed her new face as “ugly”. In fact, it was not until she entered junior high: “…for the very first time I definitely identified the source of my unhappiness as being ugly” (126). This, I believe, reveals a lot about Lucy’s character. I don’t think that looks were very important to her, until they were made to be important to her – which is a shame. However, in today’s society, it is hard to remain happily oblivious to trends, social status, and the commonly accepted version of “beautiful”. Lucy fell victim to social climbers in her junior high, which I’m sure everyone has encountered at least once. In the very beginning of her book, Lucy makes a statement that rings true in real life as well as throughout the rest of her story: “The cruelty of children is immense, almost startling in its precision.” (7). Although it is the opposite of the fantasized view that children represent the innocence of the world, it is nonetheless a just assessment.

Lucy’s worries about what people think of her new face. She loves halloween because no one can see her face, she feels free. Lucy lost her hair because of the treatment. Her mom tells her friends at work, and they try to help by giving Lucy wigs. Lucy thiks she looks foolish in them all and simly dosen’t wear them. Her and her mom go to a place to get wigs fitted. Lucy just dosen’t like any of them and wants to leave. She ends up telling her mom she dosen’t want a wig. Her hair starts to grow back though, and she is starting not to wear her hat. Lucy has to go through more operations to get her teeth fixed and he face fixed. They will fill out the corner of her face, and hopefully Lucy will be more comfortable with her new face. Physical beauty is not everything.

As I read Autobiography of a Face, I noticed Lucy did have more to deal with than just cancer. Her mother suffered from depression. It is not specific as to whether she had it before or after the discovery of Lucy’s cancer. Either way, being a child living with a parent who has depression is just about the worst thing that could have come across Lucy’s childhood. I know how it feels. I felt my mother had depression which brought it upon me as well. I have finally come through, and I’m not looking back. Lucy is a true survivor to have been able to keep looking forward even though her leader was looking back.

I think I understand what Jordan is saying. There is a certain satisfaction in being in the worst of situations. It sounds like an oxymoron: why would someone be happy if he or she was in a horrible situation?

The situation gives one a chance to endure something great; to defy nature and prove he or she is worthy of life. Take Grealy for example: she was diagnosed with cancer. Instead of despairing about her condition she saw it as an opportunity to prove to God and everyone else that she was stronger than the cancer. No matter what life threw at her, she would persevere by any means necessary.

I felt I could relate to Jordan’s idea after I broke my ankle this June. I worked and sacrificed for nine months to prepare for this summer; I played for four teams over the winter, two in the spring and convinced my parents to pay thousands of dollars for four soccer camps and two tournaments. I intended to be noticed by colleges and hopefully pick out the one I would play soccer at next fall. Despite my countless hours of planning and hard work one slide tackle ruined everything for me. I ended up missing every one of the camps and tournaments that I scheduled. It felt like fate had played a cruel game on me, dangling the thing I wanted most in front of my nose then pulling it away at the last second. My suffering gives my goal even more meaning because I know I will have to overcome even greater odds to reach it. Instead of being depressed, I felt more motivated than I have ever been to succeed. I was (and still am) hell bent on defying my fate and playing DI soccer next fall.

I feel extremely reckless because I know I cannot sink any lower. It’s me v. fate: no rematches, no rules, and no mercy. I find a certain satisfaction in fighting the one thing that holds me back to prove I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.

This is a response to everyone that’s discussing Lucy’s maturity.

It’s not so much that she was “mature” or anything really. It’s just her outlook on life was that she had to prove to the world she was a brave 9-year-old tomboy, not a “girly wimp”. She wanted to make her family, more specifically her mom, proud of her, when honestly i think that inside she was just as scared and clueless as any of us would have been in that situation.

Also, it was obvious that no one told her the severity of her condition at all just because she was a little girl. I mean she had to find out she had cancer from a note that say’s “before Lucy had cancer”. Imagine if that’s how you found out you had cancer from that, can you imagine how life changing would that be.

I’m sorry- I’d have to disagree with you Derek. You say that life would be better if no one cared about looks and if everything were equally beautiful. But without any ugliness, you wouldn’t appreciate the beauty in life as much.
In Autobiography of a face, the thought of being ugly isn’t just about a person’s appearance. “Ugly” can also describe the hard times in life, as beauty is for when life is better. Just like pain, ugliness is not valued. And just like beauty, having no pain at all is valued the most.
After compared to the bad things in life, the beauty you have is valued more. Because Lucy felt she wasn’t beautiful, she did notice the things that did have beauty. And because her and other people thought she was “ugly” it caused her to become an amazing poet and let others see how beautiful she really was.

Most people have heard the saying, “don’t judge a book by its cover”; however, they do it anyway. Lucy Grealy’s repeated attempts to have a beautiful face reflect this reality. On page 168 Grealy states her conviction of the importance in this world of having a beautiful face. We’re surrounded by images that tell us what beauty is supposed to look like through TV, movies, books, and magazines. To be beautiful you must look like a certain model or celebrity, have a certain hairstyle, wear certain kinds of clothes, and be a number other things that are extremely hard to achieve. Yet these looks are false. The majority of the pictures you see are photo shopped or reflect bodies that have been surgically altered. So in a strange way it makes sense that Grealy wanted to reflect these images. Grealy had a number of surgeries to try to make her face look beautiful. She didn’t realize until the end of her life that true beauty isn’t skin deep and what you look like on the outside really doesn’t matter because in the end few people care.

Lucy worries about what people think of her face. Worrying about being teased more in highschool and what people will think. A few months before highschool starts she gets the first operation in the process of fixing her face. She has high expectations, but when the swelling goes down she sees no result and gets upset. Starting highschool she tries to be as invisble as possible. She’s ready to be teased like she was in junior high, but no one really says anthing to her. One day boys were whistling at Lucy, but she just walks with her head down and with there hair in her face. When the boys see her face they stop. She catches other people looking at her face, but they don’t say anthing. Lucy cuts school so she dosen’t have to take her senior picture, becuase she dosen’t want people seeing her face in the yearbook. She goes through highschool with no friends and not really talking to anyone. She got a scholorship to Sarah Lawrence College. She makes friends at college, becuase everyone there is different. Everyone has different styles, different hair, different personalities. Lucy fits in well there. No one says anthing to her about her face. Lucy not knowing what she wants to do with her life, decides to take up medical. She’s going to take a science class, but her mother says to take an english clss. Lucy taking a poety class, falls in love with it. She is one of the best know poets at her school just after freshman year. Lucy now realizing that beauty comes in many different ways, and that she fits in with this shcool. Everyone has their own beauty, they just have to see it.

I think one of the more, I guess you could call “disheartening”, qualities of Lucy was that she was constantly trying to find a purpose in her life. She keeps attempting to find a reason that she had gotten cancer and a reason that her face was “ugly” in her eyes.

“I couldn’t bear to think I was wrong, that somehow everything I was going through didn’t actually have meaning” (99).

This quote occurs when Lucy was trying to discover God and see if He was the answer she was looking for. Lucy wanted some sort of purpose for the pain she was going through and thought that maybe a belief could help her.

“I resolved to Believe, even in the face of this lack of response” (100).

As I explored Lucy’s story, I came to find that Lucy would rather believe that her strength of overcoming all obstacles had some sort of meaning then to think that all of the events that were happening to her were simply some cruel trick of fate. I believe most people want some sort of purpose in their life, whether it be because we want to think that life has to get better, or because we hope that at the end of everything, something changed: maybe within us, maybe in the world. Some, like myself, sometimes wish for that story ending where after all the trials of life, something for the better changed us.

Some also wish to be the “epitome” of something. We want people to look at us and think, “I want to be just like her/him!” This goes along with wanting a purpose in our life, except in this case, it’s to become a symbol for something. Lucy, at one point, wanted to put herself in such a role.

“I cast myself in the role of Hero of Love. Instead of proving my worth on the chemotherapy table, I would become a hero through my understanding of the real beauty that existed in the world… I considered my powers, my heightened sense of self-awareness, feeling not as if I had chosen this path, but that it had bee chosen for me” (150-151).

We also want to be special in some way (in a good way, usually). But whenever we’re different in a way that isn’t considered “good”, we hope that as a side affect, we attain some special power over people because of our difference. In this case, Lucy was hoping that because people regarded her as ugly, she had a special power in seeing beyond the superficiality of beauty.

((I apologize, Jenny, for basically stealing your idea. As compensation, I will respond officially to one of yours))

Jenny: I thought it was interesting, too, that Lucy felt more connected with animals than with people. In her situation, it indeed makes some sense. Like you said, animals don’t judge (at least verbally) and they don’t seem to care about looks. She also seemed to be able to relate to them in a much deeper fashion.

“I loved how basic were the needs of the animals… There was a primacy to it, a simplicity I recognized from coping with the pain of my treatments, a shedding of all extraneous grievances to reveal a purely physical core, a meaning that did not extend beyond the confines of one’s body” (148-149).

One of the more interesting aspects of this quote was that Lucy doesn’t seem to be talking about what’s on the “inside” of the animal, but their outer selves. I think she may be comparing primitive needs to humane, complex wants. This could also be comparing the fact that animals are generally seen as having no soul while humans do. Humans also generally think much deeper than animals do, who only worry about basic needs. She may be trying to mean that sometimes complex thinking cannot totally erase the fact that pain and coping with it can simply be as simple as the basic needs of animals. I’m not sure about my belief of the matter, but take the quote as you will. I’m sure my interpretation of it isn’t necessarily the common belief.

jeremydoubleu wrote @ July 25th, 2008 at 8:14 am

I would like to talk a little about maturity with Lucy. Jordan said, “she was incapable of fully comprehending the severity of her condition”
Was that the case, or was she ignoring the fact that she had cancer? Was she just too young to understand the big picture or was she ignoring the whole thing?

I saw this post and it caught my interest. I wasn’t sure how else to respond to this specific post so that people would understand where I was getting this from without posting the entire thing.

Anyway, personally, I think Lucy was just too young to understand what was happening to her. I think if she was older she would have understood. A child at her age really isn’t capable of understanding what cancer is. or how to deal with the emotional side of the word. In my last post, which seems to have vanished I briefly talked about how Lucy wasn’t really strong, which is a characteristic people often give someone with cancer. Lucy was to young to fully understand her condition.

All in all, I think Lucy was just to young to understand what was happening to her. How could a child so young understand something so serious?

Not to say that children cannot comprehend important, or serious matters; just that Lucy did not.

At one point Lucy is home a lone after her surgery and is going around the house and she tries to experience what life would be like as the others in her house as a way to try something new. She wonders what it would be like to be her sister and wake up and see outside her window. Trying to be someone different but I think as we see she values herself for who she is…not who other people see her as but who she knows she is. And she grows fonder of that and realizes she is who she is and she need to be ok with it because that will make her life less miserable if she believes in herself. and that is a very courageous thing to do in the midst of everything she is going to do.

As a nine year old patient with a life-threatening condition, Lucy is quite harsh on herself. Crying is a way for many people to relieve themselves of built up pains and emotions. Lucy does not allow herself to cry because she believes this will make her appear less heroic to her family and peers at the hospital. Also, Lucy believes that as long as she stays strong throughout her difficulties, she will save her family from untold amounts of pain and suffering. This is extremely heroic and mature of a nine year old girl. 99.9 percent of the nine year old girls in the world would act like, well, nine year old girls if put in this situation. However, Lucy shows the importance of staying strong throughout ones difficulties, and sets a good example for everyone who knows her.

I agree with Steven..Throughout the whole book Lucy wanted people to accept her for who she really was. But she too didn’t even accept herself, and only thought about how ugly she was on the outside not inside. If she didn’t even believe she was beautiful herself, how could she expect others to? As Lucy got older, she grew more confident and other people noticed. She started to think of herself as more beautiful than she was before, and once she believed, others began to believe too

Something that stood out to me in Autobiography of a Face is Lucy’s love for animals. Her plastic animals outside were very important to her. Every time she went out, she would lay there pretending they were alive. She liked to believe her plastic animals outside were living a normal life even without her. The horse barn was her refuge. When she was there, she didn’t have to worry about the horses not accepting her; she felt like she belonged. Maybe this connection is because animals would accept her no matter how she looked. Their nonjudgmental behavior allowed her to be who she wanted to be without anything holding her back. Lucy wanted to be seen as more than a person with a deformity, and animals gave her that.

I think that most people want to believe that they think what’s on the inside counts more than what’s on the outside. Most people, especially young people, don’t try to get to know a person like Lucy because they see her jaw and people don’t know how to react to it. Only people who were her friends with her before her operations were still her friends after them during high school. Nobody even tried to be her friend until collelge. So even though people say that personality counts more than appearance, in most cases that’s not true.

I agree with Sara, that most people want to think they are a better person by not caring about looks. I saw a show about a lady that had no legs and gets around by a skateboard. She said that when she goes into public children and adults both stare, but children are just more obvious. She also said that very few people actually ask her what happend and that people don’t really know what to do or say around her. When people hear the true story about a different person, people think that they wouldn’t stare if they saw someone that looked different, but people still stare. Nobody wanted to be Lucy’s friend because people didn’t know how to react to her, especially since so many other people teased her. Other children didn’t want to be her friend becuase of her different look. When Lucy went to college, it was cool to be different, so she fit right in and people got to know her. People want to say that looks don’t matter, but thats not what they actually are thinking when they see someone like Lucy.

I completely agree with sara. People know that it is wrong to base their opinion about someone off of their outward appearance but it happens anyway. In today’s society, there is a pressure on young people to be mature, the older generation to look like they are in their twenties and the middle generation to stay youthful and glamourous. It is a constant stress in everyone’s lives and often it takes over. People get wrapped up in the celebrities and their perceived beauty and forget what they think is moral. Then, when they see someone that looks or acts different, they tend to push the “odd one out” away because they are not apart of the image “society” is looking for. We have always been taught to accept people for who they are no matter what their outward appearance is, but, with how our lives are run, we often forget our kindergarden teacher’s words of wisdom.

As i was browsing through the comments in this blog again, i noticed debate between Jordan and Liz S. I think Jordan brought up very good points, and i can connect with the point he made saying “transcendence from the depths of a fever”. I have always been prone to getting sick and i know the feeling of having a high fever and not being able to do anything with yourself. You feel helpless but at the same time you do not care because the only thing you want is to get better so you can go back to your life. I do have to disagree with Jordan when he said that Lucy was incapable of know the severity of her illness. I believe that even though she was just a child when all of this was happening, Lucy understood what was happening. It is like a child loosing a pet, having their parents divorce or any other tragedy that could strike a child. She dealt with what was thrown at her. You cannot expect a child to act the same as an adult because they don’t have the same life experience. For someone of her age, i think she understood what was happening to her and kept moving. I believe that she was strong for that. Kids in elementary school just want to hang out with the cools kids, but if you don’t dress a certain way they wont accept you. Lucy had to deal with the rejection, but in the end i believe that is what made her a stronger person in the long run.

After reading Autobiography of a Face i realized that everyone goes through somepoint of humiliation in there lives. For Lucy it practically went on throughout her life and slowed a bit in college. At first glance we tend to look a peoples outer beauty not their inter. After a while when were talking to the person we actually look at their personality also. As for some people they don’t even care about inner beauty, they only notice whats on the outside.

Grealy’s telling of her cancer experience shows that our lives are shaped by the messages our parents give us. Her mother was her motivator throughout her battle with cancer. For example, Grealy’s mother gives her a pep talk after her second round of chemo, “You can’t let this get you down, you know. I know it’s hard, but you can’t get depressed by it. Don’t give in to it. You were not so bad last time, so make sure that what you’re feeling isn’t just in your head” (83). This pep talk was to tell Grealy to be brave or at least pretend that she was. Grealy showed this bravery or false bravery throughout her life. As a result, in her book she makes cancer seem like it’s a normal process. Her re-telling of her cancer story may be somewhat false, but it does show her mother’s influence throughout the process. Instead of writing her story from the perspective of false bravery that her mother encouraged her to show, I think that Grealy should’ve written about the cancer the way it actually happened;”[o]ne of the may remarkable things about the book she wrote is how much she chose to spare us”(234. I think Grealy took her false bravery to the extreme. It’s okay to open yourself up. It doesn’t make you more or less of a person.

Beauty is more than looks, or how you display yourself. Beauty is not only identified by what is on the inside of a person, but the actions they use. It is more than a comment made or a judgment passed. It is defined by who you choose to be and become. Bravery makes beauty just as much as personality or looks. Lucy Grealy is beauty; she was brave, courageous and never gave up on herself. Her dog died, her horse died and her father died, she had a depressed mother and she had cancer. She lived in a world where people made fun of her face and her hair and who she was. It was her animals that saved her. She would go to her plastic animals outside or the stable for comfort. They made her feel better, they made everything okay. She was never judged by them for they accepted her for who she was. She found herself happier when she was living in the hospital rather than her own home. It wasn’t until college where she found friends that truly cared for her and didn’t care what her face was like. She had hope and that hope got her through her life.

As I’ve been reading Autobiography of a face, I’ve been thinking more and more about how Lucy describes the way outsiders react to seeing her face. Typically they glance away quickly when she looks at them. They try to appear as if they weren’t staring at her. Other than young kids who don’t know better and stare at her, it seems that adults try to look away from Lucy so that they don’t have to be put in the awkward situation of making Lucy feel like an outsider. I feel that Lucy wants others to ask her about her cancer. This gives her the opportunity to explain the emotions she went through during her experience to other people. I think if people politely questioned Lucy about her face, it would make her feel like people cared about her and are concerned about her life. I think Grealy is trying to encourage her readers not to be afraid of talking to people about tough situations. Trying to avoid these conversations by glancing away from these type of people just makes them feel more isolated. Conversations not only let feelings and thoughts out, but they make people feel like they belong to the world around them.

We would all like to say that looks don’t matter to us. That we only care about what’s on the inside. But in reality we know that’s not true. Looks define a lot of what happens to us in life. From what we wear to how confident we feel around certain people. Looks dictate who we hang out with, they show others who were related to, and they show where were from. Looks are a big part of todays world. T.V. shows like Extreme Makeover and Nip and Tuck tell us that we need to do anything we can to become beautiful. Even though people will always try and deny it, looks matter just as much as what is on the inside.

Ms. Grealy’s uses animals throughout Autobiography of a Face as a symbol of her childhood desires. Previous posts have commented that Lucy’s love for animals is vested in their ability to over look her physical deformities. I also agree. I believe Lucy loves animals because their response to her is one of loving embrace rather than, hurtful torment. Unlike her peers in junior high school, Lucy’s horse, Swinger, loves her for who she really is, despite her “ugliness”. Lucy’s relationship with Swinger is one of the few healthy connections of her life. She “would tell him everything [she] knew and then explain why [she] loved him so much, why he was special.” (158) Lucy’s love for her horse was completely innocent, she could enjoy him without the social struggles of life in school or depressed awkwardness of life at home.
Lucy’s love for animals is more than a release from human torment. Animals in Lucy’s memoir represent the freedom she desires from the world. Lucy is much like a bird trapped in a cage. Inside of her she has the power to fly away to greater heights, but her encasement of physical abnormality limits her inner beauty. Ms. Grealy inner beauty is similar to those of animals. She yearns for a world where her worth is not defined by her sex appeal, but by her contribution to society. Ms. Grealy is beautiful because her writing is beautiful. Ultimately, the power of her writing affords her the ability to evade the evils of social ineptness and achieve true happiness.

The amount looks matter to people can be what makes them what they are but also, it can have no impact on us. We are born with five senses; touch, smell, sight, taste, and hearing. If one of those is taken away, won’t we react differently to our surroundings. For instance, a man who can’t see may not think anything of an obese woman if they share their love in music or if a deaf-mute falls in love with a supermodel in spite of the fact that the arrogant, self-centered model sounds like an Eminem song playing over and over again. Now, in both of these cases, they base their judgments on what they can sense; however, they don’t take into account what they can’t sense. This would actually mean that we don’t really ever get the full scope of a person and even if we have all our senses we often let our minds filled with pre-conceived notions interfere in our judgments. Metaphorically, we only look skin deep into a person and naturally we don’t go about trying to find the true person behind every face (we’d be too busy to do anything else). But in our paranoid-obsessively, materialistic world we live in, seeing only the looks would make our understanding of everyone worse. Eventually, if the world of “Nip and Tuck” prevails, You would have two parallel worlds; one of the “beautiful” and one of the “ugly”. However, each of these worlds would have a different idea of beauty and thus couldn’t co-exist without interminable conflict which is excessively disgusting to even think about. To top that, what if aliens were to look at all the humans, say they were disgusting, and blast them to smithereens? They would base their destruction of our world on looks. So I will disagree with the statement that looks are everything, but I have to disagree with Aditya’s point that it’s everything on the inside that counts. It must be both everything on the inside and outside, good and bad, that determine beauty in the eye of the beholder. So can we say that we live in a world where looks matter; obviously yes, however, how certain looks will be interpreted, will be debated and conflicted over until Armageddon.

One common idea you get from this book is that everyone reacts to a situation differently. There were many events that effected Lucy’s life in both a good and a bad way. The events were bad mainly becuase it is hard to deal with the loss of a loved one. But these events were also good for Lucy. Now before I go into this, there needs to be clarification on one thing. Many people believe that Lucy”s mother was the cause of Lucy’s strength. That is true but her mother is not the major cause. The events that effected Lucy’s life, in my opinion, were the main cuase of the strength and bravery Lucy had obtained. One example is of the chemotherapy. Lucy had to step up and tackle the treatment in order to survive it rather be swallowed by it. This gave her huge sums of strength which allowed her to conquer the many losses in her future. Some of these losses included the death of both of her horses and her father.
Now these events led to another perk for Lucy. These events opened her eyes to something we look over in today’s time. This is the things we take for granted such as eyesight or running water. During the hardships in her life, she was exposed to loss that allowed her to understand life outside the norm. So no matter how much someone tries to convince how good we’ve got it, we never truly understand. We never truly understand the value of what we have until it is gone. This brings up the common phrase “you don’t know how good you’ve got it until it’s gone”. So this cycle of loss, understanding, and warning will always exist forever and it will never change.

Lucy Grealy seemed to see life, and everything about it, as an “art”. My definition of art, in this case, is something created or an action done by someone that can be interpreted in many ways, even though the person who did this “art” had a certain interpretation in mind. A painting of two girls, for example, could interpret “friendship” or it could just be “cooperation”, depending on whoever looked at it. Dancing is an art because one person could interpret the dance as a symbol of “sadness” while another could see the dance to mean “hope”. Poetry, therefore, is an art form because two people could interpret the poem to symbolize, or mean, two or more different things.

The essence of art is the fact that there are many interpretations of it and therefore anyone could be correct. It’s obvious that Lucy loved art and writing. But why exactly did she love writing so much?

“Reading and writing poetry brought together everything that had ever been important to me. I could dwell in the realm of the senses, but now I had a discipline, a form for them” (193).

Lucy liked writing because she had a way to explain her feelings for the world, or her “senses”. And even better, there was a “form” she could follow in order to express her feelings.

“Language itself… could be… shaped into vessels for truth and beauty I had so long hungered for” (193).

Again, Lucy enjoyed having a way to express her long suppressed emotions.

You could almost say that Lucy enjoyed imagining her life as a story book, where she, as the protagonist, would go through trials and tribulations to finally get to the point where she changed as a person and the world. Because of this rather almost “idealistic” view of the world, she perceived the world as an artist would: every scene and event in her life had a meaning (at least, she wanted it to have a meaning) to it; she was aware of what others thought of her and also of what she appeared to herself and fought to make the two opinions be equal. Even her emotions, she discovered, could be related to creating art.

“…I discovered what it was to love people. There was an art to it, I discovered, which was not really all that different from the love… in the making of art. It required the effort… of always striving to see the truth of them” (195).

Lucy wanted to discover the truth of everything: including beauty, love, and life. In fact, I don’t believe that Lucy’s purpose was to JUST find the meaning of beauty; it was to find truth and meaning of everything in her surroundings and her life.

As many people have said in this blog, beauty is defined differently by different people. Today’s society has made people’s opinion of being beautiful by the way a person looks. Most people deny it, but almost everyone falls into the trap of wanting to look beautiful. If people really believed that beauty came from the inside, they wouldn’t try to impress people with their clothes, hair, shoes, makeup, and things of that sort. We wouldn’t strive to be wealthy just so that we could have what our neighbor had. It is just like how Lucy Grealy in Autobiography of a Face lived her life trying to get more and more operations to look “beautiful” which she defined as looking like everyone else. Even when she had her last operation and her face deformity was hardly noticeable, she didn’t feel beautiful. She was beautiful though, because of how she fought through cancer, the chemo therapy treatments, and other operations. In my perspective, someone who is beautiful is someone who doesn’t care about the way he/she looks, doesn’t care what other people think about him/her, and is grateful for the things they do have.

Lucy tried to use her experience with a disfigured face to learn more about the world. She strove to be more enlightened on issues like love and life, having decided that she could be more progressive without the distraction of the physical beauty’s companions — for example, “things as insubstantial as fashion and boyfriends and gossip” (180). She hoped that she “would become a hero through [her] understanding of the real beauty that existed in the world” (150). She stated, “I undertook to see my face as an opportunity to find something that had not yet been revealed” (180). Her quest for enlightenment became her distraction; she channeled her pain into a hunger for truth. Eventually, she found that writing was an effective outlet. “As I recognized myself, I also realized the precision of language,” she observed on page 160. Discovering the power of language, as a source of relief, beauty, and truth, was a revelation to her. It eased her pain to an extent, as “language itself, words and images, could be wrought and shaped into vessels for the truth and beauty [she] had so long hungered for” (193). Lucy, herself, was convinced that language could be her salvation, supplying her with all the splendor she needed to compensate for her apparent lack of physical beauty.

However, language was not her magic cure-all, and she knew it. She pondered, “Language supplies us with ways to express ever subtler levels of meaning, but does that imply language gives meaning, or robs us of it when we are at a loss to name things?” (44). How could she describe truth? Beauty? Pain? Her pain, she felt, was so immense that she could not summarize in a few words by telling us — she had to show us. She sang odes to how she loved writing and art, but she knew that it would and could not mend her battered heart. In a letter to Ann Patchett, as replicated in Truth & Beauty, Lucy confessed, “I am at a total loss to describe how I am different… This is a language problem: the disparity… between the two sets of truths, is very real and clear to me, yet my ability to control this knowledge in any sort of narrative or verbal way veers off constantly” (93). Even Lucy, a talented writer, could not always rely on language. Likewise, she could not always rely on her revelations on truth and beauty and love. She had thought that she was unlovable, and tried to counteract that belief by having purely sexual relationships with men. Her heart had aged by the deaths of her loved ones, the rejections, the taunts that she had endured over her life. Having sex without love (for she now rejected the possibility of love) worsened her soul further. For her, it was self-destructive behavior. As a defense mechanism, she threw herself more into writing and art, hoping that they would save her but knowing that they, by themselves, could not. Above all else, she needed to help herself — but, tragically, she didn’t believe in her full self.

Lucy sometimes had an outlook on things in her life that were bad and good to her at the same time. For instance on page 101, Lucy realizes that people actually pity her. This makes her very angry but at the same time she seeks out something good. She notices she can get attention wherever she is. Also, when Lucy was a child, she always wanted to be special. After cancer, she was considered special and she wonders if she is the “…creator of my own situation?” In that quote on page 101, she is being too harsh on herself because she was just a child and she didn’t realize what she was actually saying. When she was a child, she didn’t mean to create her problem.

Lucy is also in a position where most of us never will be in. She fully realizes how we take everything for granted. She knew we could lose everything at any moment but most of us would never even think about it. Right now the electricity could go off and I would lose everything I am typing right now (knock on wood). The blackout in 2003 made everyone’s usual routine a total mess. Transportation is something that we all use but most of us have no idea how it fully works and operates. We depend on the the people building it to make it right.

I forgot to put in that Azeem I agree with your second paragraph

Sarah Goodnight brought up a very good point that brings interest to me. She explained the reaction of people who saw Lucy after her operation and decide not to have anything to do with her because of her jaw. Sure it is shaped differently, but that is no excuse to not be friends with Lucy. Growing up in a small, private school didn’t seem any different to me than a public school. (In 7th grade I would walk into the transition from private to public.) At my old school, everyone knew everyone. If someone new came into the Rochester Hills Christian School, everybody would reach out to them in their own way. No one really judged each other in my 6th grade class. We were all just learning. Halfway into the school year, a new student joined our class. Her name was Brittany Murphy. She had her jaw shaped in the same way as Lucy’s. The entire class didn’t look at Brittany’s face as weird. They looked at it as different. It didn’t stop any one of us from being her friend. I learned she was a great person. Where she is today, I’m not sure. But if we all could just look past the appearance there would be less talk on why appearance matters.

Before I started reading this book, I turned to the back inside cover, because sometimes I like to read about the author. Immediately I saw her picture and thought to myself, “What’s wrong with her?” I know somewhere inside that it is wrong to judge people and that looks aren’t everything, but obviously I still do it. After reading this book, I have learned you physically cannot judge someone, because you have nothing to truly compare your thoughts to. What is actual beauty? You can’t tell someone that they are ugly; they are just different. Everyone is beautiful in their own way. That is what makes us human; we have flaws and our self-images are unique. I think beauty is when people are at peace with their body and can let their inner beauty shine through. People are consumed with being perfect, but what is being perfect? They are only hurting themselves by trying to be someone else. People should be happy the way they are and not try to compare or change their looks. We should just accept ourselves and be confident with who we are.

After she was initially hit in the jaw everything was jumpstarted and it was like a chain reaction. Different things kept developing but she seemed to be happy. She wrote that she wanted to be “special” and she didn’t mind missing school or being in the hospital. As I kept reading though, I knew that everything happens for a reason. It all seemed harmless and easy to solve, but I felt it was leading up to something bigger. When she finally discovered she had been deformed from her cancer, she did not want to be special anymore. Even though she lost certain physical attributes, she still had a loving family, a house, and overall a good life. The grass may be greener somewhere else but we should enjoy our own lives and accentuate the positives.

Millions of people say that a person’s personality is what counts the most but how many of these people would go up to someone who wasn’t very attractive and just start a conversation. I can tell you I don’t know very many. Lucy Grealy had to live with this burden for most of her life and let’s be honest who doesn’t want to have physical beauty. Even though not everyone isn’t considered attractive, it doesnt mean you aren’t a beautiful person. It took cancer, having over thirty surgeries, and the torment of being made fun of all her life for Lucy to discover this. I realized from reading this book that so many people tormented someone who survived cancer because they didn’t take the time to get to know her. I kept thinking to myself how could anyone do such a thing to an innocent person but it goes on throughout the world every single day. I couldn’t stop thinking about how much Lucy worried about how she looked but then I realized that she lived in a world where millions wouldn’t even consider talking to her because of her appearance, even though they were missing out on an amazing brave human being. The world is a harsh place and i bet that even if hundreds of people who read Autobiography of a Face, wouldn’t even speak to Lucy unless they knew her story. Eveyone says that beauty is what’s on the inside but not many actually believe it.

How is who you are formed, and how closely is it linked to how you look, or speak, or laugh? How is your identity connected to who your friends are, and what you’re good at, or wish you were good at?

I think you are formed by the way you are raised and the values that you are taught early on in life. If you are taught to meet people and get to know them not based on looks and to be nonjudgmental, then I think your friends will be the same way. I think if you have that certain mentality, you will surround yourself with the same type of people. I also think if you are raised this way you will have more self confidence and hold yourself on a very positive outlook. You won’t be worried about your looks and you won’t think about how others see you. You would be happy the way you are. Your identity would be a carefree person who is friendly to everyone and has a good attitude about life.

One thing that really interested me while reading Autobiography of a face was the fact that Lucy was so afraid of her chemotheapy ending. I realized that it was sort of like a security blanket and even though she would be nauseous for days she didn’t know how to live without it. Because she had been diagnosed with cancer at the age of nine her life consisted of surgery after surgery, radiation treatment and chemotheapy so without it she wouldnt know what to do with her life because she never really had a normal childhood. I also thought about how so many of us can’t wait to grow up and we don’t want to be children but Lucy Grealy never really had childhood and we all take ours for granted.

People say that outer beauty does not matter and it is what is on the inside that counts. The fact is that outer beauty does count for something, even though some would tell you different. The first thing you notice about a person are their looks. When you do this, you make judgments before you meet them. Because of this, you may avoid them or look away and keep walking. They could actually be a very nice person. In the novel, this is exactly what happened to Lucy. Men would be interested in her and then when they came up to her and saw her face, they changed their mind about her. People who say looks do not matter and it is personality that counts are lying. Outer beauty does matter, no matter what people want you to believe.

As I began to read Truth and Beauty, I could immediately see that Patchett’s novel would shed a new light on Lucy’s personality. Still, I found it curious that as I read I began to create a totally unique visual image of Lucy in my mind. This mental picture was based on Lucy’s college-life description of her attempts at being worldly and a near bohemian. It was at this point that I realized my mind was playing a trick on me; it was then that I flashbacked to the picture I saw of Lucy on the back inside cover of her autobiography. The two visuals of the same person were entirely different.

This detection brought me to realize that this must have been the constant struggle which Lucy faced. She would always have to create for herself a personal image while, in a way, fighting off the face she felt did not fit her. Now, I want to make it clear that I do not think Lucy was in a constant battle with her face. There were many times that she embraced it, and in total contradiction with the previous statement, she used it to create her persona. I found all this very interesting and revealing to Lucy’s real battles.

On page 57, Lucy talks about how she has become so accustomed to the pain that she does not feel pain like she used to. This is extremely mature of Lucy. As a nine year old girl, she has accepted the fact that she is going to feel much pain due to her condition. However, Lucy had the will to outwit the pain until the pain just went away. Lucy displays an amazing amount of mental strength in doing so. Lucy realized that she had nothing to fear but fear itself. If Lucy did not fear the pain, she would be fine and would not have to endure the pains of medical treatment. This event reminded me of a time when I had bronchitis in 5th grade. I had to get my blood drawn to make sure I did not have anything more serious than bronchitis. The doctor told me that I will feel some pain, but it would not hurt too much. I braced myself for the pain, because everyone knows that most doctors lie to you. However, when the needle was inserted, I began laughing uncontrollably. I realized that if I know the pain is coming, it becomes much more endurable. Since that day, I have never even had watery eyes at the doctor’s office, even though I have gone through several painful operations. Lucy and I both realized this at a young age, and it has made her and I much more mature as we both grow up into young adults.

External Image decieves internal beauty. A person’s character can be overtaken by their physical appearance. If a person is attractive, more people will be drawn to be friends with them. Their external beauty is shield of protection from teasing, low self esteem, and imperfections. Lucy Grealy felt the wall between the beautiful, and the ugly. The barrier caused her a “perpetual fear of being alone and a great burden of isolation” (177). Grealy’s face deformity took away her protection layer from the cruelty of society. At times, Grealy felt her face made her a failure, but she had the strength to look at the optimism in her situation. She was forced to discover herself in a new way. She looked at beauty from her own perspective. She saw her beauty in her bravery, mystery, courage, and strength. Grealy saw the real beauty in herself, and the selfishness in others. Looks will fade, but inner beauty is everlasting.

In Autobiography of a Face, looks DO matter. When Lucy would go anywhere in public, whether it was school or just walking on the streets, her physical appearance would always attract the attention of strangers. People would look at Lucy and they wouldn’t want to talk to her because of her physical differences. I disagree with the people in the story who judged based on appearances alone. In my opinion, looks should only be used to identify people but never to make an assumption or judgment about personality and characteristics. By separating themselves from Lucy, these people might have lost the opportunity to know such a strong and courageous girl. The people in her town could have been supportive to Lucy through her tough and painful experience, yet their immature attitudes only had a negative effect on Lucy. By the end of the memoir, Lucy realizes that her inner strength helped her overcome her emotional struggle that she faced as a child. This very personal story has helped me understand that who you are on the inside is what really counts. It should not be looks, religion, race or social status that determines how people think of you.

One part of the book that really resonated with me was when Lucy put on a mask and went out on Halloween night. Lucy feels a freedom on Halloween, when her face is covered by a mask, that she doesn’t usually feel. When her face is concealed by a mask, she doesn’t let her “ugliness” hold her back from being herself. Is this because Lucy finally feels like a normal child? I started to think that she feels free because when everyone is wearing a mask, she fits in. She doesn’t feel ugly anymore. When her face doesn’t stand out, Lucy is a new person.

Lucy also feels comfortable being herself while she is staying in the hospital. This is why I started to think that when Lucy feels like her “ugliness” doesn’t stand out, she feels more comfortable with herself. When she is in the hospital, she is around other people who all have serious problems so Lucy feels like she fits in.

Most people in today’s society feel a need to fit in and be accepted. And most people are most comfortable being themselves around people they know they fit in with and are accepted by. Lucy loved the feeling of fitting in and being normal. She felt like the fact that she was “ugly” and looked different than others made her stand out, in a bad way. That is why, when her face, which is what makes her stand out, is covered by a mask on Halloween, she feels like she is normal and fits in. It is only when Lucy feels like she fits in that she feels the freedom to be herself.

Do we post our comments about Truth and Beauty on this page?

It seems in society we are not born with low self esteem, and low confidence. But as we grow, we adopt various ideas that promote such low esteem and confidence upon our selves. As Lucy grew up, her strong and potent confidence became watered down by the attitudes of her surroundings. However, after trying to change her appearance many times, she found the beauty in her inner strength. Just as Lucy’s skin grafts disoriented, peoples’ outer appearance also descends. People should depend more on inner beauty than outer appearance. After so long, physical matter fades, and decomposes. When people learn to accept themselves, and find mental strength, high self confidence last a long time.

Though outer appearance shouldn’t be encouraged in society, it is, and is promoted in; magazines, advertisements, television…etc. Society as a whole tends to use various physical traits to portray, “The perfect outer image”. Whether it is skin color, body shape, or facial features, society tends to define beauty by outer appearance on such principles. Though eating right, and leading a healthy lifestyle is pushed for in society, the ongoing image to be “perfect”, in society’s view, puts a negative pressure on many people. As a society as a whole, we are blinded by such propaganda, and do not look at the deeper meaning to being human. Physical differences have caused misunderstandings, wars, genocide, and discrimination among humans. If society as a whole can strive to do as Lucy has, accept herself and others as beautiful beyond physical description, society can find the deeper meaning of being human.

A lot of people say beauty comes from within and it doesn’t matter about what you look like. However in todays day and age i would have to disagre with that statement. Most people judge others soley on what they look like before they even try to get to know them. This makes life very difficult for people like Lucy Grealy because they look different. It was extra hard for Lucy to make friends. People are always trying to change what they look like or how they act so they can fit in. In actuality what you look like and how you are dressed is your first impression on somebody. I dont blame people like Lucy for trying to fix her jaw because she probably had a very difficult time in life. Walking down the street people would stare and wonder what is wrong with her. It would take a very strong person to deal with that.

On page 174, Lucy said something that interested me. She said “Michael had lost something he was never going to get back; my face had only changed into the next shape it was meant to have.” Michael had jumped off a two story building into a pool and was permanently paralyzed. I found the comment interesting because it was a milestone for Lucy. It made her realize that even though her situation wasn’t very good, she should be happy that her face is only as bad as it is. The cancer could have easily spread much more before it was found. It made her except that things could have been much worse.

After finishing the book Autobiography of a Face it really made me think about what kind of person I was. After reflecting i came to the conclusion that i don’t think i would ever be able to go through what Lucy went through. Every time she got her hopes up that she would look normal after the operation, it only lead to extreme disappointment. It takes a strong person to not give up on life and look at lfe in a positive way. Lucy could have taken the fact that her face would never be normal with a negative outlook. But she didn’t. Lucy decided that her face looked the way it did for a reason and she was okay with that. It turns out that what was happening to her did happen for a reason. It lead to her writing a story and helping people who do look different to realize that looking different is only a bad thing if you make it.

I agree with Sean when he says that meeting Michael was a turning point in her life. Lucy has now met someone who is in a way worse position than her. Now she can actually be happy that all that is wrong with her is her face looks a little different than everybody elses. Before meeting Michael, Lucy thought she had it bad becuase she didn’t look like everybody else. She could look at herself in the mirror and feel sorry for herself. However, after meeting Michael she could now see that there are way worse things than looking different. Also, Lucy still had a little bit a hope to hold on to. That is part of what kept her going. She could always have the hope that the next operation would actually work and she would finally look normal. That was something Michael didn’t have because he was paralyzed and he could not do anything about it. Sometimes hope is what keeps us alive, and I think that is what really helped Lucy.

I agree with Jeremy in how he talks about how Lucy can see how everyone around her takes things for granted. I think that because Lucy can realize this, it makes her more powerfull. During all of the passages about Halloween, Lucy clearly shows how low her self-esteem is and even she knows it. When she is behind a mask, and able to hide her face, she felt like she could do anything. Lucy felt like she could talk to anybody and that nothing was wrong. After, when she cries in her room, she knows how low her self-esteem is and is surprised at how much something so simple as a mask changes her.

When Lucy can see how much the Cancer has changed her, in a good way, she begins to grasp what is happening to her. Once she can embrace the disease and be comfortable with it even when others are clearly not, it gives her more power and raises her self-esteem. As Lucy grows older and more mature she learns to cope with Cancer and handle the people that make fun of her. Once she can accept others for who they are even though they don’t accept her, that is what’s truely beautiful.

One thing that makes this book successful to me would be how descriptive and detailed it is. It’s as if Lucy wrote down everything that occurred in her life day by day in a journal. The way Lucy wrote the book made it seem so real, even though most of it was made up. Now don’t get me wrong on this. Lucy obviously based everything off of her own life, but it was not her intention to preach to everyone about her life story. she only wished to show everyone her skill in writing. Her book is like a very confusing movie. In order to fully understand the movie, you have to watch it numerous times in order to fully grasp the meaning of it and understand it. Lucy’s book is similar in this way. In order to understand what Lucy was trying to do, the book has to be read mutliple times. That is why Lcuy”s book is successful.

The Autobiography of a Face is a memoir. This means that the words it contains are not exactly fact; they are facts as Lucy Grealy remembers them. Keeping that in mind, it’s interesting to see what she remembers most about her ordeal. The reader notices it is not the cancer that she remembers most, it is trying to deal with herself after she has already conquered the disease – a remarkable feat by any standards, as it has a 5% survival rate.

What is most outstanding to me is how incredibly strong Lucy remained throughout her experiences. I don’t think even she realized she was being brave at the time. It’s amazing how she stood being taunted each day at school by boys with little else to do then make life a living a hell for someone else. There is a passage in this book that depicts her courage very well on page 152: “Martin Luther King, one of my heroes, had said, ‘I will not allow my oppressors to dictate to me the means of my resistance.’ That seemed like a far truer thing, a far deeper thing. I wanted to hate them, but instead I tried to forgive them.” This passage really makes the reader take a good look at themselves and ask: ‘Could I do this? Would I be strong enough?’ I think that this question can only be answered when in the situation.

During high school and college, Lucy becomes extremely interested in poetry. I believe this is because it helps her feel the beauty that she would never experience otherwise. She is in awe of the way the poets shape the words into something beautiful.

One thing I found strange was Lucy’s reaction to the end of her chemo treatments. Lucy believed that her chemo made her special, and therefore gave her parents and friends a reason to love her. It made her ‘worthy of love’. Somehow I think that Lucy’s major problem was not that her cancer was crippling her, or her face. It was her total lack of self-confidence. Of course, this was compounded by the fact that everyone teased her about her looks. Each time she had a surgery, she expressed the thought that now she could actually begin her life. Her entire life became about becoming beautiful, about changing the way she looked. She kept her entire life on hold because she had no confidence in herself. In fact, she had so little confidence in her looks that she began to blame them for all of her problems, and trained herself to not look at mirrors in order to avoid her reflection. She never really thought that beauty, although defined by society as something physical, may not be physical after all.

Most people are shy and they don’t want to go out in public because of how they look. During a time in Lucy’s life, she felt happy because people pittied her. Whenever she went out people always looked at her and she would stare at them making them feel embarrased because they were staring at her. I personally would never have done that because I wouldn’t have even want to go out in public and be stared at. Nor would I have the courage and stare back at them.
Earlier in Lucy’slife she would do anything to not get noticed. When her mom bought those turtle necks, Lucy was a bit overjoyed. She couldn’t wait for Halloween because everyone was in masks and all dressed up, no one noticed how she really looked on the inside because no one saw her face. People actually teated her like a normal kid.

I agree with Ali on the animals. At home she was happy with her pets because they still loved her. and her two horses did also. They didn’t care how she looked. Animals can get judgement on people not just on how they look. The first thing humans get their judgement is on a persons look. Has there ever been a person who hasn’t judged them on how they look? People who have cancer, it might change the way they look on the outside but does it change what’s on the inside? And it’s not just the people who have cancer its anybody. It’s the way they were born. Was it their fault that they were born like that? There’s always something a person wants to change about his or herself. And if they could they would, but sometimes they can’t for various reasons.

Jenny brings up many good points. It is very interesting that Lucy does not focus on beating cancer. Instead, she focuses on dealing with the hardships of her appearance. She never truly thought of herself as being ill. She just saw the cancer as a way to be loved and to feel special. She was actually a bit excited when she first found out about the cancer. She got out of school, she didn’t have to deal with a rough home life, and she got special treatment. She rarely thought about how deadly the cancer could be;
she really only saw the benefits for quite a while. Another good point Jenny makes is that Lucy never truly realizes how brave she is. I think this ties in with her seeing only the benefits of cancer for a long time. I believe that as Lucy wrote Autobiography of a Face she was not trying to show her bravery but rather get out her story and test her writing ability. She never tried to make herself look like a hero for overcoming cancer. She simply wrote down her life and experiences for the world to see.

Beauty is judged based on one’s appearance. This is referred to as outer-beauty. People don’t care about you’re inner-beauty. When you meet a person for the first time you notice how they look. If they look horrible you won’t want to talk to them. They might be a very nice person. This is what happen to Lucy. People thought she had an ugly face so she was ostracized. Today’s kids are taught by the media that beauty is only skin deep.

Unfortunately in our day and age, image seems to be one of the most important things for our society. Most people believe that the better looking you are, the higher your social status. I believe that beauty can mean many different things. For example, when you read a book or watch a movie, it can be beautiful, because it’s so captivating. Beauty isn’t just looks, someone can be beautiful because they have a good personality. It just depends on your point of view. As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Like all of us, Grealy tries to find a place where she fits in throughout the book. She feels that she belongs in the hospital. The kids at school call her “ugly” because she’s different. She feels so at home in the hospital because she believes that everyone there is like her, they’re “different”. The truth is, Grealy is no different than any of us. She may not look like us, but in reality she just wants to belong like the rest of the world.

Unfortunately for people, looks matter more to us than almost anything else most of the time. People’s decisions are based off of their senses, so it is impossible for looks to be unimportant. It is human nature to judge based on the way a situation/person looks compared to a standard set by oneself, others and past experience, and thus we are predjudiced against those who don’t fit the standard. This is unfortunate and harmful; if someone doesn’t fit another’s standard (i.e. is ugly) both the one who made the standard and the one who did not meet it may be hurt. The one who judges may miss out on knowing a wonderful person, and the judged one’s feelings/selfconfidence is hurt.

“Looks don’t matter; it’s who you are on the inside that counts” should be the way we look at each other, but few people actually do, and so no one believes that saying is true. However, that statement is, in fact, at least partially correct. while others may judge one by what they look like, it is that person’s inside that has the greatest effect on who they are. What one is on the inside controlls the way they look at the world, what they do, how they think, who they are. A person’s inside is that person. The person is, of course, affected by the outside world and what others think of him/her, but it is the inside that has the greatest effect in his/her life; a person chooses how he/she will be affected by the outside world-whether another’s predjudices will get him/her down or change him/her, or whether he/she will overcome. It is the inside as well as the out that makes us.

Beauty is something that describes someone’s personality, looks, and values. One of these can make you a beautiful person. Lucy was a beautiful person because of her personality as well as her values. Her looks had nothing to do with her beauty. This is what truly makes Lucy a beautiful person. Some people are just beautiful on the outside, or just have a beautiful personality. Lucy is special because she is beautiful in two areas. It took Lucy a very long time to recognize this, though. She believed she was an ugly person just because of her face. Lucy is a beautiful person, no matter what others believed.

Jenny, I agree with your last paragraph about Lucy’s lack of self-confidence. After every operation, Lucy felt like she could start over and begin her life and when operations aren’t successful, she begins to look forward to the next operation that will hopefully be successful and make her look normal. Just like you said, Lucy spends her life waiting to become beautiful and waiting for her life to begin again once she becomes beautiful. Because she just spends her time waiting for her life to start, Lucy doesn’t develop any confidence in herself. Instead of trying to appreciate herself for who she is, she just keeps telling herself that everything will be okay after the next operation.

After finishing the book, I thought about all of what Lucy went through from the chemotherapy and all the unsuccessful grafts and I realized how big of an inspiration Lucy is. She demonstrated that even when the going gets so tough and you just want to quit, you’ve got to keep pushing and pushing. Despite the times when even she lost all hope, she found something to fuel her determination to keep going. Just like Kalyna says in her comment above mine, “Lucy felt like she could start over and begin her life and when operations aren’t successful, she begins to look forward to the next operation that will hopefully be successful and make her look normal.” Lucy had a goal to fit in and look like others. Even though that is not a very good goal in my opinion because it’s not the outside that matters, Lucy continually kept trying to accomplish her goal. After every operation failed and she would lose hope, she would find some sort of inspiration and hope to try another operation. Lucy Grealy shows others that if you fail at something, whether it’s a goal of yours or not, you need to forget about the past and never give up on accomplishing your goal. This is why Lucy is a role model and an inspiration to others.

Throughout the book, Lucy talks about how so many people are beautiful and they don’t even know it. She is jealous of these people who don’t have to worry about getting made fun of or called ugly. So many girls put themselves down; they call themselves ugly and don’t think they are beautiful no matter how many times they are told they are. Lucy made me realize that I am very lucky to have good health; to never have gotten some sort of surgery or anything like that. Even though I may put myself down, I don’t feel like I have to hide like Lucy did. Lucy spent each day at school taking longer ways to get to her classes, just to avoid bullies. She also ate lunch in the counslers office because she was safe from the bullies there. It’s sad to think that Lucy had to hide from people just because her face didn’t look like everyone elses. Lucy’s face was different; she looked different from everyone else. But that’s what made Lucy truly beautiful, and it’s a shame that she, or anyone else, couldn’t recognize it.

So many people don’t appreciate the little things in life. Lucy Grealy learned how when she was spending most of her life in the hospital. Because she was always so weak with the chemotheapy and the surgeries that she had to of through. Just making it to the bathroom was an accomplishment for her. So many people over look things that they should be stopping to appreciate.In a way Lucy was benefited from being so weak and she noticed things that most people wouldn’t because of the cancer. Without having to go through the struggles that she overcame she probably wouldn’t appreciate things as much as she did. Most people would not look as sitting up or eating as an accomplishment because most of the world is able to do these tasks without a problem but Lucy saw them as a step up. I believe that more people should be proud of their acheivments and they sholdn’t take the little things for granted.

Cady- I agree that what made lucy special was the fact that she survived a life threating disease.Just because her face was different doesn’t mean that she didn’t have a heart and that she wasn’t hurt by the comments other people made to her. Just because some people look different or act diifferent it doesn’t mean that others have the right to tease them. People who are different have feelings and they shouldn’t be judged by people who are to ignorant to realize it. Everyone has feeings no matter what they look like or how they act.

In my opinion, our society today cares too much about superficial, physical beauty. We look up to “beautiful” people; we want to be like them. The most influential people are the “hottest” celebrities. Not only do we care about physical looks, but also outward appearance (who we hang out with, what our actions are.) We are all so concerned about our appearance that we think about almost nothing else, and base our decisions off of it. Friends are made or cease because of appearance. This hurts a lot of people, as not many match society’s defenition of beauty. those who do not match the defenition of beauty, like Lucy Grealy, spend their lives trying to fit in with it, or ignore it and not be bothered by other’s disaproval. this is a serios waste of energy, talent, and human emotion, and is, to look art it honestly, pathetic. Why do we hurt so much about something that was meant to give pleasure? When people care only about beauty in themselves and look down on those “without” they are selfish and proud and everyone is hurt. Beauty is twisted into something ugly, and it, instead of bringing pleasure and gratitude as it was created to do, becomes something that enslaves those meant to enjoy it.

Not only does this story show how difficult it is to feel accepted when someone is an outcast, but it also demonstrates the frustration a family gets when medical bills are high and there is limited money in the family. While Lucy was going through all of the cancer treatments, her parents had to pay for all of the expences, which was a challenge, especially since her parents didn’t have much money to start out with. Just like Lucy’s family, many other families have problems paying for medical expences, especially cancer-related expences, because chemo-therapy and radiation treatment are so costly. That’s why it is so important to have medical insurance or backup money because then these types of crisises are prepared for and easier to get through. I am thankful that I have never had any serious health issues yet because I know that this would put a lot of stress on my family.

Cady and Katie, I agree with you guys full out. Lucy should feel that beauty comes from the inside too, not just the outside. Too many people (especially teenagers) care too much about outer appearances. They worry too much about the little bit of acne on their face, or the bits of frizzy hair, or even if an outfit makes them look fat. People need to realize that outer beauty isn’t the only thing that others look at. Others look for inside beauty too, like a good positive attitude and a polite and caring personality. And for the people who only care about outside beauty, those people’s thoughts aren’t worth being listened to. If a person is optimistic and proud to be the person he/she is, he/she will be accepted into society a lot easier.

In the cover of the book, Lucy Grealy is hiding from the society. She feels like a normal person when her face is hidden because no one knows about her deformity. No one can make fun of her and she can express whatever feelings she has. When Lucy is not hiding, she is an outcast from society and cannot act like a normal person.

Lucy is hiding her feelings and beauty when she is hidden and no one knows how good hearted she is. Instead of seeing true beauty, our society tries to look at what’s wrong with a person rather than whats right. Inside of Lucy is a beauty that only people in her position can experience. Her beauty can only be expressed when her face is revealed and when she is speaking from the inside.

When Lucy reveals her face, we will see a deformed face that only shows a fraction of who she really is. It is in our nature to judge people by their looks first, so when we see her for the first time, we will not know what her personality is like. But if we look at what’s right with Lucy, her inside, she is an ordinary girl experiencing difficulties in her life.

Everyone possesses his or her own beauty, and with that being said, all of the above faces are beautiful and it is not fair to say that one is not beautiful because of one flaw. We can see beauty when we focus on what is right with a person rather than what is wrong with a person.

Katie-
I agree with you. People now only worry about their looks. They don’t pay attention to what’s really important, and all of the little accomplishments are pushed aside. I believe that if we all stopped and appreciated what we have and be proud of who we are, the world would be a better place.

In today’s society, people care too much about physical appearance. Many teenagers go by the latest trends in fashion, wear makeup, and take extra time to fix their hair. Even though plastic surgery is expensive, there are still a lot of people using it to change how they look. Some people want to look just like the celebrities they see in the media, so they use diet programs like weight watchers and Jenny Craig. Unfortunately, diets can lead to anorexia, bulimia, and other health problems. People in today’s society shouldn’t feel the need to change their appearance because of the latest trends and famous celebrities.

“Looks don’t matter” is a phrase many people have heard before. Unfortunately, many people judge a person by how he or she looks. In Autobiography of a Face, Lucy Grealy was judged by how she looked. Since she had one third of her jaw removed, she was teased for looking different. If the students at Lucy’s school looked past her deformed face, they would’ve met a brave and courageous girl. Judging a person by his or her appearance is unjust, yet some people in today’s society still do.

Among the wealth of comments, I found my own from quite sometime ago, and thought I should add a few final thoughts on Autobiography of a Face. I was surprised at the support, or lack of support, Lucy received from her family. She hardly mentions what her siblings make of her disease and struggle, and I feel as if family acceptance would have helped Lucy along immensely toward accepting herself. Even more surprising however, was how Lucy portrayed her parents’ actions and reactions toward her fight against cancer and her fight to lead a normal life. Her mother seems annoyed by the disease, tired of hospital bills and complaints from Lucy. She appears harsh and tough on her daughter, especially considering her circumstances. She expects her daughter to be strong, even when she cannot, which Lucy picks up on eventually. I feel as if Lucy’s mother is inhibiting Lucy’s growth and recovery. She is making it harder for Lucy to be a happy individual full of self-worth. As for Lucy’s father, he seems unable to deal with Lucy’s condition at all. She mentions how her father would leave her alone when it was time to get her shots, he would make excuses to justify this. Lucy chalked it up to embarrassment, and with this I strongly agree. I have had a similar experience with my own father on a smaller scale, and I believe I understand that Lucy’s father was embarrassed to see his daughter in such a fragile state, wondering if he had done anything to make his daughter suffer so. I believe he was also embarrassed for his daughter; he couldn’t stand to know what other people would think about Lucy. Although it is not hard to see that both of Lucy’s parents love her greatly, it is also true that they both hinder her development and happiness.

What makes Lucy’s story so special is not just the fact that she overcame a life-threatening illness, but that she was able to endure the stresses of her “normal” life that followed. This is why Lucy focuses not mainly on cancer, but on her life following her cancer. At one point in the novel she recalls not fully realizing that she ever had cancer. She knew she was sick, but when her mother said cancer she didn’t relate the disease to herself. No, Lucy was special because she survived in a world where society doesn’t appreciate inner beauty, and many people make up their mind about a person on first glance. Lucy was able not only to survive, but thrive in this world, despite her perceived “handicap”. I find this especially ironic. Many people looked down upon Lucy, they said poor Lucy, but the truth is that Lucy accomplished more in her life then many people ever do. She was able to share an awe-inspiring story, and give a part of her magic to her friends, such as Patchett.

Beauty is such a funny thing. Everyone wants it, and those that have it enjoy influence and power greater than those who don’t. But what really is beauty? It is something we can attain through hard work or make-up? Or is it through our actions that we can attain beauty? Though the later view is not the one expressed by the public, I believe it is the true means of attaining beauty. Lucy was beautiful. Lucy lived her life surrounded in beauty. I believe that so few people are able to attain true beauty in their lives, but Lucy was certainly one of them.

In our society today, image is everything. Everyone knows that this is a true statement; we just don’t want to agree with it. People in our society are always judged by their image. It can be your looks, your personality, your choices, or how other people perceive you. This is also true in Lucy’s life as well. She was always constantly stared at when she was in public and she wouldn’t even want to go to school knowing that her classmates would taunt her every day. Whenever Lucy went to the hospital for a surgical procedure, she would see women in the waiting room getting a face lift or a nose job. The people waiting for the operation had perfectly normal faces before, but for some reason, they were convinced that they weren’t pretty enough. And then there was Lucy, who was getting the procedure done to fix her face from cancer, hoping that she could look like the women in the waiting room. When she was in the hospital for recovery, she was never judged by the other patients because they were in the same condition as Lucy. While she was in the hospital, Lucy felt a safe and comfortable feeling knowing that no one would judge her for her image.

I believe that the society we live in is one that is unjust towards those who don’t have the ideal looks that we as a people force upon everyone. I mean who are we to say that a person’s outer appearance is more important than their inner mentality and personality. It is because of people judging others outward appearance that people much like Lucy, who suffered through so much, were made fun of most of their lives. Lucy suffered from cancer as a child, and you would think people would be more sympathetic of something like that; however, instead of being comforted and consoled for the pain she had to endure, Lucy was ridiculed and criticized by many of the other children in her grade. The shallow minded and down right cruel comments of her classmates caused Lucy to feel extremely bad about herself, ” I was ugly, so people were going to make fun of me: I thought it was their right to do so simply because I was so ugly so I’d just better get used to it. But I couldn’t” (145). I think that if we can learn anything from ” Autobiography of a Face” it’s that we shouldn’t judge people for how they look on the outside, and that people who are not born with superficial beauty should not just be labeled as “ugly”.

Grealy’s mother bought her a hat to cover the balding spots caused by chemo. She talks about how, even when her hair had grown and was presentable, she still wore her hat: “Sometimes it grew several inches and was perfectly presentable as hair, but I knew it was only going to fall out again, and I refused to be seen in public without my hat. My hat. It became part of me, and inseparable element of who I thought I was” (105-106). Grealy’s hat was like a security blanket. Without it she felt uglier or exposed. The way she felt about her hat is the way some women feel about makeup. Some women can’t leave their houses without makeup on, or they’ll feel ugly or out of place. Some women use makeup to cover-up blemishes so that they’ll look like the images of beauty the world has created. Others use makeup to look younger or older. I think that some women are insecure without makeup like Grealy was without her hat.

One thing to keep in mind while reading a book such as autobiography of a face and applying it to modern society is that beauty is subjective. For example, In the begginning of the book Lucy talks about going to the hospital and being excited. This may seem odd and her excitement was later replaced by sadness but the fact that she thought something like a hospital to be exciting is a perfect example of beauty that only Lucy could see. The book is very relavent to many young readers because it adresses the fact that society has a standard for beauty. This standard is not measured in numbers or words but rather by the images one sees in media and advertisements. There is no such thing as a person considered beautiful by everyone.

When I was looking through the book again, the last passage on pages 174-175 really caught my eye. It says “I hated the face I remembered having a few days ago, and I knew nothing of the face I had now except that I feared it. But it existed, and I only had to look as it to know what it was…I could not dare to think I might actually want or like the shape, but I had a sudden realization that to have it at all meant something.” Lucy never accepted her face after an operation; she always didn’t accept the way it would turn out because she expected something different. I think that after the first couple of operations, Lucy just got in a habit of not accepting her “new” face. She feared it, I think, because she was afraid of actually realizing she looked beautiful. I think after every operation, she was afraid of what people would think, how people would look at her or maybe bully her. She never wanted to accept her new face, no matter what new shape it had taken.

In today’s society people are judge on their physical appearance and not the person they really are. Lucy was judge on how her face looked, and because of that she had to go through years of being teased. The personality of a person should always be more important than their looks. Looks should not be everything. Lucy was always being judge on her looks and not for who she was. Because of that she did not have a lot of friends, especially during middle school. People should never judge and be judge on their looks.

As I was reading Autobiography of a Face, I notice how strong and brave Lucy was. When she went to go get her chemotherapy treatments, she hardly ever cried. After the treatments she never complained about how horrible she felt to her parents. For her age when everything was happening, I found her very strong. Also when she was going to school and being teased by all of the boys, she never talked to them, she just kept on ignoring them day after day. The whole process that Lucy went through during her childhood made her become a strong and brave person.

The thing I find sad is thay Lucy slowly gives up. So many people are calling her ugly and making fun of her that she starts to believe it. “I was ugly, so people were going to make fun of me: I thought it was their right to do so simply because I was so ugly so I’d just better get used to it” (145). Lucy started to think that she really was ugly and there is nothing she can do about it. The fact that the doctors attempted a skin graft made Lucy think even more that she was ugly. She bagan to wonder why she would need a skin graft if there wasn’t something wrong. When she came to the realization that the people who make fun of her wouldn’t be able to handle the chemotherepy I saw that she was learning to cope with herself, only to read later that it didn’t matter and she just wanted to hide her face. Even though the Cancer had healed, society prevented Lucy herself from fully healing. Lucy can see the true beauty that others cannot and this makes her so special and truely beautiful.

“I took great pains to infuse a sense of grace and meaning into everything I saw, but I could not apply those values to myself. Personally, I felt meaningless, or, more precisely, I felt I meant nothing to no one.” Lucy said this on page 205. It shows you just how similar Lucy’s feelings were to everyone else’s. Who hasn’t felt like the no one wanted them. Maybe after a big fight with you’re parents or your friends. After someone important to your life goes away forever. I know I’ve felt that way and I’m sure everyone else has or will in their life. Everyone has their own way to feel better when they feel like this. I read a good book. Lucy decided that to feel better she needed a lover. Her words, not mine. I just paraphrased. I’m curious as to everyone else’s methods so comment back.

Cady-

I completely agree with you on the fact that, after every one of Grealy’s surgeries, she hated her face. It wasn’t what she expected. Grealy was trying way too hard to become beautiful. She spent most of her life in hospitals or plastic surgery offices hoping that maybe she’d become this image of beauty that the world has created. When instead she could’ve been out trying to get the most out of her life realizing that what the world thinks is beautiful is very hard to achieve. If you think about the celebrities and models that we find beautiful, they are a very small fraction of the population. So trying to achieve such beauty is almost impossible. Additionally why should we try to look like those celebrities when their lives seem anything but beautiful? A number of them appear to be unhappy.

While reading this book, I could relate to some of what Lucy was saying. Now that I look back on it, I feel guilty thinking about things the same way Lucy did when she had it so much harder than I do now. It made me realize how much I really do have and that I shouldn’t complain about the little things that go wrong because things could always be worse. One of my favorite passages that I related to and also made me realize a lot was in the first paragraph of page 131 when Lucy explains, “Everybody, from my mother to the characters I read about in books, was always looking at someone else’s life and envying it, wishing to occupy it. I wanted them to stop, to see how much they had already, how they had their health and their strength. I imagined how my life would be if I had half their fortune. Then I would catch myself, guilty of exactly the thing I was accusing others of.”

Sean-

I completely agree with what you said about Lucy feeling as though she was unwanted. I know that I have felt like this before. I think another factor that created this feeling for Lucy was the kids she was surrounded by at school when she went. She was treated like the “odd man out” and was openly talked about. When her close friends asked her questions like “Are you dying?” I can definitely see how this would make her feel unwanted. I think she felt more like an object of entertainment or curiosity than an actual human being. As for methods to curing this feeling, I know mine works pretty well. I go to someone who I know for a fact will bring me up instead of putting me down, someone who has the ability to make me feel important. Usually this is one of my best friends. Whether it’s hanging out for an hour or two, or a casual texting conversation, my best friends are always a perfect cure for this feeling.

After reading Autobiography of a Face, I realized something that everyone thinks about, but never acts upon. Inner beauty is what truly makes a person who they are. The confidence they hold within them self is what people should look at, not the fact that they may look different than what some are used to.

I know being a teenager and being in high school, just as Lucy was in junior high, your physical appearance is what everyone notices, whether your looked up to for it, or made fun of. Although I see it everyday, and don’t stop it, just like many around the school don’t,I believe those that can overcome being teased because of their appearance are truly stronger than those who “bully” them.

Lucy Greatly does a really great job of having us understand her battle with cancer. I noticed i could really feel her thoughts and feelings when she was describing her suffering though her stay at the hospital and espically getting chemotherapy. When she was describing the troubles radiation gave her, i really felt sympathetic. The chapter about how how she was trying to be strong and never cry really made me think. I could’nt imagen having to go through all that Lucy went trough. Espcially at that young of an age.

Grealy’s Autobiography of a Face gives a couple different perspectives on beauty and the importance of it. From the very beginning we are shown the troubles and inconveniences Lucy deals with because of her disease. On page 5, when Lucy is looking for a job at the stables, Mrs. Daniels hires her over the phone. When Lucy tells her mother, the first thing she’s asked it “Did you tell them about yourself?” Automatically Lucy knows that she is referring to her disease, and the fact that she looks different because of it. When I read this, I originally had a negative impression of Lucy’s mother. Why would she make her daughter embarass herself like this? I mean it is called “equal opportunity employment” for a reason. Looks shouldn’t matter if she is qualified for the job. Then, the more I thought about it, the more I began to respect Mrs. Grealy. Because. yes, it would be difficult and embarassing for Lucy to discuss her deformity over the phone. But would it be harder than the jokes and stares she ends up getting at the children’s parties she works at? Maybe Mrs. Grealy wasn’t thinking too much about looks, maybe she was just trying to protect her daughter as best she could. That was the conclusion I came to. If anyone has different thoughts, let me know.

In Autobiography of a Face, Lucy Grealy is very self-conscious about how she looks, but she doesn’t feel self-conscious when she is at the hospital, with her animals, and during Halloween.

In the hospital, Lucy feels comfortable with her scar. She doesn’t feel the need to hide her scar from everyone. There’s a social ranking system in the hospital: the sicker you are, the higher your status would be. While she’s at the hospital, she feels proud to have her scar, “My face was my battle scar, my badge of honor,” (187).

Whenever Lucy is with animals, she doesn’t feel as self-conscious about herself. At her school, most of her classmates make rude comments about Lucy’s scar. Whenever Lucy goes in public, people stare at her scar and deformed face. The animals don’t tease or gossip about Lucy in her presence. Animals boost her self-esteem and make Lucy care less about her appearance.

On Halloween, Lucy feels comfortable with her appearance. Because she wears a costume, people can’t recognize her face. Lucy gains confidence because her identity is hidden behind a mask. With a hidden identity, teasing isn’t a problem Lucy has to deal with, so she doesn’t have a reason to feel self-conscious. “I hadn’t realized just how meek I’d become, how self-conscious I was about my face until now that it was obscured,” (120).

Kelsey-
I know exectly how you feel. I also can relate. I often get jealous and wish I had something that someone else has. Dosn’t everyone though? But that passage made me think, compared to her I am quite lucky. It made me apperciate all the things i have. And I dont necessarily mean possessions, but more like good health and a strong family life. Then she says she finds herslef doing the same thing. i believe she should concider herself lucky too because Lucy should realize that many people have lost their lives to cancer but she pulled through. However it isn’t fair that anyone should have to go through what she went through so she has every right to envy others.

Many people think that when you are pretty everything is perfect and you wont have to worry about anything. On page 204 Lucy states “Wasn’t my fear just supposed to fall away, wasn’t someone supposed to fall in love with me, wasn’t life supposed to work now? Where was all that relief and freedom that I thought came with beauty?” This proves that people always look at others and wish they were more like them. Many people think if they could just change something abot themself, then life would be so much better and they wont have to worry about anything. However, this is not true because everyone is always trying to change something about themself and there is never a time when everything is absolutely perfect. Lucy was waiting her whole life to be what she thought was beatiful and when she finally was, she really didn’t feel that much different. She thought when she was beautiful everything would just fall into place for her. The truth is, the things you want in life you have to work really hard for. Good things never come easy.

In today’s society, a person is considered beautiful merely from what the outside looks like. What a person looks like from the outside can sometimes be misleading. If a person is not absolutely gorgeous, they may be considered an outcast, or different. Different is not always a bad thing.

A person can be beautiful in so many different ways. Physical apperance is the prime example of beauty in today’s society. If you look around you, i will take a take a shot in the dark and bet that you would be able to pick out who is better looking just based on physical appearance. Physical appearance should not be what we base our beauty factor on. I know that saying ‘what matters is what’s on the inside’ is a very cliche response, but it’s also very true. I view a person as beautiful because of who they are. A person who is caring, supportive, loving, nurturing, giving, and just a good person is a beatiful person to me. Just because they may not be gorgeous based on physical traits, they are gorgeous because of who they are and what they’ve done. Today’s society needs to realize that physical appearance is not everything.

For some people middle school and high school are not pleasant experiences. This was true for Lucy in having to deal with the teasing and harassment by students (mostly boys). Lucy was teased all through middle school and when she went to high school, the teasing slowed down only a little. However, when she finally went to college, it was like a fresh start. Everybody was mature enough to not tease and harass Lucy. She even made true friends that she could have conversations with about what she liked (politics, art, and literature). For example, on page 195 Lucy states, “In sharp contrast to high school, I now possessed a large number of varied and decidedly wonderful friends, whom I valued immeasurably. Through them I discovered what it was to love people.” This is true for many people when they go to college. Everyone has a clean slate; you get to start over again, and for many people this is a great second chance.

Beauty is defined by the way others judge you, and how you judge yourself. Some people don’t care what others think about them. They think they are beautiful and that’s all that matters to them. On the other hand, some people care what others think about them. This is what happened to Lucy. People thought her face was ugly, so she thought she wasn’t beautiful. This happened because she didn’t have any self-esteem.

I agree with Alyssa D., in the since that beauty is more than appealing physical looks. Beauty can be expressed in qualities such as courage, strength, and uniqueness. Lucy possessed all three of these traits, which made her beautiful. I also agree that beauty can be described as the noble actions people carry out. Though Lucy faked the quality of being brave, the repetitive action made her actually brave, thus making Lucy’s personality brave. Beauty is not just the outside appearance. It is measured by those attractive inner qualities inside people that are everlasting.

kelsey once again-
i found a similar passage on page 91. Lucy says “At times I got desperateand could find no solace anywhere. Nothing seemed to work, and the weight of being trappd in my own body made it difficult to lift even a hand off the sheets. Other times a sort of physical awareness would take hold of me. Each breath was an important exchange with the world around me, each sensation on my skin a tender brush from a reality so beautiful and so mysterious that I would sometimes find myself squealing with the delight of being alive.” This also shows that at some points she was thankful. she know that it was going to be a battle to live a normal life again and was happy to be alive. It also makes me appreciate that I live a healthy and stable life.

kelsey- I agree with everything you said. You don’t really know how great you have it until you hear about someone elses life, until you see how bad some people really have it.

Everyone thinks you have to be beautiful to have a good life, and that’s what Lucy thought. Until she went to college she thought beauty w as everything, she was always looking down on herself. Once she was at college she saw many different types of people and made friends. She was getting more opperations to try and fix her face. She thought her face was getting better, but still wasen’t happy with it because she had high expectations. She thought she needed to find love to feel beautiful. She had a few relationships but they all ended. Her thinking because she wasen’t beautiful. Lucy went through her whole life thinking she was ugly and always worrying about what other people thought. Instead of trying to live a great life, she was always hidding and trying to be invisible. She ended up dying at a young age. Beauty isen’t everything. You don’t need to be beautiful on the outside, just on the inside.

Sean-
I deffinately agree that Lucy turned to a “lover” because she thought that it would make her happy. Make her feel complete or whole again. It feels good to know that theres someone who cares for you. Personally, when i feel that i’m not wanted, I do something to take my mind off it. A lot of the time I will play with my dog because i know that a pet can never judge you. They dont see the superficial side of thing. They love you no matter what.

The problem is that people do judge. Everyone does, weather we know it or not. Humans relate beauty with looks and apperence. Another thing I believe is that self confidence can be really important. If Lucy could come to accecpt her looks and have the confidence to talk to men and really get to know them before she believes she’s in love, then maybe she could find the guy that does make her whole. Someone who loves her for who she really is. I’d like to know if anyone else agrees with me…

In our society, image is more important than personality, which is the exact opposite of what should happen. Celebrities and professional athletes are given special treatment because of there outer appearance and their paychecks. But shouldn’t a person’s personality and actions count more than looks or money? Lucy’s parents fought over money all the time, instead of being grateful for Lucy being alive. Lucy was a beautiful person but because of her outer appearance they believed that they had to keep paying for operations. This is because of our society. Many people believe you cannot be accepted unless you are good looking.

While reading Autobiography of a Face, it is easy to see the flaws that we as a society have. Lucy was teased and tormented for something she had no control over: her face. Society today thinks that image is everything. Many people try to deny it, because we all know that it’s wrong to put that first; however, it is the truth. If you pick up any magazine, you are bound to find models with slim bodies, perfect skin, and beautiful faces. When society sees this, they think that is the way every person should look. They close their minds and judge anyone who is not, in their mind, beautiful. Lucy, with her partially removed jaw, was judged on her unusual and “ugly” appearance by society. Throughout her school years she made few friends because people judged her and decided to either stay away from her or tease her. This makes absolutely no sense because there wasn’t anything wrong with her; she simply looked different from the rest of society. I see this happen a lot in today’s society. Anyone who looks different is outcasted and made fun of. It is a sad but true flaw in society.

Lucy went through something quite unlike anything I have yet had to experience in my life, yet her thoughts and pains seem so relatable and familiar. The struggle to fit into society and to feel beautiful is a quest most of us endure. One often might think, am I beautiful? Consequently we try to pinpoint a definition of beauty; this is quite difficult to do, because beauty means different things to different people and it can be applied to anything from a sunset to Lucy Grealy’s story.

People get so caught up in satisfying societies warped idea of beauty. One might think that better hair or a perfect tan is what can make her beautiful. Through Lucy’s life experiences she learned that these things don’t define beauty. In the novel she shows us this revelation after she has had her final surgery on her face, “It was easy for me to ascribe to physical beauty certain qualities that I thought I simply had to wait for. It was easier to think that I was still not beautiful enough or lovable enough than to admit that perhaps these qualities did not really belong to this thing called beauty after all,” (221).
I believe, as many of you other bloggers have stated, that beauty comes from within. It’s the unique light we all hold that shines through different people in different ways- through genuine laughter or shear honesty or an empathetic smile that warms your heart.

Lucy Grealy was a beautiful person with or without the surgeries, and her novel lets her beauty shine out to all her readers with every fear or joy of hers that she surrenders to our hearts.

Lucy’s physical damage created even greater emotional damage. Lucy discovered that animals helped her manage her distress. However, she also let her depressed thoughts hold her back. Lucy’s mind was consumed of thoughts of why she looked ugly and what the reason for it was. She knew that her face wasn’t beautiful, and became obsessed with reasoning. Lucy thought that accepting her ugliness could erase the punishment of it. She saw that others hadn’t suffered as much as her, and was disgusted by how they dealt with their own tiny problems. Although Lucy coped by accepting her own suffering, she also used it as power. Lucy was taxed from the years of constant teasing, and she became very defensive. She felt that because she had experienced so much emotional pain, she was better than the others. She developed “desires and secret, evil hates” (181). Lucy dealt with her emotional scars in an unhealthy way; she let her suffering absorb her and sink her even deeper into pain.

One thing about Lucy’s story that intrigued me was Lucy’s desire to feel loved. Lucy wants someone to love her so badly because she thinks that if someone else is able to love her then maybe she can learn to love herself. She thinks she’ll feel less ugly if someone else could have the capacity to love someone like her.

I think most people in today’s society seek love or approval of others to some degree. The feeling that one is accepted or loved is a great feeling that often makes one feel better about his or herself. Every one of us is capable of finding problems with ourselves and when people can love or approve of us even when we can find problems with ourselves, it feels good. We often base our own thoughts about ourselves based on how other people respond to us. If a lot of people love or accept us, then we feel better about ourselves. This is exactly how Lucy feels. She wants the validation of feeling loved by someone to make her feel more confident in herself.

I agree with everything that Keith said. I think that it is more important of how we view ourselves than how others view us. By listening to what other people believe about us we in a sense allow them to decide how we view ourselves.

Kalyna- I agree that if Lucy would have been loved for who she was by someone else then she would have loved herself more. It’s easy to say that it is “society” that caused the problems for Lucy. Society is compromised of the individuals in it. Would lucy have been more loved in a different society or if she were surrounded by a different family? Of course the fads of modern society are at the bottom of the problem but it is important to remember that society is compromised of normal people.

On a different note, it is very ironic how Lucy feels so comfortable at the hospital. Most people will start freaking out if they hear that they need to go to the hospital for something. However, Lucy prefers the hospital more than her own home, “the sense of comfort continued in the following days and weeks. There were definite problems to face here, but to me they seemed entirely manageable: lie still when you’re told, be brave. It didn’t sesem like so much to ask really, considering what I got in return: attention, absence from school, occasional presents, and, though I wouldn’t have admitted it to anyone even if I could have articulated it, freedom from the tensions at home,” (38). It is strange that Lucy would rather be at the hospital getting treatment than being at home with her family and friends. Most kids that age would much rather spend time with their family than spend their time in a hospital getting painful medication and having procedures done constantly. But does Lucy’s comment mean that her home life was so terrible that she’d rather spend weeks at a hospital than go back home? It could go either way. Her life back home really could be terrible or Lucy was just feeling that way because of her age; she was very young and kids have a much different perspective on things than adults. Also, Lucy mentioned that she liked being at the hospital because it got her attention. This shows that for some reason, Lucy craved attention. Although kids like attention, they probably don’t want it so much that they are willing to spend time in a hospital to recieve it. In conclusion, Lucy’s strange comfort of being in a hospital either shows that she has a much different point of view than most people or that her current situations at home made her feel that way.

Kelsey I do agree with you, things could be a lot worse in life. After reading this book, I began to realize how blessed I truly am. Knowing that Lucy has had the courage to endure all of her hospital visits, really tells me a lot about who she really is. I can relate to Lucy when she had her first hospital visit. Through the first emergency visit, Lucy found a way to stay strong and courageous. My first hospital visit was at about the same age as Lucy. Breaking my arm was a scary thing, but the strength to get through it was still there. I couldn’t imagine going to school everyday being stared at constantly. This book really made me think about how good I really have it.

In response to Morgan-
I think that many women don’t necessarily need makeup but they think they do. Because they always use it, they’re used to it and feel naked or unprotected without it. People often don’t necessarily NEED an object to protect them but just because they’re used to it, they don’t want to let go. I agree with you about how Lucy had her hat to cover up what she looked like because she thought she was horribly ugly. But a hat can’t cover up the ‘ugliness’ of her face. It could only hide the fact that she had no hair. Lucy even wore the hat when she did have hair and the hat didn’t cover up her ‘disfigured’ face. Her hat was part of her identity. She couldn’t feel like herself without it. When she would wear her hat she would feel more comfortable than when she didn’t wear it because she had gotten so used to it. As Morgan said, “Grealy’s hat was like a security blanket.” So again, it is like when women wear makeup; not needed but the wearer feels like it is. Lucy kept wearing her hat even when she had hair and when she had nothing to cover up because if she stopped needing it, there would come a time when she would need it again. She would have to admit to herself that she had no hair, yet again. By always wearing it, she didn’t have to think about when she had hair and when she didn’t. The difference between women and makeup and Lucy and her hat is that to Lucy her hat was a prized possession and to women their makeup is just a thing they wear. Lucy’s hat was more important to her than a woman’s makeup is to her but in both cases it is worn to cover up something and develops into something the person cannot go without.

I think that beauty both depends on what is inside of a person and what is outside of a person. If a person is recognized as being ugly by society but is a very nice person, more people are going to like that person than a person who is just as ugly but who is NOT nice. Also, a person who is beautiful on the outside and who is nice is more likely to be accepted in society than a person who is beautiful on the outside but rude, or stupid, or unkind. There is not a clear cut line between being beautiful and not being beautiful. Many people have different theories on what beauty is and beauty all depends on what a person’s opinion of beauty is. Also, it’s not just being beautiful on the inside OR the outside. It is a combination of the both a lot of the time.
The fact is that beauty is not only skin deep but this is most of the time not recognized. People first notice what they see on the outside and that affects the impression they have on the person they see. But later on if he or she gets to actually know the person, the impression of the person could change. But even though people change their opinions about other people, they are still going to want to be friends with the ones who are beautiful on the outside. Humans work that way.
If you know a person and you love them or think they are a good person it is easier to see beauty in their face. If there is a person who you absolutely despise, it is really easy to see all the flaws in his or her face and think she or he is ugly. When i was reading Autobiography of a Face I pointed to the picture of Lucy Grealy on the back of the book and asked two different people at separate times, “Is this woman beautiful?” The first person replied, “Yes”. The second replied, “She’s different looking. She looks fine. I wouldn’t say she’s beautiful…” The first person knew about Lucy and knew she was an amazing person and could see that she really is beautiful. The second person couldn’t see Lucy’s beauty because she didn’t know anything about her at all and didn’t know that Lucy was really an amazing person. Beauty all depends on what the person is looking for. Is beauty only on the inside OR the outside? I think it is a combination.

“Out of nowhere came an intense feeling that he shouldn’t be looking at me, that I was too horrible to look at, that I wasn’t worthy of being looked at, that my ugliness was equal to a great personal failure” (185). Lucy thought that she was ugly because of something she did; it was her fault. She didn’t think that people should have to look at her because she was so repulsive. The affect that her ugliness was having on her wasn’t just that she didn’t look beautiful; it affected how she thought about herself. It took over everything. She couldn’t do anything without thinking that she was ugly. Also, she didn’t think that she was just ugly by chance. As said in the quote above, she thought that it was her failure that she was ugly. She felt that she had done something wrong in her life and was being punished for it.

Another thing that I found interesting about the story Lucy told in Autobiography of a Face was that Lucy barely ever talked about being diagnosed with cancer. In fact, the word cancer is not even mentioned very many times in the book. It seems like Lucy felt that it really wasn’t the fact that she had cancer that made her life so hard, but it was the fact that she was ugly that did. Her battle in the story was not really against cancer but against dealing with her ugliness. Some of the most painful things Lucy went through were not physical problems that came as a result of the cancer but emotional pains that she had to deal with. Of course, the things like chemotherapy were painful but I think that the events in the book that really made me feel Lucy’s pain were emotional traumas she experienced. This is why I think that Lucy did not consider having cancer as much of a challenge as dealing with being different and being “ugly”.

In response to Keeta:
Lucy didn’t only go to the hospital to have attention. She got attention at home and at school because of the way she looked. She liked the specific kind of attention that she got at the hospital. People didn’t stare at her and think she was a freak. At the hospital she could feel more normal. At home and at school people would think that she looked ugly and in her mind when she was at the hospital the way she looked was what earned her respect. This isn’t the way it was outside of the hospital. You’re right; Lucy did crave attention and it seemed like nothing to her to get it at a hospital. It wasn’t hard for her at all. She was very used to hospitals; she went to them all the time. When Lucy was at home she would have to deal with the money issues and how much her family was giving up so that they could treat her. Anyone would feel this way. It is hard to go through money issues and she felt that it was totally her fault and that would make anyone feel horrible and not want to deal with it. When she was at the hospital all she had to deal with was medical things. It was only physical. It wasn’t the mental stress she would be in at home and compared with what she would have to go through mentally at home, the physical things like medicine and surgery seemed easy. When Lucy was in the hospital she didn’t have to hide herself. She didn’t have to hide her face. She loved how she felt when she didn’t need to hide her face and this is why she could be so happy at the hospital. She felt free and all she had to do was sit around and act brave and she would get a lot of attention. It was positive attention so she loved it.

In my opinion, Lucy looked to others in order to cope with the numerous problems she faced throughout her life. Now everyone wishes to be the center of attention but she believed that as long as there was always someone there for her, she would be fine. So she strived to be with people (outside her family). It became like a drug you get hooked on. So she worked hard to be with people from the multiple procedures on her face to the way she dressed. But in doing all this, she kept putting herself down because she kept getting her hopes up for nothing. Then finally she learned that she had to accept herself for who she was and not what she wasn’t. That is why love and acceptance was huge to Lucy.

Throughout Grealy’s diagnosis and treatment of cancer, she is able to remain positive, unlike many other cancer patients. This aspect of her experience with cancer is admirable, even if it is due to her lack of knowledge about the often-fatal results of cancer. She does this in two different ways. Firstly, she deflects any serious conversation about her illness, saying, “This was the second time an adult had tried to approach me directly and seriously about my situation, and it was the second time I had turned it around, refused to tackle it,” (63). Here she sounds ashamed of her inability to seriously face her predicament. However, how can one expect a nine-year-old girl to face an extreme illness such as cancer head-on? Secondly, her lack of experiences in life allowed her to believe that death could be on her doorstep, saying, “Despite my knowing that people died, it never occurred to me that I might personally be implicated,” (67). Many people have trouble seeing themselves as the “other guy”, and it usually results negatively. In Grealy’s case however, this ability to block out the possibility of death kept her positive throughout her diagnosis and treatments. Seeing her illness only through a child’s perspective kept Grealy positive, and ultimately allowed her to persevere through her cancer.

One thing I found to be very sad, but easy to relate to in Grealy’s Autobiography of a Face was the way Lucy felt defeated, as well as a disappointment to her mother when she cried during or before chemotherapy. Her mother gave Lucy the impression that crying made one weak. It showed fear. I found it sad that Lucy tried so desperately not to cry, to prove herself to her mother, but continued to fail. I think Mrs. Grealy was trying to help her daughter be strong, but because of her own fear, she didn’t know the right way to handle it. On pages 78-79 Lucy states: “My mother didn’t know how to conquer what I was afraid of, nor could she even begin to tell me how to do it for myself. Instead, out of her own fear, she offered her own philosophy, which meant in this instance that I should conquer the fear by not crying.” Reading this, I understand Mrs. Grealy’s good intentions, but I feel Lucy’s pain when she feels like a disappointment. I know I can relate to the feeling of not living up to what someone expects of me. Many people have felt like this and it’s not a fun feeling to have. In my opinion, a better way for Mrs. Grealy to help her daughter get through chemo would have been for her to say that it was ok to cry, because it may be hard now, but everything will be alright in the end. Maybe then that would allow Lucy to cry and be comfortable about it, while still feeling that sense of hope that reminds her why she’s fighting. A little bit of hope can go a long way, and maybe if Lucy’s mother would’ve shown some at this point, Lucy wouldn’t have had such a hard time not crying. It’s like when someone tells you not to think about something. Whats the first thing that pops into your head? Usually the exact thing you were told not to think about. Maybe if Lucy didn’t have such a mindset that crying was a sign of weakness, she would’ve been able to get through a session without doing it. I don’t blame Mrs. Grealy though. I think her intentions were good, but her fear changed the way she was thinking. She thought it would be less scary if her daughter, as well as herself, could get through it without showing any physical signs of fear or pain. In a situation this serious; however, that was an unrealistic expectation.

A part that interested me in Grealy’s Autobiography of a face was when Lucy was bald from her chemotherapy, and was taken to try on wigs. What I expected was for her to want a wig, to look more healthy than she really was and to want to have hair back, even if it wasn’t hers. But this wasn’t the case at all. Lucy was disgusted by the wigs and considered them awful looking. She couldn’t understand why her mother and the man with the wigs liked the looks of them. On page 109 Lucy said: “Looking at myself in these wigs, with their dull, however human, hair, horrified me, and each time the man commented on “how natural” it looked I could only see him, and eventually myself, as that much more alien.” Lucy looked in the mirror and saw something different than what others saw, and when it came to the wigs all she could think was that they weren’t really her. She was also very surprised when her mom offered to buy her one, since Lucy thought the wigs looked so bad. I think this was a turning point in Lucy’s childhood because it kind of forced her out of some denial and into reality. When she realized that the wigs she considered hideous were making her look better to the people around her, she figured out that she wasn’t very self aware as to how she truly looked. When she went home and really looked closely at herself I think she finally got a grasp on how different she was from most people and how much her face really did change her appearance. I think, although it was hard for Lucy, this was good for her because being in denial is an easy way to get something you don’t expect, and then to get hurt.

In one part of the book after lucy has her hair finally all the way but off by her mom she starts to wear a little hat. And she becomes very attached to that hat because it hides part of her identity. She tells about how she saw a mans hat fly off his head and she screams because her hat is her protection from even more people making fun of her because she has no hair. I think its interesting because i feel like many of us do that as well.
We find something that we can hold on to that will hide a part of us from the outside world. Its not always a bad thing but it has made me wonder why do we always want to hide part of us?
I

One thing I found really interesting about Grealy’s life was how she always felt the best, and safe in the hospital. From when her story started when she was nine, till after college in Berlin/Scotland she always made friends there and let her own personality shine through. This was probably because she didn’t care how others thought of her because she felt at home there; and others were in similar situations. Grealy spent a lot of time in the hospital and or at doctor’s appointments. It’s very interesting that even though the hospital and everything almost always led to disappointment, emotional or physical pain through out her story she usually wanted to be back in the hospital hearing the unusual sounds of bustling and footsteps. For Grealy the hospital wasn’t just a place it was her palace!

Meredith-
I actually also highlighted that passage from 91. I also agree with you that Lucy felt grateful even though she did have a really hard life. Through cancer, chemo therapy, operations, people making fun of her, watching her parents fight, and many other things that not a lot of us have to go through, she still saw that she had more than some people. When she met Michael at the hospital who was the boy that was paralyzed, she saw that she could still walk and if she wasn’t in good health at the time from an operation, she knew that eventually she would get better again. Because of this, I became a lot more aware of the things I have and take for granted.

As much as society tells us differently, I believe that true beauty comes from the inside. Outward appearances shouldn’t really matter. While they may be a part of who we are and what others see, outward appearances shouldn’t be what you judge a person on alone. A person should be judged on compassion, kindness, and overall personalty. However, as we have found out through Lucy’s experiences, we are rarely judged on that. It is sad that after beating cancer and dealing with a rough home life, Lucy still went through all she did. It seems very unfair that after all her battles, people would simply judge her by her face and decide how to treat her going on that. It is also very ironic because many of these people have never had to face battles as tough as Lucy’s, yet they still feel they have the upper hand over her.

I can see why Lucy turned to animals for comfort and companionship. Nearly every human she ran into would judge her and in some way hurt her. With animals, she could be herself, not hiding anything, and be loved for it. I also find it interesting how Lucy kept plastic animals in the backyard that she imagined lived on even when she wasn’t out there with them. I think she did this because she wasn’t really living her life to the fullest and she wanted to be part of a world that was. She wished she could be with them all the time, just living out life as she thought it should be lived. I feel that the animals were her version of a perfect world that she could escape to. They didn’t care about her face; she was just one in the crowd, the way she wished she could be.

Lucy’s experiences really make you take a good long look at your own life. What we take for granted everyday, Lucy strived to have. She simply wanted to fit in with the crowd. She also wanted people to love her. To try and achieve this, she went out with many men. Most people don’t have to try that hard to be loved. We simply are and take it for granted. This book has really made me realize how lucky I am. It also has opened my eyes to how much I take my blessings for granted.

I noticed that many of the definititions of the word “image” in the dictionary utilized the word impression in the definition. I totally agree with that word when describing image. Your image is a major component of the impression you leave on others. A first impression is the most important factor in meeting someone new. Image can greatly effect the persona you give that person of who you are, even if you’re not. Image is especially crucial when you are meeting someone new, becasue that first impression will probably be one of the first thoughts they have when speaking to you or talking to someone else.

In today’s media, image is everything. People are taught, by the media, that beauty is the most important thing. All the celebrities have that image that is considered beautiful. People think that if they don’t have this type of beauty they are nothing. This is wrong because people should be judged by what is in the inside, not by his or her appearance. If this was followed, Lucy would have been accepted by more of her peers.

Lucy Grealy is, like all of us, beautiful in some ways and not-so-beautiful in others. Even though she focuses on the beauty of her face, that part of her is not as important to this blog as other character traits. Her face can merely be viewed as an allegory and an outside factor in regard to her beauty, as it is what causes her to develope her characteristics the way she does. As an allegory her face represnts the inward struggle Ms. Grealy goes through: the “ugliness” (though I do not consider it such) represents her struggles with selfconfidence and bitterness, etc. that she goes through, and the surgeries and times after them, when it looks better, represent her hopes for normalcy and her determination to not give up to either selfpity or phisical ailments. As an outside force her face is, naturaly and explicitly, the reason she becomes who she does. Ms. Grealy has good, beatiful, qualities, such as her humor, and bad, ugly ones, such as her selfishness as well. She also has hurts, like being stared at, and joys, like poetry. Admirable and pityable, she is just another person; but the nature of humans being what it is, this makes her or her story no less unique, special, or important to the One who created her.

I believe there is a Creator because if not then no person would be worth anything outside of the subjective views of that person’s peers and other people: one’s value would depend totaly upon what others think of oneself and would then change constantly. I know that this is not true; even if the whole world thought nothing of us, we would still be worth something to Him.

Tyler

I agree with what you say about Lucy. She is an inspiration. Her perseverance through cancer and the graphs is truly amazing. She is a role model for people because she never gave up. Good points Tyler.

Beauty is something different to everyone. To a bug collector a certain bug might be beautiful to them but just a bug to someone else. What makes a beautiful person is when a person is theirself. People who have no personality and just copy what Paris Hilton does are just mindless people who aren’t beautiful.

Kim–
I also found the fact of Grealy loving to be in the hospital very interesting and different. When you think about spending time in the hospital, or going even for the simplest checkup brings a scare to most, Grealy found it comforting. Although she usually got bad news when at the hospital, as you mentioned, I thought it was amazing for her to feel “at home” in a place filled with suffering people. Since she spent so much time in the hospital, she saw others that surrounded her in worse condition than her, and became a stronger person from those experiences. I feel that she realized although she was in a tough situation, she was better off than some. As a resullt, Grealy became a strong person that saw life through a different ray of sunshine than everyone else.

Rachel S makes a good point about Lucy Grealy’s mom and the situation where they were at the chemotherapy and Mrs. Grealy told Lucy not to cry. I agree with you that Mrs. Grealy was wrong, perhaps, to tell Lucy not to cry, but that it is understandable why she did so. This shows that she is human, and like the rest of us, prone to fear and mistakes. This passage also shows some good characterization of the play between mother and daughter. Lucy realy wants her mother’s approval, but her mom doesn’t give it, for whatever reason, or doesn’t give it in a way that Lucy can understand.

When reading Autobiography of a Face, I found a small detail very ironic in Lucy’s life. She simply didn’t want a wig to cover up her hair loss from the chemotherapy. Throughout the beginning of the book, she always claimed that it didn’t bother her when she was teased or looked at by those around her because of her condition, but she always quietly seemed to “run away” or escape the laughter and pointing.Whether than covering herself up with a wig, like most people really want, Lucy didn’t ever wear one, let alone even want to.

Since your image is what is known in Junior high and high school, I found it very ironic that Lucy didn’t want to wear a wig since she lost all her hair due to chemotherapy. I know if I was in her situation i would immediately wear one to save the trouble of being made fun of. She taught me that in order to be true to yourself you must not let others get to you. What people say about you, or think about you shouldn’t matter, as long as your happy with the choices you made for yourself.

Sara Goodnight—

I agree with your definition of beauty. Beauty can be interpreted in different ways to different people. To some people, beauty may be defined as a person’s character and personality. To others, a person is beautiful based on physical appearance. An artist may claim that a piece of trash is beautiful while other people think it isn’t. Also, like you said, “To a bug collector a certain bug might be beautiful to them but just a bug to someone else.”

As I finished reading Autobiography of a Face, I notice that I would want to be more like Lucy. She inspired me accept the things I have in life and not to complain about the little things. Lucy had a very hard life beginning as a nine year old, and mine does not even come close to hers. Because of that, she taught me to be proud of the things that have, like a good health and not having cancer. I also learned to be proud of the goals that I accomplish. Lucy was a very strong person, and I would want to be as strong as her.

As I read Lucy Grealy’s book, a certain passage caught my eye. Lucy speaks of how comfortable she feels at Halloween and in the winter because her scarves and costumes hide her face. She feels confident and contented with her appearance, and above all, she truly believes that she fits in. Lucy is, in some ways, desperate to be loved, although she never completely admits it. Beauty is very important to her and only when her “ugliness” is concealed does she feel safe enough to be outgoing and friendly. This shows just how important appearance has become, and how people act completely different when their flaws are veiled. Although people often say that looks shouldn’t matter, Lucy is proof that everyone, even “ugly” people, believe that appearance is very significant and judge others according to what’s on the outside. In reality, a person’s life usually revolves around beauty, such as Lucy’s life was centered around her scars and “ugliness”.

I agree with Danielle. Lucy does teach us to accept what we have and be happy with that. My life has not been that hard. Yes, i have complained and grumbled about things that go on in life, but nothing compares to what she had to deal with. Just becuase she looked a little different than everyone else, she was judged for it. Many people didn’t take the time to get to know Lucy. Becuase no one would take that time, Lucy turned to animals. The horses, for example, accept her for who she is. Animals don’t care about outward appearance. If you love and take care of them, they will take you for who you are and love you for it.

What is fear? It can be determined in so many ways. Should you show it, or hide it ? If you show it does it mean your weak?

Lucy’s mother told her every time she felt some sort of pain, or was scared of what may come next not to cry no matter what. Isn’t it only human to show emotion , rather than keep it bottled up, and fake the real fear inside you that you want to let out. I feel that Lucy’s mother was denying the fact that Lucy was in a serious condition and told her not to cry because she couldn’t bare to see her daughter suffer. Lucy wouldn’t let herself cry because she felt that if she did she wasn’t being strong, and was letting not only her mother, but herself down.

Kevin-

I agree with you completely. It is sad that Lucy slowly gives up. Lucy never called herself ugly until the boys in middle school laugh at her and made fun of her. Once she started to call herself “ugly”, she never thought she could be beautiful again. She thought the skin graft was not needed, and that it was only making her look more “ugly”. Lucy learned to accept the face she had, but she only wanted it to look different. There was an image in her head of what she wanted her face to look like, but that image never appeared. She finally learned how to hide her face and how to hide the way she felt about it.

Lucy’s face was her personal vanishing point. In the prologue she explained how she was trapped by her face, “I was my face, I was ugliness” (7). Her face was what was wrong in her life, and she felt that acknowledging it allowed her to escape further pain. Further into the book, the events prove how and why Lucy was living her life contained in and guided by her imperfections. Lucy interpreted most of what happened in her life, as being linked to her face. The feelings of fear, happiness and anger came from how she felt about herself or others. She could be fearful of the chemotherapy, the teasing, or her own reaction to her face after surgeries. She could be happy when she felt accepted, and removed the walls of pain from around her. Lucy felt anger out of jealousy, and her own reactions and hopes for her face. Lucy’s face set her level of self confidence very low, which lead her to believe her flawed face meant that she was ugly, and only that.

Ann Marie -
I agree with your thoughts on the fact that Lucy refused to wear a wig. It intrigued me to know that even though she had no hair and was ashamed of it, she wouldn’t under any circumstances agree to wearing fake hair. This shows how differently Lucy reacts to her problems when compared to most of society. Lucy is embarrassed by her lack of hair, yet she rejects each and every wig that is offered to her. Most people, however, would jump at the opportunity to cover up anything that gives others something to make fun of. Therefore, to me, Lucy is somewhat of an idol because she refuses to wear fake hair. She shows how even the biggest of flaws can be dealt with, and that things like plastic surgery are not exactly necessary.

I really love this book because it’s so real. A lot of people can relate. Everyone wants to fit in and be accepted. Some people know what it’s like to go through a lot of pain like Lucy did. The book also shows those of us who don’t know that pain, what it’s like. This book can really open your eyes and make you appreciate what you have.

Kim and Annmarie-

I agree with the both of you. The hospital was Lucy’s safe harbor. There, the people didn’t judge her by what she looked like. They got to know her and liked her because of what was on the inside. Also, the hospital was her safe place because she could get away from her stressful home life. She had friends there and she felt very much at home while there.

The familiar sounds, people, and faces, brought a smile to her face. Yes, the hospital also brought along bad news, as both of you mentioned, but it also brought along the people that are really and truly there for her. She learned to be brave and to stick with it when things get tough. She witnessed other people who were suffering far more than she was. Lucy saw them get through it and knew they were worse off than she was. She knew she could do it becuase of the people at that hospital. So, yes, I agree with both of you, despite everything, the hospital was Lucy’s safe harbor.

At the beginning of Autobiography of a Face, I started to feel more and more sad for Lucy. Lucy had to face many difficult situations, such as facing her friends day after day. Though, as the book went on and i began to really think, I realized that Lucy is a survivor. Lucy had many qualities that we should all strive for. For example, Lucy is a leader. She is a leader because of her strength to fight through cancer and still set great examples to others. Lucy has taught me to be strong no matter what the situation is. This book has inspired me in many ways.

Alaina V,

I completely agree with your statement because it is true that some people can relate to this kind of pain and agony. But, some people have a harder time understanding how and what exactly Lucy felt during her years with and after cancer.Lucy made sure that people were able to some how visualize what others have gone through in their lives and how lucky some of us are to have things that others have to live without.

In most school related books i was never able to find something that i could understand or even be interested in. However, in Autobiography of a face I was able to connect and understand what Lucy was saying about beauty, life, and being able to appreciate what you have. I personally feel that beauty is not based on how one looks, but how a person can speak about anything and be beautiful on the inside. Life is to be liven to the fullest and to be taken seriously, but also with joy so as to never miss out on any opportunity. And as for appreciation, i believe that everyone should love and be happy for who he or she is.

One thing i noticed while reading Lucy’s autobiography is that she associates happiness with a “normal face”. When she is going through chemotherapy she believes that she will cease to be ugly later in her life when her hair grows back. It was sad to see Lucy slowly give up hope and become depresssed as she accepts her state. I wondered if Lucy would be happy if she learned that beauty is not the key to happiness or a fufilling life. How would she have figured that out if she never led a normal life (especially in her childhood) and discovered that beauty is not essential? That is the true tradgedy of Lucy’s life; she was not able to do the normal things and have the expiriences necessary to find out what brings her happiness.

I’ve noticed that as Lucy becomes sick and has surgeries, she seems to start to notice the little beauties of life.
“I sat up, listening for the sounds of my mother’s footsteps, the clicking of the dog’s nails on the tiled floor. A tree obscured my window, shattering the light into patches on the dirty glass. I didn’t understand how I could have overlooked the sheer joy of these things for so long, how the intricate message of their simplicity had escaped me until just this moment” (80).
Why is it so hard for fortunate people to see these little beauties in life? Why does it have to take a terrifying life-threatening experience to hit a person to finally have him/her realize how much joy has been overlooked in his/her life? Why do the fortunate people tend to be greedy and the unfortunate people tend to be satisfyed with the little they have? Its funny how the people who are well fed, have safe shelter, and have good health seem to forget about all of the gifts they have been given, and care more about all of the things they have not gotten yet, but on the other hand, people who are in life-threatening situations with poor health appreciate the little bit they have been given and are satisfyed with that.

On page 67, Lucy stumbles across the word “death”. Lucy believes what every child believes, that nothing will ever happen to them, it will always happen to someone else. Just the other day I had my sports physical and the doctor asked me some questions about my lifestyle. One of the questions I was asked was whether or not I wore a helmet when I road my bike. I replied no, and the doctor made a remark that made me realize a connection I had with the book. The doctor said that if I break my leg, it can be fixed. If I break my arm, that can be fixed as well. However, if I break my head, that cannot be fixed. Even though that made me realize I could get hurt very badly on my bike, I am still not going to wear a helmet. Lucy and I both feel like the bad things are always going to happen to the next kid in line, and that nothing bad could possibly ever happen to her and me.

Throughout Lucy’s childhood after cancer she was constantly picked on and pointed out by people. This continued act of bullying made Lucy feel that she was just too ugly to be liked. The real problem had nothing to do with Lucy. The actual issue was that the people judged Lucy by how she looked and never really got to know who she was as a person, therefore leaving Lucy to believe that she could never be loved and happy because of her ugliness. I personally feel that if i was ever face to face with someone that didnt’ look “normal” that I would treat that person as I treat all other human beings.

I agree with what Jenna wrote on July 22nd. Lucy was very harsh on herself with her self-imposed “No Crying” rule. As I explained in my first post, crying is a way for many people to express themselves and rid themselves of built up fears and emotions. However, when Jenna writes about how people can be annoying and irritating when the get over dramatic, this opens up a whole other discussion. Lucy chose not to show much emotion throughout her treatment. However, when someone is going through as painful and difficult situation as Lucy, there should be no limit to the amount of emotion one can show. Lucy had a life-threatening condition. No amount of crying and complaining could have been considered annoying in my eyes. You only get one life, and Lucy’s could have been swept away in an instant.

From the first few minutes of reading The Autobiography of a Face, I was fascinated with Grealy’s writing style. I have such an appreciation for phrases that just roll off the tongue so easily and that never ceased during this novel. Just as an example, “We were invariably late for the birthday party, a result of loading the ponies at the last minute, combined with our truly remarkable propensity for getting lost.” I don’t know why but that sentence made me stop and read it again just because of how well it just flowed. I’m a geek sometimes I guess.
One thing that I was really touched by in this novel was that Grealy always had a way to look at things and analyze her disfigurement in a different way. She always stayed real to the situation. “I was my face, I was, ugliness- though sometimes unbearable, also offered a possible point of escape.” It seemed as though no matter what, she always just kept going. Instead of hiding from herself, she faced it head on.

This novel also gave a very clear view on how child hood experiences, even the small ones, can effect your for a life time. After Lucy asked her sister if people die, she responded by singing, “The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, in your stomach and out your mouth.” Grealy then wrote, “Part of the job of being human is to consistently underestimate our effect on other people, and for the specific job of being a 12 year old with a younger sister, cruelty is de rigueur.” Later on she wrote, “If the word death was even mentioned in my presence, I would collapse.” This among many other examples in the novel give a very complete picture on how childhood experiences, no matter how small or innocent can change your attitude for the rest of your life.

This book has inspired me to live life and not waste any time picking on people that may be a little different than me, but to gain friends that may have similar interests as me. Lucy Grealy spent most of her time being judged by others, but as she grew so did her peers which inabled them to see her for the true person she was. Lucy was a beautiful woman and an hero to all those who have been given the honor to read what she has written.

Something that really surprised me in this book is how Lucy reacted after her dad died. At first she was sad, but moved on very quickly to dealing with other problems she had to face. At first I thought this was very strange because if I had lost my dad or someone that close to me I would’ve reacted a lot differently and not have been able to move on as quickly. She even said she didn’t cry until a year after when something reminded her of him and she realized he wasn’t ever coming back. After I thought about it, it made more sense about the way she reacted. She had so many other problems from the cancer, being called names and many other things she had to deal with that this event didn’t change much because she still had so many other challenges to face. I also saw that when her first horse died, her best friend that she could tell everything to, she reacted how I would’ve expected when her dad passed away. Animals were the only ones she thought understood her and that was why she reacted so differently.

I find it inspiring how Lucy makes such a connection with her poetry. With the way that Lucy can write is what makes her truly beautiful. Everybody has their different strengths and only when they can use it to their advantage can they accept themselves. Lucy knows that she has been given the gift a literature and yet doesn’t realize that it doesn’t matter how she looks on the outside, but how she uses her strengths to make up for her downfalls untill she is much older. Lucy’s life is also very ironic. When she was younger everyone made fun of her and stared at her without bothering to ask what had happend. After her book was published, and people knew her story, many looked up to her and even saw her as somewhat of a hero. Lucy Grealy had a very inspiring story to tell and should be proud to know that so many people admire her and share the sorrow of her life.

I agree with Kim’s post because the hospital was a safe haven for Lucy during her hardship and struggle with cancer. No one would judge Lucy for her appearance because many other people were in the same situation. Lucy spent a majority of her days in the hospital and at doctor’s appointments and was very comfortable with the medical staff and the other patients. She felt very safe in there environments because no one would judge her or make fun of her. It is very sad that a young girl would feel more comfortable in a medical environment rather than in school or being with friends.

Something that really surprised me about Grealy’s story was how much she really changes her appearances throughout her life. She started before she had cancer and the operation with being a tom boy and really liking herself the way she is. Next to feeling ashamed and hiding her personality. Then not to care at all and wearing things from off the streets. After all that, she then changes again to have high sex appeal and then calms down even after that. These were very different stages in her life and had a lot to do with her feeling comfortable within herself. The most interesting part to me was when she decided that since she had no control over how her face looked she could control her body. That she worked out every day and became what she called as sexy. This is interesting because at the very beginning of the book she really liked being a tom boy. And the transition from not caring at all about her looks to making a big portion of her life about them was amazing. In Grealy’s mind looks are what makes a person and her changing her appearances in so many ways made her a fascinating person. Without changing like she did her life could have been totally different. For example if she would have really cared about her looks in high school would she had have been teased more or less? And would that have changed her attitude about her situation? Grealy’s appearances really influence her life in many ways!

Lucy Grealy showed me a whole new meaning of the word “fear” through this recollection of her childhood. Although Lucy became terrified of the idea of death, she boldly faced her operations with only a slight sense of apprehension for the first injection. She believed that if she didn’t cry, her mother would be proud of her. Lucy’s mother could have had many reasons as to why she told her daughter not to cry, but I think what she had in mind was that if there were no tears to show Lucy’s fear, then the fear itself, including awaiting operations and such, could be ignored. Lucy’s sense of fear was distorted because of this and when most people would be absolutely terrified, Lucy was calm and actually quite comfortable as she laid in a hospital bed, unknowingly fighting for her life.

Keith, I agree with your post. A person’s personality should be more important then his or her appearance. Instead of looking at outer beauty, people should look at what is in the inside. Inner beauty is the thing that really counts.

Looks don’t matter; it’s who you are on the inside that counts.

People do like to preach that, but it’s not often that it’s genuinely, sincerely believed. No matter what anyone says, it’s the nature of human beings to judge quickly and superficially, forming first opinions based on whether something is aesthetically pleasing or not.

Looks do matter, as does who you are on the inside, but people notice what’s on the outside first. Most would be more willing to get to know a “pretty” person than a “plain-looking” one.

I thought the observation made by May about Wimbledon was very much true. The play of Rafeal Nadal and Roger Federer are both very elegant even though they differ so much. I think that is a great example of beauty that isn’t neccesarily related to appearance. However, as a competitive tennis player, I know people that are very knowledgeable and talented at tennis and simpily depise Rafeal Nadal’s style. They say it isn’t “beautiful” like Roger Federer, all he does is run around and bash the ball. Even though I completly disagree with that point of view. However, I can understand their ideology as well. Beauty is certainly something that can depend on the eye of the beholder.

What is your definition of BEAUTY?

As is commonly quoted throughout these posts, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Depending on each individual, beauty can mean several complicated things, or maybe something simple and straightforward. It all depends on what your own interests and passions are, although sometimes many people may share a common opinion of something beautiful – a celebrity, popular song, a sunset over water.

Things don’t usually have to be analyzed before deciding whether they’re beautiful or not. People have an innate sense of beauty that they use nearly every conscious minute of the day. There doesn’t have to be a reason for something to be beautiful; it just is, and you can tell.

Lucy focuses on her outer beauty while her inner beauty does not shine through. I feel that throughout the book Lucy ignores her emotions and only feels bad for her outer appearance. Lucy makes a goal of not crying when she is in Dr. Woolf’s office. She also can not look her mother in the eyes and when her father took her to chemo she would not speak to him. I do not understand why she could not confide with her family about her condition. After every chemo Lucy would just return to her room and want to be left alone. I also do not understand why she does not have a better relationship with her sister (since they are twins). Additionally, when her father would visit her in the hospital she would pretend to be asleep. Why does she do this? Her family is showing their support and love to her and all she can do is feel sorry and ashamed of her face. I do feel sorry for Lucy but I found it appalling that her family did not mean a lot to her during those hard times. Lucy could of showed she was happy her parents came in to visit her after work, instead she dreaded seeing them and the awkward moments when they would visit. Another thing I found odd was that when her chemo was over she felt empty, instead of feeling ecstatic. Lucy spent most of her time thinking about how others thought she was ugly. Lucy needed to realize that not everyone is perfect on the outside and everyone has their flaws.

Andrea S I agree with you one hundred percent that Lucy’s “safe haven” was the hospital. Every time Lucy would leave the “real world” and enter the hospital, she felt unbelievably more comfortable. Since no one would judge her on her appearance, the hospital became her favorite place. When Lucy hears that she will not spend the months in between her face surgeries she freaks out. She knows that people will make fun of her and that if she was staying in the hospital, there would be plenty of people like her. Lucy even feels special while in the hospital because she receives the utmost respect from other kid patients because she has had many surgeries and has spent many nights there. The hospital world and the way Lucy is treated is incredibly different than the real world.

“Autobiography of a Face” is a book that contains lessons about fear, the fragility of life and most of all what it means to be happy. There is a difference between happy and happiness. Lucy thought that if she wasn’t mocked for her differences then she would be happy; however she never truly discovered happiness. The story of Lucy is sad because she is naturally such a strong and courageous person and yet she is slowly broken down and depressed throughout the story. What i will take away from this story is that i should not take other people’s opinions into such high regard. What truly matters is what one thinks about themself. Lucy’s story is very sad because it shows human flaw but it is also inspiring and revealing. If Lucy never had cancer i wouldn’t be writing this or thinking about how cancer victims feel. It is good to know that all her pain was not in vain.

What suprised me was that Lucy’s was more frustrated with her personal appearance than the fact she had cancer. Her weakest points were emotional struggles she had with how society saw her. The fact she had cancer was irrelevant to her, the word cancer is actually used very little in the story. Lucy having low confindence did not help her at all handeling the situation. With that, the main struggle is Lucy suffering emotionally over her physical appearance. Not her fight with cancer.

Another thing that interests me is that when Lucy gets to college she does not care what she looks like. She goes from hiding her face in a Halloween mask (in high school), to wearing clothes off the street(in college). I believe she does not care as much because she goes to a college with very artsy people would don’t judge her or make fun of her. I believe if Lucy went to a regular college with a mix of people, she would of had a lot rougher time. Later, Lucy decides that if she dresses sexy she can get someone to love her. Unfortunately, these relationships go no where and have her feeling worse than she did before because she believed the break up was caused by her face. Lucy’s outlook on her appearance change greatly in college.

I agree with you Ryan. When Lucy was asked by her friend if she was dying, she felt that that was the weirdest thing to ask her. She wondered why her friend thought that. A family friend(?) whose wife had also died from the same type of cancer that Lucy had, felt very sorry for her and told her all about chemo and its horror. She felt that his comments were odd. Lastly, Lucy did not even know what she had was CANCER. Sitting at the dinner table, her family said the word and she had no clue that it related to her. Lucy only cared about her face, not her medical condition.

Lucy’s connection with animals intrigues me. Since the animals can not judge Lucy, she forms an automatic bond with them. Lucy’s love for her horses seems bigger than her love for her family. Also, the one thing that did make Lucy feel better was when she saw the animals under the hospital. She enjoyed seeing these animals more than she liked seeing her father come visit her. Lucy seems to think that her life “sucks” when her horses died because they were her only true friends who think nothing of her face.

I do think that society has brainwashed the masses slightly in the way that we all have relatively the same ideas about what is conventionally beautiful about a person: symmetrical, proportional facial features; slender figures; glossy hair, etc., etc. What if we had been raised thinking that big noses are a plus, and that blonde hair is hideous and repulsive? Our perspectives would all be vastly different, as would our perceptions of the difference between ugly and beautiful.

In Autobiography of a Face we get a look into the life of someone who has it worse off than we do. They are not so different from us. Lucy still struggles with the insecurities we all do. She wants to find true love, and worries she will never find it. She blames everything on some fault, which just so happens to be her face. How often do we look at ourselves and see only the faults? How often do we say if something was different things would be better?

Throughout her short life, Lucy Grealy discovered that the definition of beauty is deeper than in a face. She realized a face can change, especially when she comments on her teenage girl classmates’ painted faces (151). Beauty, to her and myself, is intertwined with love. Her relationship with Swinger allowed her to laugh, scream, and enjoy life, without the insults. The strong bond was beautiful because Lucy was truly overjoyed with him. There wasn’t a worry in the world. Nothing else could give her that fulfillment, and since it is so unique, it is the most beautiful thing she could have.

I believe that we all should consider what it is we call beautiful. Isn’t a happy marriage beautiful? Isn’t helping out at a charity event beautiful? The beauty comes from the commitment, love, and dignity that people have when interacting with one another, and the people witnessing this are proud, and “pleased”. We don’t have to be pleased just by looks.

Lucy Grealy is surprisingly easy to relate to. First with her sense of security when people sympathize her, and second for her devotion to animals.

On page 136, Lucy writes “I was afraid of it ending, of everything changing. I wouldn’t be special anymore; no one would love me. Without the arena of chemotherapy in which to prove myself, how would anyone know I was worthy of love?” I have always felt the same way, but obviously haven’t had this level of devastation. When I was eight to about eleven years old, I would lay on the couch, pretending to be dead, in hopes of Hercules retrieving my soul, and bringing me back to life. Yes, it is cheesy, but I had a vivid imagination. Even though Lucy and I had different situations, I wanted comfort and love when in a sense of defeat the same way that she did. Sometimes I feel that an injury would cause my friends and family to pay attention to me more so than normally. Not that I inflict pain on myself for this attention, but it would be nice to have that appreciation and love all the time.

Lucy’s attachment to Swinger is in some ways equivalent to my attachment to dogs. Lucy writes that, “I was conducting nothing less than a romantic relationship [with Swinger].” I love my dogs, and would put my own life on the line to save them, but I am their sister, so there is a slight difference. I have more love in my life than she did, from the impression I absorbed from the book. The one compliment that Lucy wrote that her mother gave was when Lucy held back her tears during chemotherapy. Not letting her own daughter cry so she could imagine nothing was wrong is selfish on her part. Obviously I only have that impression of her, but from that, I can see why Lucy threw a huge chuck of her love towards Swinger. She didn’t feel as confident with herself with people as she did with the horse. I feel confidence when around my dogs, and talk to them as if they were my therapists. Since both dogs and horses cannot talk back, they cannot hurt your feelings with insults or comments. They just like your face and lay with you when your feeling depressed. I’m glad that Lucy had the unconditional love from Swinger, because everyone needs someone or something to live for, other than themselves. This relationship helped her through her awkward and unpredictable life.

I agree with so many comments made by all. The fact still remains that in our society beauty is not skin deep. It does matter what a person looks like. I do not know to many people today who are completely pleased with their appearance. Lucy , after over coming cancer, has to deal with being a teenager. This is the beginning of her actual pain; not being accepted because of her looks. I feel this was more of a struggle than the cancer. I believe she may have appeared to be a strong person, when infact she was not. On page 205, Lucy says, “Whatever sense of inner worth I developed was eroded by the knowledge that I could only compensate for, but never overcome, the obstacle of my face.” This shows her insecurity and that she felt that she could not be loved.

I agree with Kelsey’s comment on July 31st. If I were to lose my father, I would be devasted. Lucy was so consumed with living up to societies version of looking “Normal”, nothing else seemed to matter. Swinger, her horse, was not a threat. The horse could not say anything to hurt her. In her mind this made his love unconditional and his death more tragic.

In the beginning of “Autobiography of a Face”, I thought I was going to be reading a story of a little girl with cancer. Instead I was reminded how much we judge others as well as ourselves. We become self absorbed with our appearance and what other people think. Somehow Lucy forgot that she was a survivor. She beat the odds. Lucy was beautiful, she was a person.
It is easy for us to say that looks do not matter. It is easy for us all to say she shouldn’t feel bad; but we did not have her face. The world can be an ugly place, but it can also be beautiful. We need to learn to appreciate the simple things, like the leaves changing colors or the first snow fall. The fact is, this is a very sad story. Lucy with all her friends and family, was unable to embrace their love and support. It upsets me to know that she was so lonely.

Throughout Lucy Grealy’s life she experienced something every person does – failed expectations. Every operation was an opportunity. It was going to solve her problems and she would be able to really begin her life when it was complete, except every time the operation failed. As a little girl I was so excited to go to Cedar Point, but then when I got there I was too scared to ride all the big rides and those were the only rides my siblings wanted to go on. I was hot, tired, hungry and mad; this was supposed to be the best day of my life! I was convinced it was going to be fantastic and I was miserable.
Everybody has had times like these, but it seems like these occurrences defined Lucy Grealy’s life. The surgeries didn’t bring her happiness and the sex didn’t bring her love. Even at the end of the novel when the final surgery seemed to be successful it still did not live up to her expectations. She felt she did not know the person in the mirror before her- and could not believe she had really reached the end.
I agree with Liz that Lucy is remarkably easy to relate to. Every situation seems so unlike anything I have experienced yet so familiar. I just hope that my life doesn’t become a list of unfulfilled expectations, like Lucy’s appeared to be.

I find it amazing that Lucy did not end up in a depressed state after all she had to go through in her life; fighting cancer, losing her dad, constantly being made fun of, and going through countless surgeries. Most people would not be able to handle these situations without getting completely let down. However, I felt that Lucy dealt with these things amazingly. She didn’t let anything defeat her and she trudged on through life with her head held up high. Even though cancer was a major battle in her life, I feel that dealing with the reconstructive surgeries was worse. Each time a surgery was schedule for her grafts, she would get her hopes up high. To her dissappointment, the graft didn’t work. This is a major struggle for her because she hoped to finally look normal but ended up with disasterous results. This went on throughout her life and not once did she let it keep her down for too long. This shows tremendous emotional and mental strength. She put up wih these surgeries for so long even though none of them made her face look completely normal. However, Lucy faced the fact that she was always going to be different but she didn’t let that get in the way of her acheiving her goals in life.

Beauty if defined in many different ways; one’s inner character, physical appearance, morality, irony, etc… However you see what beauty is I think it’s safe to say that on some level we all agree that much like every other concept it is all a matter of perception. “What is beauty” debate aside, Autobiography of a Face is written in a manner that portrays Grealy’s raw emotions and accurate observations in manner that, for me, is different and refreshing. Grealy did not write this book in a manner that is reminiscent and reflective on her experiences but simply as they happened to her how she felt at the time and their affected who she is now. It is difficult for many of us to look back on our past and not judge ourselves, others, our thoughts, decisions, etc… based on our current mindset/ situation/ etc… The book portrays was her truth as she experienced it at that time (from reading Truth and Beauty you get at least a glimpse that not all of it was “the real truth” but it was Lucy’s truth, and in reality isn’t that really all she can give us?). It’s odd how difficult it is for us to really see our own truth. Like beauty, I believe that everything is a matter of interpretation, perception, and perspective, nothing is really concrete; everything means something different to every person. Grealy’s ability so see what the truth is to her is a skill that most of us lack. What I found truly beautiful about this book was that she was able to do this.

When Grealy is diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, her world goes into a tailspin. Everything that could go wrong for her seemingly does. Her operation to her face leaves her depressed and scarred, saying, “I thought it all originated with me, that I was somehow at fault,” (93). She sees her face as I sign of weakness and a wall between her and the world. It takes a Halloween mask to put her at ease, and allow her to be free. She says, “I felt so good. No one could see me clearly. No one could see my face,” (120). Throughout her life, she didn’t allow herself to love another, or even to be happy, because she felt that she didn’t deserve it. When she did become happy, she would be relieved when it was over, saying, “I felt no connection with that kind of happiness: I didn’t deserve it and thus I shouldn’t want it.”

This disease, as horrible as it made her social life, had some benefits those of us without a life-altering experience like cancer may not have. She had a different perspective on the world, and was able to see others and herself in a unique way. “I possessed a strong sense of myself,” (105) she says. “Each breath was an important exchange with the world around me, each sensation on my skin a tender brush from a reality so beautiful and so mysterious that I would sometimes find myself squealing with the delight of being alive.” How many of us are able to be so intimate with our surroundings and our basic actions, feelings, and thoughts? How many of us actually sit back and appreciate just being alive? Although the cancer made Grealy’s life difficult and full of depression, it is in moments like these when she actually benefited from the disease.

I found this book very interesting from the beginning. After several pages into the autobiography I appreciated the challenging ideas that really made me think. Lucy Grealy made me attempt to look deeper than just her story. Her ideas about beauty, what is beauty, who decided what beautiful was? Lucy established that beauty shouldn’t just be about the way she looks. I think these days this is a common problem in our society. You hear about people starving themselves because they think they will be more beautiful if they look a certain way. Who establishes image of what is supposed to be beautiful? In my opinion beauty is something different than just the way you look. I think eventually that’s one of the things Lucy figured out. I felt bad for her when she was so crazy about someone loving her. I think it was in connection with Lucy feeling beautiful. When someone loved her she felt beautiful and there was beauty in that. She started out as a young child so reluctant to hide from the crowd and be left alone. After all of her pain, suffering, humility, she longed for love and acceptance. I was shocked how evil 7th and 8th graders could be. I thought back about my middle school years and I was always nice and would never intentionally hurt someone. What confused me was why no one ever stood up for her. She had a twin sister that she went to school with. If I ever saw that kind of behavior towards my sister I would be the first to intervene. She went through a lot and in one passage she said “I understood unequivocally: I was in this alone” (37). I don’t believe she was ever alone. I think with all the treatment, it was tiresome, and sometimes fear drove people away from her. In reality she wasn’t alone. I think people were there for her in a different kind of way.

Fate is a topic in this book that even I have thought about before beginning to read. Why do I do the things I do? How do I know which direction to turn? How interesting that one action can change my fate. Similarly to Lucy, why does she have cancer? What if she never went for that dodgeball in gym class? What compelled her to go for it? These same thoughts ran through Lucy’s mind, “wonder why I didn’t go right when I should have gone left, or, alternately, see my movements as inexorable. If the cancer was already there, it would have been discovered eventually, though probably too late” (27). It is so interesting to see the weight of your actions. How fate unfolds will always be a mystery.

Was this God’s chosen path for Lucy? She was receiving letters from others, churches, prayers for health. She said “God if you exist, prove it to me” (99). She feared that all she was going through has no meaning. Although through all these hard times she believed. She clung to her beliefs as a sign for hope. She resolved that God wanted her to keep trying. She couldn’t give up and God gave her the extra motivation she needed. She wanted to understand what was happening and why. She knew she wouldn’t get the answers directly so she settled on fighting through it and trying harder.

When you get hurt or feel sick it is so easy to feel bad for yourself. Lucy wouldn’t, she fought to be brave, to be an example. She didn’t want to pity herself and would get mad when she did. She didn’t want others to pity her either. I find it very honorable that she desired a life free from pity. When she met Michael in the hospital she realized how much worse or horrible life could be. Its incredible how one little action can change everything. How your actions define you. Michael would never walk again. She pitied Michael because his situation was truly awful. However in her case she wanted to show people she was brave. How much easier things could have been. Life was difficult and she knew it. She strived to be the brave one.

Laura made a good point earlier this month. She pointed out that Lucy has the same insecurities that many people have. Everybody worries about what other people think and Lucy has the same problem. I know with myself, I always think people laugh about a comment I make behind my back. I know most of the time it isn’t true but it is still one of those insecurities I have and I deal with it. Lucy is the same way. She knows what people say about her behind her back. She also deals with how her life is and handles it to the best of her knowledge. She is just like any other person with a brain. She is not a monster even though she found it hard to believe other people didn’t think that. She knows what other people think and live through it.

Megan wrote on the 11th about fate and why things happen the way they do. I believe fate plays a huge part in our lives. I think everything also happens for a reason. When things happen it has a purpose. Every action you take is for a reason, whether someone learns from your mistake or sees your act of kindness. Each action you make is made with a purpose to effect someone else.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Once you truly get to know as person, they become beautiful to you. I believe that a beautiful person is beautiful because of their true character. A person may be beautiful on the outside, but may possess an evil or ugly personality. An ugly person can be beautiful by the things they say and do. Every person’s true colors show through in their moral fiber. I think that the character in the book is ugly on the outside due to the fact of her poor character on the inside. The way she treated herself led me to believe she was an “ugly” person on the inside. Because she had so many surgeries made me think that she cared too much about what other people thought of her on the outside. These things led me to believe that she had a problem with self-actualization.

In response to what Jenny Z wrote @ July 31st, 2008, I totally agree because the media has blitzed us with their conception of beauty. The “Barbie” look-a-likes are considered most beautiful. The average high school girl has considered or had completed plastic surgery to get this look. Has society become so shallow that they don’t recognize true beauty with in a person’s soul?

I begin to wonder why this book was an assigned as a summer reading book. Could it be that we are to discover out own inner beauty. Or is it that we want to realize how fortunate we are not to have half a face. I think that is was unfortunate for Lucy Grealy to discover that it only matters what she thinks about her appearance, so late in her life. There are life lessons we all need to learn, some of us learn these lessons earlier then others.

How ironic that the author feels that she can’t be loved because of her face, when all along she had her family and friends there by her side. Their companionship and support followed through out the story and through out her struggles. Maybe she should stop hiding behind those Halloween masks and realize her family is there for her. How cruel society is when innocent people feel they need a mask to do everyday tasks.

“Any book of television show about animals I consumed greedily, though I shied away from the ones that anthropomorphized the animals. I thought it degraded them to be too closely aligned with the human species.” (Page 48)
In the childhood of Lucy Grealy, animals were like Gods and people carried undeserved superiority. Her small mind evaluated the merit of species and assumed that animals were of a higher worth; this showed her disregard for those people around her. I think in the animals she saw purity; a kindness which vowed to never intentionally harm. Neither her family nor her schoolmates could promise that undeniable love, and none could perpetually keep her unscathed while in their presence. When she was with her plastic animals or her dogs, there was no standard of acceptance which she failed to pass; only unconditional love to be granted. Today we judge people based on what? Their faces? The shoes they wear? Lucy thought it was wrong to judge based upon these things, but in the end she did; she thought people should be happy because their face was whole and beautiful, or because they had boyfriend and she didn’t.

“I bombed and starved and persecuted my own suffering right out of existence.” (Page126)
During a time of war, it was easy for Lucy to switch on the tube and drown out her own grief with the inevitable sorrows of millions. She studied the Holocaust to improve her outlook on life. It is rather sick to use the suffering of millions to actually improve the course of daily life. I see some purpose for writing this book as such: see wills every reader the same therapeutic reasoning when they compare his/her life to hers. While reading the story of Lucy’s life, you cannot help but consider your current situation as better off than she was. (This assumes that most readers have not had thirty-some surgeries.)

“It required the effort of always seeing them for themselves and not as I wished them to be, of always striving to see the truth of them.” (Page 195)
She wanted to see her friends as ‘better off than her’; the effort which she speaks of is the effort it took to not judge them by her condition in life. Lucy loved her friends based on their genuine character. She knew enough about physical judgment and superficial facades to always seek their true selves. She accepted whatever faults they might possess in order to embrace an honest love. I found her friendships to be rare and close like I have never experienced. Her everlasting struggle with the acceptance made an impression of me; I believe it helped her understand the importance of granting honesty to everyone she met.

“Society is no help. It tells us again and again that we can be ourselves by acting and looking like someone else, only to leave our original faces behind to turn into ghosts that will inevitably resent and haunt us.” (Page 222)
Lucy Grealy wants her readers to learn from the mistakes of others; she leaves a trail of advice for those in search of happiness. Her story requests of those who read her novel, to reject the code of acceptance in society. I think if she were still alive she would want the message preached: do not daunt on the standards presented to you by others, but instead make your own standards by which to live.

I wish that the afterword for Autobiography of a Face had been a forward. When you start reading this book you can’t help but feel pity for Lucy Grealy. In the afterward Ann Patchett explains that you must look deeper into the story. You must take in all the pain Lucy went through, but at the same time, pay attention to the beauty in her writing. Although I did not go back and reread the whole book, I did go back and reread the parts that I had highlighted. When I went back to read these parts I did what Ann Patchett said to, focus on her writing. When you do this you truly do see how talented Lucy Grealy was.

I have to admit while reading this book I was very frustrated. Lucy was so concerned about how no one would love her, or think she is beautiful. Who cares what everyone else thinks? Isn’t it really just what you and God think that matters? Also is it not true that in order to be loved, you must first love yourself. If she had accepted her beauty was unique and had confidence in herself, then she would have found that others would see her beauty to. I have found that the more you try to hide and make yourself invisible, often the more visible and vulnerable you become. By hiding behind your hair, and walking with your head down, you draw attention to yourself and others start to wonder what you’re hiding. On page 4 Lucy writes, “Their approval or disapproval defined everything for me, and I believed with every cell in my body that approval wasn’t written into my particular script.” From a very young age, Lucy put the power in the hands of others to decide how to live her life. She had a choice to accept who she was and flaunt it or to let others and their cruelties control her.

I believe that if you don’t talk about a problem you cannot accept and deal with. Lucy’s family support system wasn’t the strongest. Neither of her parents would openly talk with her about her battle with cancer. Crying was considered a sign of weakness in her parents’ eyes. I put myself in Lucy’s position. If I were going through those things I would need to talk to someone close to me who I loved. On page 37 Lucy confesses, “It was the moment when I understood unequivocally: I was in this alone.” Lucy confided in animals, but even her horses were unable to be there for her through it all. She needed a human someone who would love her and who she could love, as I read Truth and Beauty, I realize that she did end up with someone to help her through it all, but that was not until after the cancer was gone. Would her life have been any different had Ann Patchett been in it at an earlier age? Would she have been able to love herself through it all? These questions race through my mind as I flip through the pages of the touching memoir.

After reading this book I realized I was guilty of doing the same thing that Lucy did that frustrated me so much. We judge ourselves. We give into society, take in all they have to say about how we should look, and we judge ourselves upon those standards. Why not create our own? Why not break the barrier and judge yourself based upon who you wish to be? It is so easy for us to find the beauty in others, and often we are jealous of that beauty and therefore criticize it. If we would stop putting others and ourselves down, and all just try to live up to the standards that matter, the inside of a person rather than the outside, we would all be happier. But in order to do this everyone must start with himself or herself. If you change how you think, you’ll effect the way others do. Just like Lucy affected Ann and how they both wrote about it to help affect us.

“Language supplies us with ways to express ever subtler levels of meaning, but does that imply language gives meaning, or robs us of it when we are at a loss to name things.” (44)

When I read over this quote, I was impressed by her wordage. However, at first, I will admit I was confused by this quote as well. She has asked a question that goes to the core of our most convenient way of communication, speech. I believe that language does not give a thing meaning, the fact that the thing exists in the first place, gives itself meaning, simply because it exists. Language does not rob us of meaning when we are at a loss to name things. The best example is emotion. Emotion gives every word, our every action, meaning. If a person feels “a certain way,” but is unable to name that emotion, does not mean he is robbing his emotion of meaning.

“My hat was my barrier between me, and what I was vaguely becoming aware of as ugly about me, and the world. It hid me, hid my secret… I saw someone lose his hat in the wind and I immediately panicked for him, for his sudden exposure.” (106)

When I read this quote, I thought of it in a metaphorical sense, in contrast to her somewhat literal meaning. She used her hat to hide her “ugliness,” which was physical, and exposed for all to see and judge, whereas, for the rest of us, our “ugliness” is internal and easily hidden. We hide our flaws through the lies we tell and the secrets we hold. We take comfort in the fact that others can not see our flaws too easily, and judge our character. However, Grealy’s scars were effortlessly visible. This is why she cherished her hat so much, because in her eyes, it held her secret by covering up her flaws.

Though many have mentioned that Grealy had had those meaningless relationships in order to compensate for her lack of self, I believe otherwise. Early on, Grealy says, “I had been supplied with a formula of behavior for gaining acceptance and, I believed, love.” (30) As everyone knows, this formula was to be stoic. She tried not to cry, so as to not show her pain. This suppression of her emotions manifested and burst to the surface later in her life. She then used her hollow relationships as constant reassurance to make her feel that someone loved her and thought she was beautiful. Furthermore, it is noted in Truth and Beauty that she would constantly ask her friends if they loved her unconditionally, to gain that same reassurance.

Response to Obama’s Speech
“I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.”
I like this statement because it is saying thanks to our former president, George Bush. This statement is saying thank you to former president Bush for all that he has done with our nation. How he has put so much effort into making our nation what it is today. We thank him for that.
“Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions as; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.”
I like this part in President Obama’s speech because he is honoring our people. President Obama was actually trying to admire the people that were trying to give us the life that we have today. They marched and sacrificed their lives to stand up for what they believed in. They are all admired greatly today.

By: Ashley McCutchen

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