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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 ha