Autobiography of a Face Lucy Grealy - 1611 Words

Autobiography of a Face: Lucy Grealy The psychology of beauty is complex not just because the concept of beauty is as yet undefined, but also because it is largely true that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder or how individuals perceive other people or things. The importance of beauty has been taught since the first civilizations. It is known that the cave people of the Mesolithic period (around 10,000 B.C.) softened their skin with castor oil and grease, and also used plant dyes to tattoo their skin. Lipsticks first appeared in the ancient city off Ur, near Babylon, 5000 years ago. Ancient Greek women painted their cheeks with herbal pastes made from crushed berries and seeds. A dangerous development of beauty†¦show more content†¦She states â€Å"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 the make me t he creator of my own situation† (pg101)? It is her appearance, not her illness that changes her view of herself. Her entire identity becomes her face, and she tells herself over and over, when my face is fixed, I’ll start living. She found happiness and acceptance through her love of horses, working at a stable and spending time with the animals and the people there, who treated her like anybody else. But throughout adolescence and into young adulthood Lucy pinned her hopes on each new surgery as the one that would fix her face and make her beautiful and thus worthy of love. Anyone who ever felt different or had any kind of physical characteristic or flaw that they were self conscious about while growing up will relate to Lucy and what she went through. If you were too tall or too small, had a facial birthmark or a big nose, crooked teeth or frizzy hair or acne, if you were not beautiful in the traditional sense or were different in any way- you will understand Lucy. Her profound insight into beauty, and what is beautiful, will hit home with you. It did with me. At 18 she accepted a scholarship at Sarah Lawrence College where Lucy feels she finally develops trueShow MoreRelatedAutobiography Of A Face By Lucy Grealy976 Words   |  4 PagesLucy Grealy’s, Autobiography of a Face is an autobiography that is dramatize to make her life appear more interesting than it actually is. Although she suffered from cancer and had to battle the bad side effect like her face being disfigured, throughout the story Grealy fabricates her constant daily fears of no t being accepted and loved by her community. By blaming her face for her horrible lifestyle, Grealy tends to look over the fact that she has cancer, but in all reality cancer is more seriousRead MoreAutobiography of a Face1324 Words   |  6 PagesLucy Grealy tells a story about not fitting in, unbearable pain that takes up residence in ones head as loneliness and confusion, questioning what things mean, being scared and lost in your family, enduring intense physical pain, and most importantly, figuring out who you are. Lucy had no idea she might die, even though the survival rate for Ewings sarcoma was only five percent. She does not present her parents as overly afraid for her life, either. Her autobiography is not a story about the fearRead MoreThe Psychological Trauma Of Mary Shelley s The Great Gatsby 878 Words   |  4 Pagesescaping it, I reasoned, was to know my own strength, to defy life by surviving it.† (Grealy, 188) Without a doubt, Lucy had considerable courag e to tolerate numerous operations on her jaw, and suffered chemotherapy for her cancer. Nevertheless, though Lucy survived ordeal of her cancer, surgeries, she suffered psychological trauma of her disfigured face which did not fit society’s definition of beautiful. Lucy not only endured intense physical pain, which she had to endure in solitude, but alsoRead More Autobiography of a face Essay1305 Words   |  6 Pages Lucy Grealy tells a story about not fitting in, unbearable pain that takes up residence in one’s head as loneliness and confusion, questioning what things mean, being scared and lost in your family, enduring intense physical pain, and most importantly, figuring out who you are. Lucy had no idea she might die, even though the survival rate for Ewing’s sarcoma was only five percent. She does not present her parents as overly afraid for her life, either. Her autobiography is not a story about the fearRead MoreAutobiography Of A Face : Exploration Of Health Communication Concepts3629 Words   |  15 PagesAutobiography of a Face: Exploration of Health Communication Concepts Kara Martin University of South Dakota Over the years I have observed that it is not uncommon for people to judge others based upon standards in our society which are imposed upon us through the media via television, movies, celebrities, magazines, and music. Autobiography of a Face, is a memoir written and narrated by the late poet Lucy Grealy and was published in 1994. This book followed Lucy beginningRead MoreThe Interior Castle : Gruesome Detail With Physical Pain900 Words   |  4 PagesLeaves much unsaid about the experience and nature of pain b. Distinguish between emotional, spiritual or physical pain c. Pain is self-perpetuating d. Structure of poem avoids any aspect of experience or sensation of pain Third paragraph: Autobiography of a Face â€Å"memoir† i. Overall meaning: book centers on this search for self and happiness a. Young girl’s struggle with her identity through a life of facial deformity ii. Representation of pain: a. Pain is a way of focusing the self ; makes youRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem A Face 1520 Words   |  7 PagesWhen Lucy Grealy was nine years old, she was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a type of cancer that has very low chance of survival. Grealy had countless surgeries, both successful and unsuccessful, to not only cease her illness but to try to reverse the effects it had on her appearance. However, Grealy’s journey with cancer ultimately left her lacking half of her jaw and revealed her similar lack of a support system. Cancer did not merely affect Grealy- it also affected the people around her in variousRead MoreWillow Weep For Me, Autobiography Of A Face By Arthur Kleinman1595 Words   |  7 Pageshospital from the patient’s perspective, the meaning of illness, and the experience of illness for the patient. The narrative can be compared to Arthur Kleinman’s the Illness Narratives, Meri Nana-Ama Danquah’s Willow Weep for Me, Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wall-Paper.† The narrator of the poem begins with stating that â€Å"some kind of shadow was behind her/ she ran towards nowhere/ dark, empty, cold, stuck.† The poem depicts the depressive state