Marissa Miranda
Professor Bronstein
English 1A
9:15 am -11:20 am
Beauty
In “Beauty,” Alice Walker discusses the differences and perceptions of beauty and how beauty is valued. Walker uses her article -her life journey as an example of how beauty changes based on how it is perceived. She talks about her child image, the accident, her and her family’s reactions, the desert she was able to see, and how her daughter freed her. She uses the metaphor of the world in her eye in order to redefine what society sees as beautiful in her article. She also uses a snapshot effect to present her life in order for the reader to see how her understanding of beauty changed from her carefree childhood to learning to cope with her disability. Alice Walker defines
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She tells about the accident and how it changed her. She tells how her older siblings shot her in the eye which caused her to go blind in that eye. She tells how she lied about it until it was too late to save her eye. She tells about her thoughts and that she believes she is no longer beautiful. Walker thought:
“But it is really how I look that bothers me most.
Where the BB pellet struck there is a globe of whitish scar tissue, a hideous cataract, on my eye.
Now when I stare at people- a favorite pastime, up to now- they will stare back.
Not at the “cute” little girl, but at her
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Her daughter’s questions also show her innocence and different mindset. Walker is immediately affected by her daughter’s words in relief and surprise. Walker reaction to her daughter’s words broke down barriers around Walker’s heart and slowly destroyed her fears about her daughter. Her daughter’s words also open Walker’s mind to the possibility that her glass eye is not a terrible scar but a wonder. Walker was able to become completely free from the lifelong bounds of influence and self hatred over her scar and became able to be accept it and even become proud of it. The tone is one of innocence and