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Beauty When The Other Dancer Is The Self Summary

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The essay, “Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self” details the life of a young Alice Walker, providing information as to the life, situations, and her thinking process. It begins with the elaboration of her change from a confident, proudful young girl to an older female with self esteem issues and complications trying to appreciate herself after an incident with her brother. These personal issues of hers resulted in negative aspects beginning to arise in her life, and difficulties coping with the new change in her physical appearance. Eventually, she undergoes surgery and is put through a difficult situation with her daughter; both of which change her perspective and have positive outcomes for Walker. These positive changes that Walker eventually creates help from her perspective and create a new outlook on her beauty. Self esteem, a very important aspect of this essay, is elaborated on and provided with more detail throughout, all of which help …show more content…

After she was shot by him with a BB gun, a large white blob was present in her eyeball. This new addition resulted in Walker feeling insecure and not as beautiful as she used to be. This change in her eye changed the view of herself in the sense that she didn’t feel as proud of her physical appearance as she used to. In the story, she exclaims “I rant and rave at it, in front of the mirror...I hate and despise it. I do not pray for sight. I pray for beauty.” All the attention she once had she was now afraid of due to her own insecurity and disdain for her physical attribute. Her flawed eye, in Walker’s eyes, is what defined the person she was. She began falling short in various areas of her life, and began exhibiting antisocial and depressive behaviour. This change in her physical appearance ultimately resulted in Walker looking down on herself, because her image of beauty was twisted due to her

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