Short Story No Face

In the short story “No Face”, readers are told a story about a boy from a small village in the Dominican Republic whose face is extremely disfigured at a young age, and now he is forced to hide behind a mask. When he was younger this boy’s face was eaten off by a pig, which is why he must wear a mask to hide his face from the rest of the village. With his disfigurement comes the nick name No Face, and causes him to sick out even more as the village outcast. He has had to learn how to defend himself and live in the shadow as to not bring any attention to himself. Though he tries to stay out of everyone’s way trouble still finds him and he is forced to fight to defend himself from local bullies. His only friend is the priest who helps teach him how to read, speak English, and takes him to a doctor to check his face. The way he is treated has caused a significant change in the way he acts and thinks compared to those around him. In the short story, setting, symbolism, and characterization has led to No Face being changed

Since No Face is disfigured he has only known the hate and loneliness he feels from the local villagers. He is known as the local outcast with only one friend. The priest is his only friend that is willing to help him, but besides that he has nobody to take him in. If they aren’t avoiding him they are bulling him. He is bullied by those around him and all of which have caused him to become a tougher person. Since he knows he can’t give up he does what he must to become tougher and stronger than those around him. So he has to do what he must to make himself stronger, faster, and smarter than the others. He is a character who is strong and overcomes the problems in his life no matter how hard the situation may be. The character he is helps readers to understand the theme of the