essay on autobiography of a face

7/28/2019 Essay on Autobiography of a Face

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Diagnosed at age nine with Ewing's sarcoma, a cancer that severely disfigured her face, Grealy

lost half her jaw, recovered after two and half years of chemotherapy and radiation, then

underwent plastic surgery over the next 20 years to reconstruct her jaw. This harrowing, lyrical

autobiographical memoir, which grew out of an award-winning article published in Harper's in

1993, is a striking meditation on the distorting effects of our culture's preoccupation with

physical beauty...

"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." What do you think about that? Have you had

similar feelings?

Page 7: "I was my face, I was ugliness..."

52: Lucy put up with much teasing/bullying by other children (esp. boys). She quotes MLK: "I willnot allow my oppressors to dictate to me the means of my resistance." Do you think she succeeded infollowing King's advice?

Google autobiography of a face reading guide .. essay

Lucy Grealy, poet, tells the story of her childhoodand young adulthood, a twenty year period of overwhelming physical and mental suffering. Yet

the author is so resilient, so intelligent, so

insightful, and such a good writer that her storytranscends mere illness narrative. At age nine, first

misdiagnosed and finally identified as having facial

bone cancer (Ewing’s sarcoma), Lucy underwentseveral surgeries and more than two years of intensive chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Pain and nausea, anxiety and fear of more painand nausea were only part of the ordeal.

The young Lucy became aware of what it is to beseverely, chronically ill. Her sisters behaveddifferently toward her: they were polite. "Suddenly

I understood the term visiting. I was in one place,

they were in another, and they were only pausing."Even her father felt uncomfortable at her hospital

bedside, and Lucy was relieved that he cameinfrequently.

But being at home was worse: in the hospital theother patients and the staff expected little from herand she felt no guilt or shame; amidst her family,

she blamed herself for the tension, arguments over

money, and her mother’s depression, even thoughthese elements had existed prior to her illness. Her



hair fell out and she became dimly aware thatpeople were staring at her face. Nevertheless, "I . .

. was naturally adept at protecting myself from thehurt of their insults and felt a vague superiority . . .. "

Well enough to return to school, Lucy’s disfiguredface drew taunts from classmates; she understoodfinally that she was perceived as ugly and that she

would not be loved. Only on Halloween, when she

could mask her face, did she feel free and joyful,unconcerned about her appearance, "normal." Her

moods now alternated between despair,determination, and escapism. She became

convinced that only facial reconstruction and arestored appearance would make life bearable.

During years of reconstructive surgery Lucy

evolved complex rationalizations to give meaningto her suffering. Two anchors had stabilized herexistence throughout the misery: a passionate

adolescent love of horses, and an adult love of poetry. Eventually outward appearance and inner

life became harmonious. "The journey back to myface was a long one."

Commentary This often poetic account of catastrophic child

illness and disfigurement provides powerfulinsights into the nature of suffering. It illustra

the discongruities in how we see ourselves an

how others see us, and how development of aidentity is influenced by often superficial socia

signals. The impact of illness on complicatedfamily relationships is well drawn. The adult a

gives a good sense of a child’s experience of chronic illness and hospitalization and of thedefense mechanisms that one with strong inn

resources may bring to bear on what is seemi

unbearable.



FINAL PARA – use this page only.

Despite a strong recommendation from my mother, I started to read Autobiography of a Face (author

Lucy Grealy) only after reading the review on Amazon. Most of the reviews were very positive and the

personal story of Lucy Grealy who had her most of her face disfigured due to cancer (diagnosed at the

age of 9 with Ewing’s sarcoma) appealed to me. The book cover was very stirring as well, since it

depicted a girl having most of her face covered with what appeared to be a towel. In the book Lucy

describes her ordeal dealing with her own disfigured reflection, taunts from her classmates, her isolation

and her several plastic surgeries for over twenty years. I can’t even comprehend how challenging her life

would have been but she is so resilient, so intelligent, so insightful, and such a good writer that her story

transcends mere illness narrative. When she says “I was my face, I was ugliness ..” , my heart reached

out to her and I realized how much our society is preoccupied with looks. I am glad I took the effort to

research the book first before reading it, because it allowed me to be prepared for its powerful

narrative. I will definitely recommend this book to my friends.

essay on autobiography of a face

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