Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self

Alice Walker’s ability to exhibit the way flaws can influence a person’s view of themselves and their self worth is impeccable. Her display of feelings before and after her accident reflects upon the way we as people view our own imperfection. Walker begins by allowing the reader into her life before the accident, a flashback to the age of 2 ½. Here, she evinces a sense of self confidence and a feeling of prettiness. During a time shared with her father, she attributed her beauty to his decision in taking her to join him in attending a state fair. This is understood to be true when Walker states, “Take me Daddy, I’m the prettiest.” (55) As the story continues, we find that Walker is reminiscing back to the time of the accident. At the age of 8, she is shot in the eye by her brother with a BB gun. She begins to close herself off to the world as her peers take part in making fun of her. From this point on, she maintains a low self esteem, continuously hanging her head low in fear that people would be staring at the scar rather than the cute little girl she used to be. (Walker 56) Six years down the road, her brother invites her to Boston, where she seeks professional help from a surgeon. Her scar is removed and she begins to lead a normal life. In the end, Walker flashes forward to adulthood. At twenty-seven she is married, educated, and happily, a mother. While putting her daughter Rebecca down for her nap, she is overcome with the fear that her child will grow to make fun of her the way her peers had. When Rebecca takes note of her mother’s flaw, she views her mother’s eye as something much different. The eye that had tormented her for years now simply had been viewed as having a “world” in it. To Walker’s relief, her daughter’s judgment enabled her to release all of the pain she had felt all along.

Walker’s creative way of piecing together her story worked well in a sense that it allowed the reader to fully understand the way the accident affected her life. Her ability to come to terms with her disfigurement showed great strength in her character.