The measure of human life is viewed by physical beauty rather than inner beauty. Two prime examples of this are given in the essaysMirrors,? written by Lucy Grealy andBeauty,? written by Alice Walker. In these two essays, the two main characters have physical abnormalities, which restricts their outer beauty. The main characters have many similarities in their lives, before and after the abnormality, and how they worked through their outer beauty to show how beautiful they really are inside.
In the essayBeauty,? a young girl named Alice Walker grew up loving being the center of attention and having people tell her how cute she was. As Alice Walker writes,I stand, hands on hips, before my father.Take me, Daddy,? I say with assurance;I'm the prettiest!?(42)? Alice Walker Obviously knew at that age what beauty is and how this allures people. When she was eight she turned into a tomboy. This is when an accident occurred. Her brothers were playing with bb guns and accidentally shot her in the eye. Her life was never the same after this, having a big white blob form in her eye. This incident damaged her self-confidence and troubles her for the rest of her life. This corresponds with the storyMirrors? in which Lucy Grealy is struck with cancer in the bone of her jaw and has to get it removed. This in turn left her one side of her face collapsed and people indifferent with the way her face appeared. This tragedy left her embarrassed with her new self and changing her life to hide her physical flaw. scared Alice Grealy Writes,People stared at me in stores, other children made fun of of me to the point where I came to expect it constantly, wherever I went.?(53) She tried to get surgeries to transform her appearance all for the sake of our society's idea of Beauty.
During the years suffering after the incident, Alice Walker thought she was a totally different person. She got bad grades, wasn't social and not an out going girl anymore.