Analysis of Lucy Grealy, in A"utobiography of a Face"

Autobiography of a Face, by Lucy Grealy, is a memoir of disquieting candor and power of a cancerous adolescent experiencing and experimenting with the repercussions of chemotherapy and the threats of a manipulating society. Grealy gives her adult years somewhat shorter shrift than they deserve, but the account of her arduous coming of age is both haunting and inspirational as she makes a lyrical statement about the complex relationships between beauty and self-worth in our humanity, about the ruthless “ importance in this world of having a beautiful face.” Her journey entailed a painstaking recovery from physical deterioration, through mental and intellectual maturity and growth--regarding the intrinsic impact of society’s discrimination on appearance, towards a receptive, introspecting human being.

Obliviously diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, and staunchly put under operation after operation, bone grafts deteriorating time and time again, destroying and un-mending ...