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On Beauty Analysis

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Beauty and Body Image Zadie Smith’s On Beauty is filled with characters who all readers can relate to. The novel focuses primarily on the Belseys, who are a mixed race family living in Boston. During the novel, the Belsey family members undergo challenges and situations that shape and mold their identities. The father, Howard is in the middle of a mid life crisis struggling with lack of success in his career, feeling stuck and his infidelity to his wife, Kiki. Kiki is also struggling with aging and coming to terms with her changing body as well as the unknown fate of her marriage following Howard’s affair. The Belsey children, as well as Vee, the daughter of Howard’s rival Monty Kipps, struggle with their own coming of age stories as they emerge as young adults. One main struggle that all the female characters have in common is body image. The burden of a woman’s body remains a main premise throughout the entire novel as the characters define their worth and have their worth defined by others based on their physical appearance. The female body is viewed by characters in different ways based on gender and age. The men in the novel view women’s in terms of their sexual worth. The older women in the novel have a more realistic view of their bodies and even find value in their aging bodies. On the other hand, the younger women struggle with negative body image as well as their sexual power as they begin their journey as women. In Zadie Smith’s On Beauty, men define women

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