Walker Beauty When The Other Dancer Is The Self Analysis

When Alice Walker was eight years old, her brother accidentally shot her with a BB gun in her right eye. She lost the use of that eye and was left with scar tissue that was noticeable. Other kids would ridicule and laugh at her. This caused her to become very withdrawn. She became more of an observer and she started composing poetry in her head. She was afraid to put them on paper because she thought that her siblings would find her writings and tear them up.

Frequently in life, human beings go through obstacles that shape and reform who they are. Achieving satisfaction in life is the way individuals evaluate their personal lives, directions and the decisions they make in the future. Through the decisions that are made, individuals are altered and reformed. While our decisions and situations take an effect - they are rather led by a purpose. Oftentimes, limitations and existence of self-sacrifice are built on the ideas of self-control and altruism. Self-sacrifice is known as “the giving up of one's own interests or wishes in order to help others or to advance a cause,” - which is shown excessively through the poem; Dancer, by Alden Nowlan. The poem showcases to the readers that sometimes, limitations should be placed on altruistic movements for the well-being of an individual. Although, the question still remains; to what extent is an individual willing to go when facing these situations?

After a complete analysis of “Beauty” by Tony Hoagland, there are multiple ways he succeeds in writing a meaningful poem. Each of the literary devices used played an important role in perfecting his poem. Hoagland did an excellent job at sending a message and his tone played an important role in making the message more sincere. Hoagland's use of imagery, figurative language, and personification made his poem more entertaining to read. Throughout this poem, Tony Hoagland shows that beauty, along with poetry, goes deeper than the

The societal expectations for beauty are an ingrained concept amongst the minds of almost every individual, who in turn project these standards on each other and their own children. Throughout her adolescence, Walker seeks for validation of her beauty through others. “When I rise to give my speech I do so on a great wave of love and pride and expectation.” (Walker 2). Walker was seeking a reaction from her audience as she read her Easter speech to her church; a reaction of approval and admiration, which then confirmed her “cuteness”. The emotional toil brought upon by the accident caused Walker to go into a dark place of unacceptance of herself. She did poorly in school, was bullied in school, and kept her head down for several years of her life because of the shame she felt from the appearance of her eye. “I tell it I hate and despise it. I do not pray for sight. I pray for beauty.” (Walker 5). At twelve years-old, Walker talks about the eye that has gone blind and development of her self-unacceptance can be seen here. The lack of concern she had about the function of her eye, but rather the aesthetics, shows how dependent Walker was on in achieving societal standards.

She claims, “for six years I do not stare at anyone because I do not raise my head” showing that because of her injury confidence strips away and she loses this view of perfection in herself. Scars tear one apart from their confidence and true beauty because something unnatural and terrible must have occurred in order for one to submit involuntarily to absolute vulnerability. Walker states, “I watch as its trunk, its branches, and then its leaves are blotted out by the rising blood.” “Blood,” in this sense refers to the beauty that is drawn out of the soul when an inner crisis occurs (Walker). McCloskey claims, “The gender crosser is trying to join the women. To pass as one, and instead they are treating her like a man, maybe nuts, probably dangerous, definitely another one of those bloody men” (McCloskey, 294). When McCloskey uses the word “bloody,” she references being drawn out by exclusion and how the cruelty she endures strips away her

Walker discovered her personal identity when she got into an accident that left a scar not only in her physical but into her life, she was insisted on a fight, and she even lost her self confidence and same as Cofer’s she faced discrimination and was disrespected. It was stressed in Walker’s, “after months, of torture at the school, my parents decide to send me back to our old community, to my old school.”(444) and also when she said that she beat a child at her old school who continually calls her ”one-eyed bitch” (445). On the other hand, Walker’s discovery differs from Staples’ because she was not feared nor misjudged. The epiphanies the three writers experienced, led them into their discovery of their personal knowledge and identity.

Walker's shallow perception of beauty changed following a tragic accident when she was eight. Her brother shot her

She shows herself as cowardly when she was reeling after the accident, “For six years I do not stare at anyone, because I do not raise my head.”(444), she says, portraying her disgust for herself. Walker utilizes the tone of her writing to manipulate the progression of her attitude shift. For instance, in the stages soon after the accident she uses a very morbid and pessimistic tone to describe the events that are transpiring at that juncture of her life. Stating, “I do not pray for sight. I pray for beauty.”(445), proving that even though this accident has occurred she has still remained very resistant to a change in attitude. She also couples detail to multiply the effect that these strategies have on the reader because when she describes these events, the details she uses reflects the tone, so it visibly transmits the idea of her attitude at that phase, which would be much harder to achieve without these rhetorical techniques used appropriately. The dialogue also plays into this idea as well as it also reflects the current mood of the stage. For example, when she was still very young she used very flattering words as dialogue to complement the tone where she thought beauty was everything and being most beautiful was most important. “That girl’s a little mess.”(442), “And got so much sense!”(442), people bombard

In Alice Walker's “Everyday Use” she uses a tactic to set a mood for the reader by bringing in the character Maggie. Walker's use of language when describing Maggie creates a picture of a physically scarred and unintelligent girl. Maggie's physical scarring is pointed out

Claude McKay’s “The Harlem Dancer,” focuses on an African American woman performing in a nightclub during a period of time in the 1920’s know as the Harlem Renaissance. She faces the crisis of self-exploitation and perception while exposing her “perfect half-clothed body (line 2)” to those who “toss coins in praise (line 10)” of her dancing. One can conclude from line 14 of the poem, “I knew her self was not in that strange place,” that the dancer feels like a slave to her job in being that perhaps she is doing it against her will. She appears not mentally strong enough to stop doing it.

A form of adversity is in Alice Walker’s essay, “Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self”, it shows how a person’s perception of everything is always greatly influenced by their past experiences. Walker uses various elements throughout her writing to show her outlook towards her appearance. Walker uses the incident that happened in her childhood to show that a persons mindset can be changed by a experience and how her attitudes changes from a sassy, conceited kid to a matured and powerful women who finally sees beauty in her life. Alice Walker’s essay is a great example of a person whose fear of adversity allowed themselves to be worn down by it. She begins the story with a cocky outlook on life where she knows she is beautiful. “I’m the prettiest!” (Alice Walker), as a young child she would use her

The stories are in order to show progression with different situations of the struggles of black women that repeat, alternate and overlap. For example she touches on situations of sibling rivalries, conflict of racism, and the feelings of loneliness. The words "love" and "trouble" both hint towards unexpected things like certain problems and inevitable predicaments that come with love. In stories like "Everyday Use" Walker uses her experience with sibling rivalry to tell a story. When Walker was younger; her and her brothers were playing a game of cowboys, and they accidently shot her in the right eye with a BB gun causing her to go completely blind in that eye.

Unlike Dee, Walker’s description of Maggie is seen as an unattractive and awkward girl. Her mother notes “good looks passed her by” (355). Furthermore, she carries herself with low self-esteem, “chin on chest, eyes on ground” (355). Besides her appearance, when Maggie is first introduced in the story, Mama points out that she is nervous about her sister’s visit and “will stand hopelessly in corners, homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs, eyeing her sister with a mixture of envy and awe” (355).

However, her story soon morphed the meaning of beauty of how she viewed herself in a much more dark way after her brother accidentally shot a BB gun pellet into her right eye. “Where the BB pellet struck there was a glob of whitish scar tissue, a hideous cataract, on my eye.” In other words, because of that simple accident Walker no longer considered herself beautiful, she no longer accepted herself. As a result of this, Walker “abused her eye every night.” “ That night, as I do almost every night, I abuse my eye.

Her brothers had forced her not to tell their parents, but they soon found out. When she later lost the use of her right eye, Walker started to become more engaged into the world. For example, “She also began to develop a writer’s objective perspective, and her home became her first field of observation” (Gillespie 5). The negative side of her losing the use of her right eye, she became self-conscious. The scar tissue that covered over the eye made her dislike people looking at her appearance.