Analysis Of Anzia Yezierska's 'The Lost Beautifulness'

Civil Rights activist and poet Maya Angelou once wrote, “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” Today, this is a quote that I repeat to myself everyday in order to get through anything that the universe sends my way. However, many years ago, I would have never believed in doing such a thing. It was difficult for me to get it screwed into my brain that it is possible to move beyond things that could knock me down. The present is temporary, we always move forward into the future. What happens in the present only becomes the past, something that’s easy to turn my back on. Most people believe that life isn’t fair. That even though you move past these events, it’s difficult to stand …show more content…
Hanneh is painting her kitchen white with all of the money she has saved up from working in a mansion as a maid in hopes to make at least one room in her home look nice for her son’s return. However in a turn of events, the landlord sees the how clean the kitchen looks with it’s new paint and demands that the rent is raised- which Hanneh refuses to comply to. In return, she is being forced out of a home because the landlord believes he can make more money with the apartment since it’s kitchen is so nice. Her husband leaves her and by the end of the story, her son returns to all of his mother’s belongings thrown out on the street along with her huddled body. Like Hanneh in Anzia Yezierska’s “The Lost Beautifulness”, I also learned that I can’t always get what I want when hoping for something …show more content…
It’s Junior High School, not everyone understands- I’m sure that I didn’t even understand what was going on with me at the time either. Like Hanneh, I was trying so hard to create a beautiful and safe space for myself. In the end, I learned that I can’t always expect to get what I want from a situation. Not everyone is going to agree with the things I do nor will they always understand who I am and I have to learn how to handle that. Some people will politely tell me that they don’t agree with me, others will do it in a brutal matter and I have to accept that, too. As hard as it is, it is a harsh reality that this day has taught me. In the story, Hanneh says, “What do I got from living if I can’t have a little beautifulness in my life?” (Yezierska- “The Lost Beautifulness” 1). The truth actually is, that we can not always expect to have a little beautifulness in our lives. From this experience, I decided that even though this horrible event happened to me, I can’t let it keep me in hiding. I need to be myself because that’s the only way I can expect any beautifulness in my life. If I can make myself happy by being myself, then that’s all of the beauty I