Lucy Grealy Autobiography Of A Face Analysis

Plastic vs. Reality
Lucy Grealy compares her interactions with her family and with animals in Autobiography of a Face. Throughout this passage Grealy’s connection with her plastic animals mirrors her relationship with her family. Leaving the toys alone every night, Grealy is testing the toys to see if they can survive without her. While Grealy was in the hospital, her family had to continue their lives as they casually visited her. Comparing her situation with her plastic animals, “How could I explain why it was crucial for me, safe inside my bed at night, to think of them out there, living their continuous lives regardless of my presence” (89). Grealy felt comfortable around animals. Unlike with her family, Grealy felt no judgement. Grealy’s confidence was based on how people saw her. …show more content…
When playing with the plastic animals, she was able to play God. Grealy had complete control over her toy kingdom, however she was living through them. Subconsciously, Grealy knew that she was the plastic snake in her family; manufactured differently. She believed that if only she was as beautiful as her lion, she would not be overlooked. Grealy always caught the stares from strangers because of her face. She stated that, “I could count on some sort of attention, and I discovered that people were embarrassed when I caught them looking at me” (101). This is not the attention that Grealy longed for; they stared because she was different. Grealy clarified this by saying, “If this type of attention wasn’t always comfortable for me, it nonetheless further defined me” (101). For as long as she believed she was the snake she would be just that. Grealy had to eventually accept herself as different and use it as an advantage. In chapter five Grealy said,” When I was younger, before I’d gotten sick, I’d wanted to be special, to be different. Did this then make me the creator of my own