Autobiography Of A Face Analysis

Opinions are the beliefs of people based on their knowledge, views, and preconceived notions about a subject. For every opinion there is another contradicting view, which leads most people to create doubt as to whether their beliefs are true. It is difficult for people to ignore a crowd of voices which repeat the same thing, so they doubt their own way of thinking. The human mind tends to always believe what others have to say and go along with the crowd as a desperate attempt to feel special and loved instead of alone and a parah. Lucy Grealy’s Autobiography of a Face describes her struggle to feel accepted by her peers after losing three-quarters of her jaw due to childhood cancer. Her facial disfigurement left her doubting her own opinions …show more content…
This truth is a constant struggle everyone has to overcome. Everyone always wishes to be accepted, even if it means giving up what they once thought to be true. Before being diagnosed with cancer at age eight, Grealy was an outspoken tomboy and a clear example of Russell’s ideal views between certainty and doubt. She wasn’t swayed by others opinions, yet at the same time doubted her own. This doubt overcame her life when her face and identity was what she believed to be ugly. The bullies constant torturing and opinions of her looks convinced her that her somewhat pleasant opinions of herself were not true. “They pointed openly and laughed, calling out loudly enough for me to hear, “What on earth is that? That is the ugliest girl I have ever seen….I thought to myself the world of love wanted nothing to do with me.” (Grealy, 124). Grealy began losing all confidence in her own opinions and instead of simply doubting them, she adopted everyone else’s views of her as her own. As Russell describes in his writings, Grealy did the opposite. She had no certainty in herself, only doubt which lead to her miserable view on …show more content…
A person with too much certainty in oneself and who do not accept any varying ideas, will never grow and learn in life. New points of view bring a new perspective into life which helps to see things differently and understand how different people view the world. In contrast, a person who has no certainty in oneself and looks to others to create their own opinions will live with little confidence and struggle finding their true self away from everyone else. It is a constant struggle in life to find independence away from the crowd, yet at the same time taking in their perspective. Grealy was too accepting of others opinions of her that she obsessed over their thoughts over her own. “Assuming this how other people felt...I named my own face as the thing that kept me apart, as the tangible element of what was wrong with my life and with me.” (Grealy 127). The balance of certainty and doubt was a constant wave of high and low is Grealy’s life, like it is in many others. I, myself, even struggle in the same way, to find myself outside of the crowd and to try to build enough confidence to make my point, yet inside feel doubt that it is right to go against the crowd when it is safer to stay