International Journal of Language & Literature

The Paradox of Being Nothing but a Body in Lucy Grealy's An Autobiography of a Face
Dr. Nouf Alkhattabi

Abstract
In a social set-up, people behave, think and act following what others in a group do. Because of the social nature of people‟s lives and interactions, those who are less fortunate in a community adopt new forms of lifestyle that conform to the new identity given to them by the stronger. The study here, is an account of Lucy Grealy‟s childhood illness and disfigurement as presented in her book, An Autobiography of a face, which provides a powerful insight into the nature of her suffering. As the community discriminates against Lucy due to her physical appearance, she retreats from normal life and accepts their judgment. Through sociological analysis, the study examines how the development of an identity is influenced often by superficial social norms. The researcher emphasizes the destroying effects of our preoccupation with physical beauty as presented in Lucy‟s autobiography twenty-seven years ago and is still going on today leading to paradoxical conclusions within humanity. Hence, the researcher suggests executing further studies on the paradox of being nothing but a body especially today with the wide spread of social media and its advertisement for physical beauty.

Full Text: PDF      DOI: 10.15640/ijll.v9n2a1