"Autobiography of a Face"

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews Lucy Grealy's memoir "Autobiography of a Face", discussing, in particular, the fantasy theme that is prevalent throughout the book. The author recounts Grealy's diagnosis with potentially terminal cancer and her ordeal of enduring surgery after surgery to reconstruct her disfigured face. The paper discusses how Grealy's sees herself, and how throughout her early life, Grealy believed after each unsuccessful operation that the next one would give her the fantasy face she was longing for so that she could begin her life.

From the Paper:

"In her memoir, Autobiography of a Face, Lucy Grealy describes her search for self and happiness. At the age of nine, Grealy is diagnosed with potentially terminal cancer which forces her to have a third of her jaw removed. From then on she endures surgery after surgery to reconstruct her disfigured face, while she suffers pain from peer rejection and uneasy stares from the world around her. Throughout her memoir, Grealy covers a number of themes, including everything from the meaning of beauty, to the desire to be special, to the fear of never being loved. One motif that stands out from the rest is fantasy. One of the ways that Grealy copes with her imperfect world is to play roles which allow her to hide her disfigurement and to feel more normal. However, Grealy's looking to fantasy as a way to discern what is perfect and what she should be causes her to become even more separate from a world in which she is already displaced."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Autobiography of a Face, Lucy Grealy. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin. 1994.

More papers on "Autobiography of a Face":

• Book Review # 105058 : "Lucy Grealy "Autobiography of a Face"
• Essay # 71159 : "Autobiography of a Face"
• Analytical Essay # 4265 : "With the Horns of a Lamb and the Voice of a Dragon"

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