Alice Walker Beauty

In the essay “Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self”, Alice Walker is the center of attention as a young child, but when she was eight years old that was taken from her the moment she was shot in the eye by her brother. She lived six years looking down and feeling shame for her right globbed eye. Later on in life, the clump was removed at the age of fourteen and the surgery changed her whole world- or she thinks it did. Without the glob, Walker felt more confident throughout the years, but the one thing that truly turned the switch inside of her was her daughter, Rebecca. Unconsciously, Rebecca taught Walker how to appreciate and love herself again after so many years of anger and hate for her eye and outer beauty. Normally people who acquire …show more content…
“Never mind “glamorous,” it is the “whatever” that I hear. Suddenly all I can think if is whether I will get enough sleep the night before the photography session: if I don’t, my eye will be tired and wander, as blind eyes will.”(46). Being an author did not help her case, particularly since Walker is a public figure that is prone to criticism from the public. With her previous familiarity in the subject of harassment, Walker assumes that even her baby daughter will treat her in the same manner her culprits did. “All children are cruel about physical differences, I know from experience, and that they don’t always mean to be is another matter. I assume Rebecca will be the same.”(47). All her negative thoughts changed the moment her daughter said, “Mommy, there’s a world in your eye.”(47). Even though Rebecca is only a baby, her words are full of sincerity and wisdom. She was able to spark a fire of truth and recognition into her mother's soul when she realized “There was a world in my [her] eye.”(48). All the time Walker dwelled on the negative aspects of her life and dove into the thought of others, she didn’t see that the most beautiful thing was inside her heart. The only true beauty she needed was love and acceptance for