The
more renowned literature of the late-nineteenth and early- to mid-twentieth
centuries has a primary focus on more realistic topics than its fictitious kin.
The works of Julia Alvarez and Nathanial Hawthorne are included in this
near-endless list. Their works “White Woman of Color” and “The Birthmark” Both
have a subliminal theme of imperfection. This imperfection, seen more so in
modern times than in the past, is this constant nagging by society, in an
attempt for corporations to make higher income by feeding off the fears of the
populace. Perfection, much to the dismay of the entities feeding off of fear,
is something that cannot be obtained, it cannot be reached; perfection is
something that is viewed by the individual analyzing another entity, whether it
be human, animal, or object.
To
begin, the story of “White woman of Color” is the perfect comparison to the
feeling of imperfection. Julia Alvarez perfectly describes this clash of
cultures, from her maternal side being more industrialized and ‘modernized,’
while her paternal side is more ‘rural.’ Her mother’s side of the family saw
lighter skin as a more desirable trait. This pale skin and fair hair, along
with certain facial features and body shape, is what is displayed as the
perfect woman in more modernized cultures, such as America and Europe, where
many of her maternal relatives had large businesses in their home country and
had went to school abroad. Her mother’s side seemed to focus more on the
manners and lifestyles of an outside country, with Alvarez stating, “My mother,
of course, insisted on all the protocols of knives and forks and on eating a
little portion of everything serves. My father on the other hand, defended our
eating whatever we wanted, with our hands, if need be…” (Alvarez 2). By going over
the details of Alvarez’ biography, we see that there was this seemingly up most
important jaunt for labeled type of
perfection; to aim the mother’s children towards the beauty and perfection of English
mannerisms and Northern European looks. As is the case with having a large
influence leaning over an area like the English had for most of the second millennia
C.E., with the culture of the dominating force often bleeding into the native
culture of the region. However, Alvarez states, “Neither was white blood
necessarily a sign of moral or intellectual or political superiority. All one
has to do it page through a Dominican history book and look at the number of
dark-skinned presidents, dictators, generals and entrepreneurs to see that
power has not resided exclusively or even primarily among the whites on the
island” (3). Alvarez knows there is no set definition for perfection, as her
mother’s side seems to proclaim. Instead, perfection is something that comes
along with being true to oneself.
The
never-ending aim for a type of perfection seems to be prevalent as an underlying
theme in many stories, as we see with “The Birthmark.” The whole problem of the
story revolved around a mark, “…in the center of Georgiana’s left cheek there
was a singular mark, deeply interwoven, as it were, with the texture and
substance of her face…” (Hawthorne 2). This quote seems to resonate that
Georgiana’s mark is something that cannot be removed, because it is something that
makes her a unique individual, and something that makes her perfect in her own
way. More so, having a strong emotional attachment for a judgmental person, one
not unlike Georgiana had for Aylmer, often leads to the breakdown of sanity of
the person with the attachment, wanting endlessly to obtain the approval and
affection of the one they hold dead. This judgmental person will scrutinize
every detail they deem imperfect, constantly belittling the one who loves them,
and make them see themselves as such an imperfection that they feel as though humanity
laughs at them, making them feel so disgusting, repulsive, and unwanted. Georgiana
was described as beautiful, that most guys on the street ogle over her, wishing
to even have a chance at impressing her. However, her heart belongs to Aylmer,
a man who has a distaste for a mark on her cheek, a mark she couldn’t control,
a mark and a distaste that ultimately led to poo, beautiful Georgiana’s death. At
the end of the story, Georgiana states, “My poor Aylmer… you have aimed
loftily; you have done nobly. Do not repent with so high and pure a feeling,
you have rejected the best the earth could offer…” (Hawthorne 14). This
monologue seems to display that, even after hating an involuntarily obtained
mark, even after driving her to the point of wanting it removed to impress him,
Georgiana still had such a love for Aylmer that she opted to have the birthmark
removed via an experimental treatment devised by her love which led to her
untimely demise.
Outside
of literature, we see the quest for perfection in every last thing in the
modern world. In Manhattan, we see the constant billboards and advertisements
throwing ‘amazing this’ and ‘incredible that’ right at our faced. We have a
constant feeling of fear thrown at us, with ‘if you don’t have this, you won’t
be liked’ or ‘if you don’t but this, how will you get over an inane fear?” The
constant use of fears is what bringing our society down to this horrid state,
with the entities claiming that you’re only beautiful if you have a certain
makeup or clothing article. Everyone has a fear of not being deemed attractive.
Some have self-esteem issues, possibly caused by bullying at a young age or
parental abuse. And these companies, these atrocious companies, use this fear
and self-esteem issues as a way to sell their product, to make money. In an
endless quest for perfection, a quest for income, in a jaunt for what cannot be
obtained, we gain not the perfection we sough, but, instead, we gain moral
bankruptcy. The void that consumed our hearts when they are exposed to greed.
We see these women and men on billboards and in magazines and in videos on the
internet that all proclaim being either skinny or muscular is the ‘best thing
ever,’ and how the viewer or consumer can have the ‘perfect beach body’ if they
just follow guidelines set by a company or purchase and exercise video advertised
by a washed up celebrity. We see girls in middle school and high school starve themselves,
resort to expunging a meal from their stomachs because they feel ‘fat’ or
appear to be a few pounds overweight on a chart that was made nearly a century
ago. We see girls and guys self-harm, bringing blades to their wrists or thighs
because they feel like there is no other way to relieve the pain of never being
‘perfect.’ Instead of reaching for a goal that cannot be obtained, we should
express that individuality and uniqueness are traits that are deemed perfect. Jean
Kilbourne states in her article, “The ads sell a great deal more than products.
They sell values, images, and concepts of success and worth, love and
sexuality, popularity and normalcy. They tell us who we are and who we should
be. Sometimes the sell additions.” This quote speaks in such a strong and
scarily accurate feeling of American life, with the advertisements feeding us
the routines of normalcy and what it means to be normal and perfect.
This analysis
and viewing of perfection can be seen by anyone, but it is not appropriate to
want to push someone’s image of perfection to the eyes of others, declaring
that their view of perfection is what perfection truly is, and that is just incorrect. Perfection isn’t a goal, and it cannot be
obtained, perfection is viewed, seen by someone else. We, instead of attempting
to turn a profit off of fears, should make an attempt to focus on healing the physical
and emotional wounds of the sick, those that have been plagued by the feeling
of worthlessness and the feeling of being imperfect, unable to reach the goals
of society and unable to reach the goals of those close to them that want them
to be a certain person.
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