The+Ugliest+Pilgrim

The Ugliest Pilgrim by Doris Betts =The Basics: =
 * The book was fist published in 1973 with the story taking place in 1969. The setting is on a bus travling from Spruce Pine, NC to Tulsa, OK.
 * The characters in this story consist of Violet Karl, Grady “Flick” Fliggins, Monty Harrell, An elderly white woman, Mr. Weatherman.

=The Story: =

This short story is about a girl, Violet, who is on a quest to fix her disfigured face. She is on a bus traveling to Tulsa to meet with the Preacher and persuade him to cure her face of a horrible scar; a scar that she gained due to a horrible meeting with an ax. But on the road she meets two soldiers, one black (Flick) and one white (Monty), and her opinion of outer appearances slowly changes as she gets closer to her destination.

= __Deconstruction__   =

Race:
As Violet makes her journey to Tulsa, she meets two influential soldiers. One of them, Flick, is an African American man who develops a unique relationship with her. As they travel together the two engage in conversation, play cards and even exchange addresses. Throughout the story Flick takes a liking to Violet and periodically helps her out in her journey, he's even waiting for her return along with Monty. Although Violet seems very open-minded about Flick's skin color, there are man instances where she openly shows racism towards him. When Violet first sees Flick she keeps referring to him as a "nigger soldier" until finally learning his name. When she sits next to him at the terminal it is not because she chooses to but because she did not notice. She also tries to avoid eye contact and noting, "they seem like foreigners". Violet's first interaction with Flick involves her pointing out how he deals to Monty (a //white// soldier) to protect him. Later on during the trip, Flick volunteers to accompany Violet to Tulsa but she responds, "I'll not take black skin, no offense," which in turn offends him deeply. After noticing she hurt him instead of apologizing she reacts, "what's wrong if I don't want it any more than you?" And lastly, when they exchange addresses she does so knowing that he won't write until she writes first, therefore she can safely give him her information knowing he would not contact her first.

If we place value on sex and gender in this short story we unvail a story about a woman who doesn't feel like a woman due to her scared face. For instance, on pg 44 in //Stories of the Modern South// the old woman says to Violet, "A girl alone. A girl that maybe feels she's got to prove something? The skin on her neck shivers. "Some people might take advantage" (Betts). Violet replies in her head, "Maybe when I ride home under my new face, htat will be some risk" (Betts). Another glimpse of her inability to see herself as a woman occurs when she's having sex with Monty and he realizes he's not the first, her mind alters to her past when someone took her first over a five dollar bet. She doesn't feel that she's received an injustice; instead, just some explanation for why someone's been there before. The story is centered on inner beauty, but through deconstruction we find a Violet who doesn't feel like a woman. She feels that once her face is changed so will her gender. It is only in the dark that she feels she can hold Monty's hand and sleep with him; in the light her face returns and her feminism shattered. There's a novel called //Uglies// by Scott Westerfeld where it has a main character who is taught to believe she is ugly; therefore, she feels anything she does in this stage of life isn't accountable until she becomes a pretty. I feel that Violet doesn't feel she is a woman, a suitable lady for Monty, and that nothing she does counts until she is physically beautiful.

Having Violets emotion's stirred up and becoming extremely self-conscious, up to the point where her self-esteem reaches rock bottom, because of the scar on her face; in hope of being beautiful, she puts her total faith in her God (Christian Faith-Christ) and a preacher to perform a miracle in which will leave her gorgeous and scarless. Throughout the story, she makes direct comments and communication to the supernatural. We may argue that because of the Charismatic Televised preacher, her religion is of the Christian Faith. The attitude she potrays if very much like the followers of Christian Religion. One of her many statements that makes the link to a hight God is when she says “I have been praising you, Lord, but it gets harder every year". From this, it is safe to say that her main motivation is supernatural because of her belief that this God and the preacher can perform the miracle. Religion plays a huge part and is the center of reason throughout the story for Violet. Without her belief in her God and faith towards her religion, this story wouldn't workout as well as it does.

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