Society is a monster. In both “The Eyes of the Beholder” and “The Birthmark”, there are characters, which are different from the rest. The others try to make that person feel bad by attempting to remove their defect. As a result, the protagonists feel very self-conscious, which eventually causes unrest. The unrest makes conflict, thus creating an interesting plot.
Recall
Both women were regarded as monsters in “The Birthmark” and “The Eye of the Beholder” as they contained something that most people in their society did not have. The others in their societies acted in a rash manner rather than an accepting one. The way that they feel towards the others’ actions, makes them feel like monsters.
Reflect
These women are teaching us as viewers/readers about the society and how it works. The way that society reacts to the differences in the women shows how judgmental and disapproving society is to people who aren’t ‘perfect’.
These women are similar in the fact that they are different from the others around them. As a result, they are both condemned and have people wanting to change them. Eventually, these women become self-conscious about themselves. They are different because one lives in a mythical society and one lives in a modern day society.
In both “The Birthmark” and “The Eye of the Beholder”, the women are not ‘perfect’ according their societal norms. Both of the societies are different from each other but the women both have something that doesn’t allow them to be normal.
As stated earlier, society is a monster. We judge people who aren’t like rest (for the better or the worse), we try to fix people who aren’t like the rest, etc. Humans are dangerous creatures. However, this isn’t going to change. As a result, people just have to choose whether to accept criticism or not.