The Beauty Within Francesca Lia Block's usage of dramatic development, meaningful symbolism, and great characterization come together as a whole to produce a theme of how such a beautiful person can still be lonely.
First of all, Rave's character that develops throughout the story brings out so much meaning. The time at the beach beautifully portrays a deeper meaning of Rave to herself. She existed as such a beautiful person on the outside, but experienced a true happiness she rarely experienced on the day at the beach: ""æpretty soon she was going for it, watching me and catching waves, body surfing, screaming the whole time but digging it, happier than I'd ever seen her and not afraid"à(Block 120). She submersed herself in this life leading her in a downward spiral that even small happy moments like that could not create.
Secondly, characterization takes a role in the story of Rave.
Kill Rock Stars
Rock Stars Kill
English: Oral charcoal used typically used to trea...She came to school dressed and primped up better than anyone. She was portrayed as a freak, "We were both freaks. She was because she was a super-groupie who went to concerts and hung out and slept with rock stars who bought her clothes and sent her home in limos"æAnd what it did to me was it made me not a kid either, like Rave. Neither of us ever felt like kids"à(Block 116). She grew up so fast and experienced too much of life at too young of an age. She never developed relationships with her own age group, just rock stars that lead her to her bittersweet end.
Concluding, symbolism also plays a role in Rave's descriptive loneliness. She never took credit for her own beauty; she felt she needed the rock stars, "They thought and she thought that her beauty was because of them, that she was reflecting them back to them, but I knew that she was the one"ÃÂ (Block 117). She felt she needed that life style, there fore she bowled into a lifeless life of drugs and sex to replace the missing piece in her heart of loneliness.
Dramatic development, interesting characterization, and creative symbolism culminate to create a theme of a beautiful soul's loneliness at heart. The beautiful soul passed away at a youthful age of 17 on a heroin overdose. As stated in the story, "I wish I could have swum just once in the sea of her mermaid tears where all the rock stars should have drowned"ÃÂ (Block 123). Even though he felt for her and many others also: she still felt the need to find love and acceptance in another form. The rock stars sucked her down and snuffed out a bright flame that will never quite be realized. Instead of the rock stars drowning, she drowned herself in an ocean of her lonely tears of desperation.
Works Cited Block, Francesca Lia. "Rave."ÃÂGirl Goddess #9. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.
English: Francesca Lia Block
Who Are They, These Rock Stars?
Northwestern Presents... Rock Stars Attack!