"Barbie Doll": Imagery

    Although Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy is a rather brief piece of literature, the meaning it carries holds tremendous weight.  The author uses imagery to tell the tragic tale of the a young girl.  In the beginning, the girl grows up playing with a Barbie doll.  It is at an early age that the image of this dolls instills into the mind of this small child that women should have unnaturally skinny and artificial features.  Because of this, the girl, though she "was healthy, tested intelligent, possessed strong arm and back", and had everything going for her, grows up with a poor self- esteem (Piercy).  This low self confidence causes the girl to cut off her natural features, and kill herself.  At the funeral, with a new nose and thin legs, the girl is finally viewed by others as beautiful.  It strikes me as incredibly sad that, even after her death caused by the world's harsh scrutiny, the people still cannot looks past her appearance.  The usage of imagery allows the readers to see how the girl actually appears, how she views herself, and how others see her.  I imagine the author's motivation for writing this poems was to show society's obsession with physical appearances, and the brutal effect it has on women.