The story of Julia Pastrana or "The World's Ugliest Woman" as she came to be known as, is sad and depressing to read. The fact that she was even given the title as "The World's Ugliest Woman" is degrading in one aspect, and the fact that she was stuffed and put on display is horrible. Despite her facial abnormalities, she is still a human being, one who experiences pain, joy, and all the emotions that we experience throughout our lifetimes. To be put on display even after death is creepy to think about because no matter what you cannot escape the pains of this world even though your soul has left. Julia is able to see that her body is put into a glass display case along with her child, and both can be talked about although they are no longer living. It would be like living in a silent film where there is nothing you can say to defend yourself because you no longer have a voice, but then again did Julia even have a voice to begin with when she was alive? Julia was considered to be a "freak" and as society has displayed, outsiders are usually ignored.
The fact that Julia was stuffed was bad enough, but realizing that it was her husband that had her stuffed in the first place was just plain sick. One would think that marriage is a binding ceremony in trust that one's spouse is in love with them. However, it appears that her husband (also manager) was just in it to make a quick buck. He did not want to give up his money just because his wife had passed away, no instead he would stuff his wife and keep her on display for many more years to come. This is really disturbing, because there is no respect for the dead what so ever, and throughout the poem it seems like Julia is trying to convince herself that her husband really did love her. She wants to believe that this whole thing is just a dream and wants to hear that her husband loved her for her own satisfaction, but obviously her husband was just trying to make money off of her. He didn't care about her feelings, which is very deceitful.
(David Roberts, Post 9)
Very strong response to Rose's poem "Julia." I think your reaction goes to show the extent to which society is willing to exploit and dehumanize those who are perceived as "different."
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