2. Disfigurement and Representing the Face
1914FACES2014 Educational Resources: Teacher’s Pack
This pack deals with representations of disfigurement in the media and elsewhere in contemporary
society. Please bear in mind that the resources include graphic images of disfigurement and facial
surgery. They require a sensitive approach, and may arouse strong feelings in some students.
The first part of the pack introduces the story of the facially injured soldiers of the First World War.
This provides a historical reference point which may serve as an anchor for the later examples. In
some contexts, students may find the First World War context extremely remote at first, but we
have found that it recontextualises discussion of contemporary attitudes to disfigurement in
important ways.
Another key strand of this pack is concerned with the medium of representation. What difference
does it make if disfigurement is represented through photography, painting or prose fiction? In our
pilot study, some students found photographic records of disfigurement ‘impossible’ to look at,
while painting provided a means of accessing the topic. The concern with the medium of
representation goes right through these materials, culminating in the discussion of Palacio’s Wonder.
This example allows for a discussion of the ethics and possibilities of using fiction to address
disfigurement.
Slides 2-8: The Facially injured soldiers of the First World War
These slides give a brief introduction to the history of facial injury in the First World War and the
reconstructive techniques which were employed to remedy facial wounds. A fuller account is given
in resource pack I, First World War Facial Injury & reconstructive surgery.
Here, we have concentrated on visual sources which document facial injuries and which tell the
story of the collaboration between surgeons and artists during the war. The artist Henry Tonks was
employed in the surgical unit of Sir Harold Gillies during the First World War in order to produce
before and after drawings of facial surgery. The collaboration may have helped Gillies visualise
procedures, as well as producing documentation of them. At the same time, Tonks’s works include
more detail and artistic elaboration than was strictly necessary, suggesting that he viewed them as
art-works. Nevertheless, he did not consider these works as suitable for public viewing.
Anna Coleman Ladd and Francis Derwent Wood were both sculptors. During the war they worked
as epithesists, or mask-makers. The ‘portrait masks’ they produced were generally worn when
surgery could do no more to mitigate facial injuries. Evidence suggests they were not always
successful: they could be hot and uncomfortable and may only have been worn for short periods.
There is a short silent film showing the work of Anna Coleman Ladd at her American Red Cross
studio in Paris.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCSzrUnie2E
It is around 4 minutes long and should not require advance editing.
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Slides 9-13: Simon Weston
Simon Weston is a veteran of the Falklands War and was badly burned aboard the Sir Galahad during
that conflict in 1982. Twenty two members of his platoon died, and Weston himself suffered 46%
burns to his body and face. He subsequently underwent more than 90 operations to reconstruct his
face. The slides refer to the National Gallery People’s Portrait project, in which Simon became the
first person chosen by the public to sit for a National Gallery portrait.
The topic is concerned with how faces are portrayed in the media (often negatively or normatively),
and with the ways in which people with disfigurements can be portrayed positively.
Slides 14-15 Moshi Monsters
These slides are concerned with the stereotypical portrayals of disfigurement in Moshi Monsters.
These representations are of particular concern in view of the fact that their target audience is
children.
The discussion questions may encourage students to challenge received representations such as
these; or, equally, Moshi Monsters may be perceived as ‘innocent’ or just ‘fun’.
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Slides 16-19 Face transplant
These slides focus on the partial face transplant carried out in 2005 by the team led by Professor
Bernard Devauchelle in Amiens, France. Since then, a number of face transplants have been carried
out, in France, Spain and the United States.
The slides detail the transplant process; the discussion questions focus on the ethical issues which
arise from this kind of procedure. They also raise the question of identity, which is also at stake in
the later slides on Paddy Hartley and R.J. Palacio. To what extent is our identity defined by the face,
and its role in self-perception? Facial injury can result in severe psychological damage, and receiving
a ‘new’ face in the course of the transplant is highly complex. For this reason, Prof Devauchelle’s
patients work with a team of psychiatrists following their operations in order to address the
questions of identity and sense of self which arise following facial surgery. In some cases this work
continues for many years, long after surgery is complete.
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Slides 20-25: Paddy Hartley
Paddy Hartley is a contemporary artist who has carried out in-depth research on the facially injured
soldiers of the First World War. He has carried out research in the Gillies Archives, now held by the
Royal College of Surgeons of England, led and curated the exhibition Faces of Battle at the National
Army Museum, and was artist in residence on 1914FACES2014 at the University of Exeter (2013-15).
Paddy’s work is thought-provoking in its apparent ‘avoidance’ of the face and the concentration of
the stories of facially injured servicemen in embroidered text and other forms.
Analysing the different ways in which stories are told (including naval signalling flags, text,
photographic records) may help students reflect further both about the stories themselves and the
difficulty of telling them.
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Slides 26-30: R.J.Palacio, Wonder (2013).
Palacio’s novel Wonder has been immensely influential in recent years, and offers a subtle, nuanced
depiction of facial difference.
The short chapter ‘Costumes’ encourages students to think about the implications of dressing-up for
the main character, Auggie, in view of his disfigurement. The episode could come from any novel
about a high school student, and yet its resonances are changed by the sub-text of disfigurement.
It may be helpful to ask students whether or not disfigurement is mentioned explicitly here. In fact,
it is simply present as a sub-text which shapes our perceptions of the chapter. Auggie’s reference to
the astronaut helmet which he used to wear emphasises the central point about the possibilities of
disguise, i.e. that this is the one opportunity for Auggie to look like everyone else.
Two extracts from Wonder follow. The first is the short chapter ‘Costumes’ in full. It may be helpful
to circulate this to students in advance. The second extract is taken from the chapter ‘The Drop-Off’,
later in the book. ‘Costumes’ deals with dressing-up in the context of Halloween. ‘The Drop-Off’ is
concerned with the astronaut helmet which Auggie wore when he was younger. There are
references to the helmet throughout the book, and it is clear that Auggie is nostalgic for an object
which provided comfort and, like the Halloween costume, the possibility of ‘passing’ amongst other
children without being defined by his disfigurement. ‘The Drop-Off’ details the relevation that the
helmet was not lost by chance but that Auggie’s dad threw it away. Although the episode has the
potential to signify a betrayal, its emphasis is very different, and suggests a deeper reconciliation
between Auggie and his dad.
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Costumes
For me, Halloween is the best holiday in the world. It even beats Christmas. I get to dress up in a
costume. I get to wear a mask. I get to go around like every other kid with a mask and nobody thinks
I look weird. Nobody takes a second look. Nobody notices me. Nobody knows me.
I wish every day could be Halloween. We could all wear masks all the time. Then we could walk
around and get to know each other before we got to see what we looked like under the masks.
When I was little, I used to wear an astronaut helmet everywhere I went. To the playground. To the
supermarket. To pick Via up from school. Even in the middle of summer, though it was so hot my
face would sweat. I think I wore it for a couple of years, but I had to stop wearing it when I had my
eye surgery. I was about seven, I think. And then we couldn’t find the helmet after that. Mom looked
everywhere for it. She figured that it had probably ended up in Gran’s attic, and she kept meaning to
look for it, but by then I had gotten used to not wearing it.
I have pictures of me in all my Halloween costumes. My first Halloween I was a pumpkin. My
second I was Tigger. My third I was Peter Pan (my dad dressed up as Captain Hook). My fourth I was
Captain Hook (my dad dressed up as Peter Pan). My fifth I was an astronaut. My sixth I was Obi-Wan
Kenobi. My seventh I was a clone trooper. My eighth I was Darth Vader. My ninth I was the Bleeding
Scream, the one that has fake blood oozing out over the skull mask.
This year I’m going to be Boba Fett: not Boba Fett the kid in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the
Clones, but Boba Fett the man from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Mom searched
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everywhere for the costume but couldn’t find one in my size, so she bought me a Jango Fett
costume —since Jango was Boba’s dad and wore the same armor—and then painted the armor
green. She did some other stuff to it to make it look worn, too. Anyway, it looks totally real. Mom’s
good at costumes.
In homeroom we all talked about what we were going to be for Halloween. Charlotte was going as
Hermione from Harry Potter. Jack was going as a wolfman. I heard that Julian was going as Jango
Fett, which was a weird coincidence. I don’t think he liked hearing that I was going as Boba Fett.
On the morning of Halloween, Via had this big crying meltdown about something. Via’s always
been so calm and cool, but this year she’s had a couple of these kinds of fits. Dad was late for work
and was like, “Via, let’s go! Let’s go!” Usually Dad is super patient about things, but not when it
comes to his being late for work, and his yelling just stressed out Via even more, and she started
crying louder, so Mom told Dad to take me to school and that she’d deal with Via. Then Mom kissed
me goodbye quickly, before I even put on my costume, and disappeared into Via’s room.
“Auggie, let’s go now!” said Dad. “I have a meeting I can’t be late for!”
“I haven’t put my costume on yet!”
“So put it on, already. Five minutes. I’ll meet you outside.”
I rushed to my room and started to put on the Boba Fett costume, but all of a sudden I didn’t feel
like wearing it. I’m not sure why—maybe because it had all these belts that needed to be tightened
and I needed someone’s help to put it on. Or maybe it was because it still smelled a little like paint.
All I knew was that it was a lot of work to put the costume on, and Dad was waiting and would get
super impatient if I made him late. So, at the last minute, I threw on the Bleeding Scream costume
from last year. It was such an easy costume: just a long black robe and a big white mask. I yelled
goodbye from the door on my way out, but Mom didn’t even hear me.
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“I thought you were going as Jango Fett,” said Dad when I got outside.
“Boba Fett!”
“Whatever,” said Dad. “This is a better costume anyway.”
“Yeah, it’s cool,” I answered.
The Drop-Off (extract)
“Auggie, I couldn’t stand seeing that thing cover your face anymore,” he said clumsily.
“Dad, I loved that helmet! It meant a lot to me! I was bummed beyond belief when it got lost—
don’t you remember?”
“Of course I remember, Auggie,” he said softly. “Ohh, Auggie, don’t be mad. I’m sorry. I just
couldn’t stand seeing you wear that thing on your head anymore, you know? I didn’t think it was
good for you.” He was trying to look me in the eye, but I wouldn’t look at him.
“Come on, Auggie, please try to understand,” he continued, putting his hand under my chin and
tilting my face toward him. “You were wearing that helmet all the time. And the real, real, real, real
truth is: I missed seeing your face, Auggie. I know you don’t always love it, but you have to
understand … I love it. I love this face of yours, Auggie, completely and passionately. And it kind of
broke my heart that you were always covering it up.”
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