Question

read & annotate the word choice in the following description:
\he felt her there, he saw her without opening his eyes, her hair burnt by chemicals to a brittle straw, her eyes with a kind of cataract unseen but suspect far behind the pupils, the reddened pouting lips, the body as thin as a praying mantis from dieting, and her flesh like white bacon. he could remember her no other way.\
what can be inferred about mildred from this description?

Explanation:

1. The harsh, unflattering imagery (brittle straw hair, "white bacon" flesh, praying mantis-thin body) reveals the speaker sees her as physically damaged and unattractive, a result of harmful beauty practices (chemical hair treatments, extreme dieting).
2. The "unseen but suspect" cataract and reddened lips hint at long-term harm from her habits, suggesting self-destructive behavior tied to societal beauty standards.
3. The line "He could remember her no other way" implies this damaged state is her permanent, defining form in his memory, not a temporary condition.

Answer:

From this description, we can infer that Mildred has engaged in extreme, harmful self-modification (chemical hair treatments, severe dieting) to conform to narrow beauty standards, leaving her physically damaged and appearing unattractively gaunt and altered. Her state is so fixed that the speaker cannot recall her as anything other than this worn, self-harmed version of herself, suggesting a long-term pattern of self-destructive behavior tied to her appearance.