Only the Beautiful

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of eugenics and sexual assault. The guide also discusses the Aktion T4 program, which was implemented by the Nazi regime during World War II and euthanized children with disabilities.

At the center of the novel lie three disadvantaged young women, all of whom suffer unjustly from the social stigmas imposed upon them by the arbitrary standards of their respective cultures. By detailing the myriad hardships that they endure, the author strives to give a voice to the voiceless and raise awareness of the ways in which such women were historically marginalized and abused. These three women are Rosanne “Rosie” Maras (the primary protagonist), Amaryllis (the daughter whom Rosie is forced to give up), and Brigitta Maier (an Austrian girl who has a physical disability and numerous undisclosed health problems). As the novel shifts between the disparate narrative threads, the author challenges the societal devaluation of these characters by finding unique ways to stress their intrinsic worth and dignity, thereby denouncing the various ways in which society has deemed each character to be less fit, less desirable, or less worthy of compassion.

Rosie bears the brunt of this dynamic, for because she has a rare case of synesthesia, she is “othered” throughout her life and must deal with the fact that her own society has deemed her unworthy. Combined with her refusal to name the father of her child, society’s mistrust and misunderstanding of her neurological condition causes her to be improperly committed to the Sonoma State Home for the Infirm rather than being allowed to simply find a home for mothers in need. Eventually, Rosie realizes that she is being held due to her synesthesia, which the doctor claims is negatively impactful to society. When Rosie protests that her condition harms no one, the doctor objects, asserting, “On the contrary, […] [it is] hurting you. Why do you think you’re here?” (92). The failure of so many to deal fairly and kindly with Rosie illustrates the larger moral failure of society to accommodate the unique differences of neurodivergent individuals, and thus, the author uses this character to highlight the many ways in which social institutions use sanctioned practices to marginalize women who have little power to advocate for themselves.

Amaryllis is the one who comes off lightest in this regard, since she is still quite young and has had little chance to fall afoul of the world’s harsh judgments, but even she must deal with the trauma of being an orphan without a home. As a result, she is initially wary of Helen, even when the possibility of being adopted becomes a potential reality. Given the fact that other adults have expressed interest in bringing her home but never followed through, she finds Helen’s overture difficult to trust. However, when Helen assures the girl of her own love and stresses that Rosie desperately wanted to keep her and simply was not allowed to do so, Amaryllis finds these reassurances to be a key factor in healing her long-held inner beliefs that she would never be loved. Thus, although her own appearance in the novel is relegated to a few simple scenes, the author makes it clear that she has suffered extensively due to the hardships that have befallen her mother. In this way, Susan Meissner implicitly emphasizes the generational effects of socially sanctioned injustices.

In Brigitta’s case, the Nazi-dominated Austrian government callously judges her value as a human being by weighing her potential usefulness to society against calculations of the social burden that she represents. Brigitta has a physical disability and several undisclosed health issues, and as Helen recounts in one of her letters, “The government here doesn’t like people who are different in any way, and there are more and more rumors about what they are doing to people seen as inferior” (59). In many ways, Brigitta’s story represents the most drastic version of marginalization, for because of the Nazi regime’s state-sanctioned eugenics program, she is judged too inferior to be allowed to live and is summarily euthanized. Thus, all three women suffer extreme hardships as a result of being judged unworthy in some way; however, their stories are meant to testify to the intrinsic dignity of human beings. Through these characters, the author declares that all humans have intrinsic value and cannot be defined by the cruel and arbitrary judgements of any given culture or government.