In the novel, The Belles, Dhonielle Clayton explored the way that people viewed themselves through the world of the belles. Since the world needed the belles to help correct their physical flaws, the belles were constantly covered in the news. The news in this world, however, was not factual news. The news was all gossip and rumors. “Lady Francesca Carnigan, of House Helie, rumored to have a beauty addiction. Queen might lift sailing restrictions, opening kingdom to trade. Some hair textures don’t catch the beauty- lantern light” (44). This newspaper is very similar to the way that social media works today. Many times, social and beauty standards are assumed from what famous people post online. This newspaper is exposing that about our society with these rumors and trends that nobody could ever keep up with. So the underlying message of the story is to just be yourself, and do what makes you feel beautiful, not what others think.
Story Power 
This is a solid connection between the story and real life situations. I agree with what you are saying. People have a skewed image of what is “normal” because of what is seen online. This needs to change.
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I think this is an important take away from the story. I think news can be an extremely dangerous way of obtaining information because it can be altered or non-factual. On the contrary, the news is one of the most common ways of gathering information. Maybe that is why people change it to modify what is “normal”?
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