Evaluative Claim: How Darkness Is Ugly But How Beautiful

Olga Reprintseva
Writing 122
Final draft
Evaluative Claim

How Ugly but How Beautiful
"Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness.
It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift"
(Oliver, Mary). A lot of people hate and are afraid of darkness. “A recent Top 10 phobia list on Live Science indicates that he number six phobia was fear of the dark. While some may think being afraid of the dark is the domain of children, in actuality, some adults harbor that dread as well” (Snap, Tammy). Darkness affects vision, is associated with the devil, is a setting for crime, and darkness can harm. Darkness is ugly because it takes control of a person’s mind, and makes all fears come out. It is ugly because darkness creates the
unexpected. Let’s look deeper at the definition of beauty. “Beauty is the quality present in a thing or person thet gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else, as personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest” (Beauty). Beauty and ugliness are two concepts that can’t be accepted without each other. Without accepting something as ugly, we wouldn’t be able to realize what a real beauty is. It’s an indivisible combination, as well as good and bad, black and white, or evil and kindness. “Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it” (Confucius). Confucius is right, beauty is not easy to see, most of the time it is hidden somewhere deep in the inside. It needs an effort to found a beauty. Very often an ugly and scary thing is judged because its beauty wasn’t found or understood. So was darkness too. Darkness is very beautiful because it has a magical and powerful energy, it is a sign, and it opens something new for us. During the dark time, we can admire and enjoy the things that we are not able to when it is bright and light.
That’s for example stars, fireflies, or a landing of a flight. Everyone at least once in their life was lying on the car, or on the grass, or on the deck of a house and just looking some where far away in the dark sky at the small moving uncountable lights. All these things wouldn’t be explored and so beautiful without darkness. Another example of an event that darkness turns into a nice time, is just sitting around the fireplace somewhere in the wood with your friends, melting marshmallow, drinking tea, and just chilling. Darkness is wonderful through Christmas time when lights are dancing on every house. It seems like you jump into a fairytale. Darkness helps to switch from one reality to another. Time Square, Las Vegas, Eiffel tower, or downtown of a city all this is an addition to darkness. All these shining buildings and lights make the darkness incredibly beautiful. As well as darkness makes a city, building, sky or an event romantic, funny, wondering, and breathtaking. Darkness is amazing for the shadows; which make me feel like they are the kids of darkness. These kids of darkness live their own life. They have their own shape and moves. Little lights don’t change the real meaning of darkness, it just shows us one of the sides of darkness. Nothing is perfect separately, but a combination can make something
ideally. Darkness is a sign for peace and rest. When it is dark we start relaxing, we know that the hard working day is over. The loud noise on the freeway calms down. Cars near our houses stop passing by. When we go outside we see that the lights are on in the houses. WE can see the shadows of peoples’ figures through the window. People are at home to be with their family or loved ones. They are eating, watching a movie, or just talking. Darkness is a sign for slowing down. There is no rush anymore. Now everything can wait till the sun rise again. Darkness is time to think about ourselves, let all our thoughts go away and make our minds open that the darkness can feel it. It is time for the sleep, and when we close our eyes the first thing we see is darkness. We know that this darkness is beautiful because we were waiting for it through our busy day. Darkness takes our minds, relax our feet and arms, and let our imagination flow. Darkness takes us in a tour to a different world. It presents us dreams. Darkness is beautiful because of the expectations. Sometimes we just stand in the dark and we don’t know what to expect, you are completely lost. In this moment all the fears start coming out. A lot of people hate darkness for that, but I think it’s amazing. These expectations make a person feel alive, not insensitive. In the darkness all emotions are acute. It makes our blood boiling, our heart starts beating faster. I bet a lot of people like the moment when they sit in a dark movie theatre, waiting when the movie starts. Then the screen flashes, the movie might be bad or good it doesn’t make sense; but this short moment, just this few seconds in darkness, the feelings of expecting something great are the best. As Harden, Marcia Gay once said: “I love it when ugliness is beautiful. I love character flaws.” So do I; the flaws of darkness are its beauty. Darkness might look ugly for the first impression because we associated it with bad things. However, without darkness we wouldn’t be able to explore some other things, we wouldn’t have a chance for some special moments, and experience different kinds of feelings, such as fear, peace, and excitement. Without darkness everything will be to simple; there wouldn’t be left much room for imagination. Darkness is infinity and that makes it magical. Darkness might be turned into beauty. Beauty can be found every where even in the weirdest things. So, before naming something ugly, we should make sure that we found and evaluate all the beauty.