Leah Silverman’s “Lenses” tells the story of a young surgeon, Corinne, who is asked to replace the vivid eyes of a friend with two round, steel lenses. She finds herself at a crossroads; she must decide whether or not to go through with the operation, risking ruining her friend’s depth and character. As Corinne says, “Her new eyes will not be brown, and they will not shine with her laughter.”
In our society, the eye is regarded as a gateway to the soul. It represents our truest feelings and desires. But in our world of striving for better, faster and stronger, they consequently must be replaced with something more efficient, something more “perfect”. It is in this attempt for perfection that Corinne realizes that maybe perfection, though it may be achieved, may not always be the right choice. She even prefers the rawness of a black and white photo to one with colour because it makes the scene seem “less real” and “more like an idea.”
As previously stated, Corinne finds herself given the difficult choice of whether or not to perform the operation. She feels that it would be easier “to carve [her] own heart out of [her] chest” rather than replace her friend’s eyes with cold, emotionless steel. What makes the decision even more difficult is the fact that Grusha, her friend, ignorantly believes that the new eyes will, in fact, be better. But Corinne knows better; she knows that the surgury will rob Grusha of her soul.
In the end, Corinne feels that there is no other option, and, consequently, performs the surgery. When Grusha asks Corinne how the new eyes look, Corinne is speechless. Instead of telling her friend the truth, Corinne puts a mirror to Grusha’s face, showing her the terrible consequences of society’s thirst for perfection.
Wow!