Storytelling and Interpretation in The Beauty

Storytelling and Interpretation in The Beauty

This article relates to The Beauty

Aliya Whiteley's The Beauty is a dystopian tale about the aftermath of a lethal infection that killed all women, and man's response to a new humanoid species that subsequently grows from the bodies of the dead. The book explores gender roles and human evolution; but running parallel to these themes is an equally fascinating thread about the power and importance of oral storytelling when facing our past, present, and future.

Nathan's initial role as the storyteller in a group of surviving men is to bring comfort by keeping alive the memories of the women they have lost. He takes this task seriously, exaggerating the women's positive qualities and erasing all trace of the human flaws they once had. He explains his process thus:

"I listen, retain, then polish and release them over the fire at night, when the others hush and lean forward in their desire to hear of the past. They crave romance, particularly when autumn sets in and cold nights await them, and so I speak of Alice, and Bethany, and Sarah, and Val, and other dead women who all once had lustrous hair and never a bad word on their plump lips. I can remember this is not how they were; I knew them. I knew them! Only six years have passed and yet I mythologize them as if it is six thousand."

If Nathan is aware of his rose-tinted view of the deceased, so too are his listeners. Thus the real aim of these stories is not simply to preserve the past, but to ease the listeners' grief. For Nathan, this task is both a burden and a blessing, granting him a sense of purpose:

"I am stretched thin with their wanting sometimes, but I wouldn't change that feeling of being needed, of being necessary."

Nathan also uses his flair for storytelling to help the group navigate the difficulties they face in the present, particularly in their dealings with the titular Beauty. When a member of the group becomes distressed at the thought of integrating with the newly emerged species, Nathan offers up his services:

"'Let me explain it for you, around the fire. I can give it a voice.'
'No,' he says. 'No.'
I say, 'Why not? That's my job. I should make a story about this. It will help us all to face it, overcome it.'"

Soon, it becomes clear to Nathan that his stories may also prove integral in convincing those who fear change to embrace a possible new future alongside The Beauty. As he sees it, some of the group, particularly older men more set in their ways, "hate the idea that there could be hope." He sets out to paint hopeful pictures of what the future could be, to help others take their tentative first steps towards it. "Once upon a time we idolised the past because that was all we had," he tells them. "Now we must look to the future and sacrifice the sacred cow of our glorious Group."

The other members of the group recognize Nathan's power to warp reality and influence them using his words. "[W]hen you remake the past and take potshots at the future in your stories, you play with a delicate balance," one man tells him. "You could tip us into chaos." And sometimes his stories antagonize those who don't share his worldview. "You represent your own morality, and expect us all to agree with it," another says.

This theme is represented by the structure of the novel itself: Nathan, the first-person narrator, is the one relaying the story to the reader. By his own admission, his stories are "as slippery as seasons"; they shift and evolve in his telling, influenced by his own morals and opinions. Every encounter we see with The Beauty, and his fellow men, is filtered through the context of his response and feelings towards them. Readers understand that Nathan's version of events may not be the whole picture—that there is no objective truth, simply one's own understanding of the story and its subtext.

Put another way, The Beauty is about how storytelling is not a one-way street; it requires both a storyteller and an audience to receive the story. As Nathan's group fractures and disillusionment towards him grows, he abandons his role:

"I see in the four faces that patronise me that my time as a storyteller is at an end. I have no listeners any more. I could talk on and on and it would be as if the world had gone deaf."

The implication is that a story only gains its meaning through its audience—that meaning is created by the act of interpretation and is not imposed by the teller or author. In this way, The Beauty becomes a meta commentary on the very skill of deeper reading and interpretation.

Image courtesy of Mike Erskine.

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This article relates to The Beauty. It first ran in the November 5, 2025 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.