The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell

Eye color is a defining physical characteristic. Listed on driver’s licenses, passports, and dating apps, the hue of a person’s eye holds an almost archetypal significance and is culturally tied to identity. For Sam, eyes symbolically relate to his self-regard, and his eye color defines him from birth as exceptional, different, and even devilish. Though eye color doesn’t indicate visual impairment (let alone personality), the stigma of Sam’s red eyes eventually stops him from “seeing” his own worth. The first time someone mocks Sam for his eye color, he prays the color will change: “That night I dreamed of a black crow with a sharp beak pecking at my eyes” (41). Though Sam doesn’t experience vision problems until high school, he becomes disillusioned with his outward appearance. Eventually, his aversion to his physical body becomes a deeper self-hatred.

Sam’s pursuit of ophthalmology is symbolic, as if helping others’ physical eyesight might somehow redeem his own spiritual vision. Throughout the narrative, Sam refers to his mother’s detailed scrapbook, a visual representation of Sam’s life: “The photographs are also in the scrapbook and, ironically, everyone in them has red eyes from the flash of the bulb” (188). Madeline wishes Sam could see himself as she does, but his only desire is to look like everyone else.