Mirror_by_Sylvia_Path-_Analysis

More than a Reflection According to Google, " a mirror is an object with atleast one reflective surface, used to show a reflection" ("google definitions"). So what really drives certain people to look at a mirror for more than a reflection' our society has set certain standards for the ideal "beautiful person". If your a person that does not fit into those certain "standards" you can become depressed and insecure. Most people can wake up, brush their teeth, take a shower, and do their normal routine looking at the mirror maybe two or three times, each time being a quick glimpse. While other people will wake up and do their normal routine, which includes staring at themselves in the mirror for minutes to hours. What would cause a person to spend so much time in the mirror' There are many different reasons. This essay will focus on insecurities and low self-esteem, while I also analyze and compare Sylvia Plath's "Mirror" to my own personal experiences. Through the persona of a mirror, Sylvia Plath uses a unique imagery to express a truthful relationship with a dark hearted depressed woman. Through the many imageries Plath allows us readers a visual picture of the poem. The first stanza gives the mirror human qualities, such as being able to speak, see, and swallow, making it a prime example of personification. The mirror also shows personification by being able to be an object that can reach out to its onlookers by being "truthful" and "rewarding". The mirror has a tone that is serious, direct, and honest. An example is when it states, " I have no preconceptions. Whatever I see I swallow immediately" (1. 1-3). She is letting the viewers know that the mirror has no opinion formed before evidence, and what it sees is the truth. The figurative language Plath chooses to use in this poem helps her readers have a better understanding of the point she is trying to make, for example by comparing uncommon things to more familiar elements. One example is the metaphor used to define the mirror as "the eye of the little God" ( 1.6). This statement signifies the power that the mirror has. With the shift in stanzas, the lake becomes a metaphor. Unlike a mirror, a lake has depth. What has now changed is the onlooker’s experience with the passage of time. Over the years, it is capable of multiple ripple effects, just as a person throwing a stone into the lake witnesses. It now seems to hold secrets from the aging woman. A woman bends over the mirror trying to discover her self. The mirror is called a lake also because, now, the woman does not ttrust her reflection, simply because she cannot bring herself to accept the reality of aging. The mirror's reflection to her is now distorted therefore it is a ‘lake-image’. The mirror also represents itself as "not cruel, only truthful" (1 . 5). this eventually becomes to honest and to blunt for the woman and she resorts to the ‘moon’ and ‘candles’, which according to the mirror are liars. I can relate to how the woman resorts to the "moon" and "candles" . Being pregnant my body is going through so many changes. It has caused me to develop so many insecurities. I don't feel as beautiful as before, spending more and more time in the mirror searching for some positive results. At the end I never find the results I previosly owned. When the lights are dimmed I seem to feel somewhat relieved for that time being, until I turn back to reality. In my perspective the purpose of this poem is to infom the readers of the insecurities and depression that Sylvia Plath was going through while aging. The poem let's the readers know how much power a mirror can have to certain people and that when you look into a mirror, what you see is what you get. " I am important to her. She comes and goes" ( 2. 9-10), states the value of the mirror for the woman and indicates that the woman is somewhat addicted to the mirror to the point where she is searching for what she really is in the mirror. That shows how powerful the morror is. The mirror is a reflection of whatever it sees. Also the mirror is not capable of lieing. It is not there to give you false hope, it is only there to reflect the image of the person or thing that approaches it. The poem also informs the reader that aging is a process of life, and we will not look young forever. That goes for my situation as well, because I am sowmewhat addicted to the mirror as well, searching for a better result, only to never find it. What would cause a person to spend so much time in the mirror' I believe our societies standards of a beautiful woman causes a person with low self-esteem and insecurities to focus into the mirror looking for that " beautiful woman". Our society has made most people, especially woman, feel that you have to be of a certain image to be beautiful. With that said, in my opinion society is to blame for so many insecure, depressed human beings like Plath. If we were to look at beauty from within, and focus more on a persons inner soul, behavioral characteristics, attitudes, and personality, we would probably have fewer people with insecurities and low self-esteem. Works Cited Google.com, 2010, Web. 17 Jan. 2011 Plath, Sylvia. Mirror. 1961, 17 Jan. 2011