Allegorical Tale Mirror Image by Lena Coakley Essay Example
Mirror Image by Lena Coakley is an allegorical tale that depicts the internal quest to find one's true self. The story takes us through the experiences of a teenager named Alice who underwent a brain transplant into a new body. Alice struggled to find her true identity and what it was that made her Alice. The story also shows a striking resemblance to the children's tale Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
Both stories are allegorical in nature and contain a similar theme. They each describe the protagonist on their journey within themselves. Alice in Mirror Image must discover what it is that defines her, and similarly, Alice In Wonderland must find her way "home." This journey through Wonderland is symbolic of the internal quest Alice faces. The allegorical pursuit to find one true self is developed i
...n both stories by the protagonists own self-reflection and symbolic elements throughout both stories.
In Mirror Image Alice undergoes deep introspection to find her true identity. She must discover what it is that defines her. As Alice reflects on her situation she becomes only more and more confused. She still has her mind but not her body, "These weren't her hands. This wasn't her breath." pg 13. Alice questions whether she is still truly herself. Alice begins to explore the other elements of her defining features, her mind, and her soul. Because she can no longer take refuge in her body she begins to identify herself by her mind.
As Alice tells her twin sister Jenny "My brain is me." pg 13. This does not seem to be enough to convince others, however. Jenny remains skeptical of her sister by refusing
to let Alice read her diary and by her statement at their birthday party "Sometimes I think my sister is dead" pg 17. Alice then turns to memories of her father for comfort. She felt that he would "just look into [her] eyes and know who was in [there]." pg 18. Her father used to tell her that the "eyes were the mirror to the soul" pg 14. At the end of the story when she asked Mr. Jarred to look into her eyes Alice found herself. She discovered that what defined her was not her body or her brain.
It was a deeper, almost spiritual essence we call the soul.
- Tattoo essays
- Clothing essays
- Footwear essays
- Fashion design essays
- Cosmetic Surgery essays
- Jeans essays
- Book Summary essays
- Metaphor essays
- Reader essays
- Rhyme essays
- Literary devices essays
- Villain essays
- Books essays
- Genre essays
- Literary Criticism essays
- Writer essays
- Protagonist essays
- Simile essays
- Poem essays
- Book Report essays
- Book Review essays
- Greek Mythology essays
- Plot essays
- Tragic Hero essays
- Coming of Age essays
- Play essays
- Rhetoric essays
- Rhetorical Question essays
- Translation essays
- Understanding essays
- Reason essays
- Character essays
- Letter essays
- American Literature essays
- Literature Review essays
- Utopia essays
- Poetry Analysis essays
- Dante's Inferno essays
- Between The World and Me essays
- Incidents in The Life of a Slave Girl essays
- Flowers for Algernon essays
- Myth essays
- Everyday Use essays
- Boo Radley essays
- Genesis essays
- Richard iii essays
- Alice in Wonderland essays
- On the road essays
- Ozymandias essays
- The Nightingale essays
