Fires In The Mirror Analysis

Superior Essays
Fires in the Mirror “And it’s a way of knowing that no matter where I put myself that I am not necessarily what’s around me (Fires in the Mirror, 1).” Anna Deavere Smith wrote the play, Fires in the Mirror. It was shown in 1992, and it focuses on the power the white had over the blacks. More specifically it discusses looks, distortion in mirrors, and whether or not a person is being themselves or hiding it. I want to propose the question: how does Smith use her play to portray these messages. Also, what historical background went into the writing of this play. First, going back to the quote above, “And it’s a way of knowing that no matter where I put myself that I am not necessarily what’s around me” (Fires in the Mirror, 1). This quote …show more content…
Look in a mirror and whatever one sees is beautiful; race and color does not matter, because everyone is supposed to be equal. The section titled, Aaron M. Bernstein: Mirrors and Distortions is about how the images portrayed on mirrors can change based on the person looking into them. She talks about simple of instrument mirrors are, but how the idea of distortion has been in literature for ages. She goes on to give the example about when young women look into a mirror and see only a witch. This leads into the discussion about stars, how they are different, and how to see them you need a telescope. Bernstein states, “If you wanna look up in the heavens and see the stars as well as you can without distortion. If you’re counting stars, for example, and two look like one, you’ve blown it” (Fires in the Mirror, 15). Whites look at look African Americans and see them as less than equal. The whites’ images of African Americans was distorted. This may have been because of the color of their skin, or because African Americans started off as slaves, so they were seen as less than since day one. Whatever the reason, in the whites’ eyes African Americans were less

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Fire has been the foundation in the progress of humanity. It cooks food, warms homes, and fuels machines, but its ruthless flames can also destroy lives. In the memoir The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls’ father teaches her the wonders of the world and takes her on adventures, but he also is one of the biggest dangers to her and her family. These opposing traits of her father as both the foundation in her knowledge and the destruction of her hope are expressed through the symbol of fire. Fire has become a treasure for mankind like Jeannette Walls’ dad is an essential part of her childhood.…

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Richard Reyes Mr. Amoroso AP Literature and Composition Period: 3 LAP TOPIC #5 Our inability to truthfully say that we are fulfilled with ourselves is the cause for normality. We caress our skin in the clear mirror to impress everyone else, but we lose ourselves in a world of distortion. However, there is the rift within us that when we look in the mirror, we realize that this is just a toxic mirage.…

    • 1556 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Nobody Understands: Styles of Apess and Bradstreet Looking at self in the mirror is harder than meets the eye. Having to look at flaws, regrets, and disappointments that occurred in one’s life can be devastating. It is easier to judge someone else’s life and telling them, then looking at self. By facing self and dealing with all the flaws one becomes “healed” or at least the process has begun.…

    • 1494 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Triangle Fire Analysis

    • 557 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The documentary, Triangle Fire, by Kristin Downey about labor rights in 1911 that took place in New York City. Shirtwaist factory works go on strike on October 4, 1909 for their labor rights. Working less hours, better pay, and safe work environment are just some of the main reasons the workers have gone on strike. In every factory, there would be one woman who would convince the others to go on strike and they would go because they all feel the same.…

    • 557 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    When dealing with change and progress in the early portion of the twentieth century in America, one organization and one event come to mind. In 1911, the Triangle Waist Company building caught fire and several of workers in the building didn’t make it out alive. The majority of the workers were young females who worked long hours for little pay and ruthless conditions. Those who had the ability to fight for the women and victims did, pursuing ideas such as unions, for workers’ rights. The owners of the company would be pardoned eventually but their reputation tarnished by the public opinion of them.…

    • 1321 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the novel Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston it becomes immediately clear that although the author’s intent was to write a novel supporting the Harlem Renaissance, she was unable to do so without further enforcing stereotypes, and portraying African American’s in an offensive way. Her novel proves to be further damaging to the already negative view of African Americans from white people, and is used as a novel for white people at that time to justify their feelings of superiority. In source A it is evident that Hurston attempts to benefit the Harlem Renaissance by writing her novel, but fails to do so. This novel is unable to help African Americans break away from their negative stereotypes because Hurston further perpetuates…

    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Triangle Fire Analysis

    • 1056 Words
    • 5 Pages

    After watching the Triangle Fire documentary (PBS, American Experience, 2011), respond to the following questions. Most answers should be around 3-4 sentences long. Remember to submit your completed quiz to the Quiz 1 dropbox on BeachBoard. 1.…

    • 1056 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The document “The Art of Being yourself” (“The Art of Being Yourself” at TEDxMiltonKeynesWomen, Speaker : Caroline McHugh,YouTube, Tedx Talks, duration : 26 min 23 sec, 15 Feb. 2013, youtu.be/veEQQ-N9xWU) is a Tedx Talks’ intervention by Caroline McHugh, the founder and CEO of IDEOLOGY. Her motivational speech is focused on how to be oneself and the different stage of self-awareness. She articulates her intervention in two parts, the first one being the identification of what being oneself is and secondly how she perceives the different “selves”. First of all, Caroline McHugh starts her speech with the statement that what we each see in our mirrors isn’t what others see of us. Indeed, she developed the notion of a True Mirror (invented…

    • 961 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Fires In The Mirror for the play, the cause of the riots is the two people lost their lives: a 7-year-old Caribbean-American boy, and the other is Jewish student from Australia. The most fundamental reason is to be attributed to the issue of racial discrimination. Racial discrimination refers to a person in addition to the group they belong to a racial or ethnic origin, to adopt a contempt, hate and rejection attitude, manifested in words and actions. The cause of death of two people, and for the riots, it is an extreme result of racial discrimination caused. For this issue everybody has a different view of events, for that matter also has different interpretations.…

    • 208 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Brandon Garcia Professor Preston English 1302.43480 02 February 2016 The Unknown World: A Parallel World Mirrors have always fascinated man. Without mirrors or any reflective surface man would never see how they look like. Mirrors have been thought to contain a separate world behind the reflection.…

    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Is Freedom Really Free?

    • 1438 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Black Americans were not truly equal to White Americans at this time. The South was ruled by Jim Crow…

    • 1438 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The narrator introduces herself as a non-prejudiced mirror. She reflects exactly what is given to her, unwavered by like or dislike and telling only the truth without any ill intent. The mirror will portrays everything truthfully and sees itself as a the eye of a god. It reflects a pink, speckled wall across from it. The wall seems to be important to it ,but it is sometimes separated from the mirror when people look at the mirror or times when only darkness could be…

    • 85 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The reading is about a Greek defended that was implemented in the Roman navy attack in 2000 century known as "Burning Mirror". The reading disagrees with the possibility of construction of that weapon by Greek people in that time for the following reasons. First, the ancient Greek was not technologically developed to construct this kind of weapon. Because the technology for manufacturing a large sheet of copper as well as the mirror used in that device was not available at that time.…

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    TIME-OUT FOR RADICAL SELF-CARE By Silvia Mordini Yoga is time where we get back in touch with caring about ourselves. Self-care is essential to a productive, peaceful life. It is a deeply spiritual practice. Developing an attitude of self-care means seeing yourself as the author and expert on your life story. Authoring one's own life assumes some measure of authority and requires appreciating yourself.…

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He states that Greeks have many small mirror to form a burning mirror parabolic shape. The reading…

    • 280 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays