Esther's Mirrors

Esther Greenwood doesn’t have a fun time with mirrors. I only began to notice the significance of mirrors in this story after it was briefly brought up in class and I thought the symbolism behind them was really interesting.

The first time we encounter a mirror in the story is during the chapter where Esther is given shock treatment by Dr. Gordon. Throughout the book, we see her starting to become increasingly disassociated with both her physical and mental state. I think a great way to represent this is through the medium of mirrors since they’re locations of self reflection. Rather than physical reflection, these mirrors mostly mean to represent and showcase the issues that Esther struggles with. What makes Esther’s reflection sadder is that she doesn’t recognize it’s herself but rather thinks it’s someone else. It’s terribly sad to imagine that feeling of losing sense of self and especially after a traumatic experience.

Her experience with mirrors only seems to get worse as after she tries to take her life. She has a similar scene looking into a mirror and not recognizing her face. This was mentioned in class but she simply can’t refer to her reflection as human anymore but rather as a “creature”. As the story progresses and she only further dissociates herself, the mirrors reflect her deteriorating mental state and failure to recognize herself.

I wish we got to read a scene about looking back into a mirror after her time with Dr. Noland to represent an improving mental state and sense of self.