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Mirror Image Short Story

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In the short story “Mirror Image” by Lena Coakley, “The eyes are the mirror of the soul” symbolizes a greater meaning than what meets the eye. Alice, the first human survivor of a brain transplant attempts to reclaim who she is in a new body. At the core of a media frenzy Alice has troubles gaining self-acceptance, and doubts that her identity is still intact. The short story exemplifies the meaning of identity pertaining to every aspect of it. The quote “The eyes are the mirror of the soul” is used to develop Alice’s identity and self-acceptance. Upon inception of Alice’s awakening, she is immediately aware of the differences she must now deal with. Though she has the same memories, and understanding of the world she is in possession of a new unfamiliar body. This story is packed with vivid descriptions of Alice’s feelings as she strives for self-acceptance and attempts to recover who she once was. “Colors seemed different”, is just one detail that Alice explained after her awakening (Coakley, 2). She explains that the previous memories of her body do not line up with what she is seeing, and that she is therefore in discomfort. It is stated that ‘When she tried to speak, she bit her tongue, which was enormous in her mouth and tasted funny. When she finally learned to speak, the tone was different but the accent was the same’ (Coakley, 2). …show more content…

Her family, though not directly accepting of her changes, play a large role in Alice’s progression, as well as the media, and the previous parents of the body Alice now owns. In the absence of further information for Alice we can only assume that the identity crisis she faces will gradually deplete over time. The quote that was stated in the introduction “The eyes are the mirror of the soul” is what Lena Coakley uses to describe her opinion of what identity really is. The quote is deducing that identity doesn’t come from appearance, but rather from the

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