Upon hearing the title, “Miro, Miro, on the Wall” for the first time, it reminded me of the famous line from Disney’s movie, Snow White, “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” However, the Miro reference is made from the famous Spanish sculptor, artist, painter and ceramicist Joan Miro. I feel like McCann, titled this chapter in this particular manner for a reason. When we look at the mirror, we see the truths about ourselves and become immersed in ourselves. Similarly, Claire and Marcia were lost in their own worlds, where they could think about their own personal stories only. Claire was nervous because she was worried all the time as to how the other women would respond upon seeing how wealthy Claire actually was, while Marcia was shocked by what she had seen earlier that day about the tightrope walker. It also, can be connected to Snow White, as in how the evil stepmother was obsessed with her own beauty, similarly, Claire was lost in her own problems.
List of some primary characters:
Corrigan (protagonist in my opinion, also could be called the giver), Ciaran (Corrigan’s elder brother), Tillie (elderly prostitute), Jazzlyn (Tillie’s daughter, also a prostitute), Claire Soderberg (Wealthy woman suffering from depression due to lose of her son), Tightrope walker, Gloria (part of the bereaved mother’s group), Marcia (part of bereaved mother’s group and the woman who first talked about the tightrope walker at Claire’s house), Blaine (Responsible for Corrigan and Jazzlyn’s death), Lara Liveman (Blaine’s wife).
As of the moment, I personally counted 54 intersections, but I am pretty sure, I might have missed a couple while reading.
I feel like for me the most touching moment was when Tillie was in the prison and her grandchildren came to visit her and before they left how Tillie was trying to get their scent and touch their fingers. This moment broke my heart as in her lifetime, Tillie tried her best to do whatever she could for the family, but in the end, she felt miserable because in her mind, she hadn’t done enough. She weeps about how she was a bad guardian to her own daughter, Jazzlyn. Also, this moment has a lot of emotions in it because Tillie tried her best to keep Jazzlyn away from the prostitute life, but in the end, Jazzlyn ended up being one. So now, when she sees her granddaughters in someone else’s care, it might make her feel even more miserable as in her thinking, neither was she a good mother nor a good grandmother. Just thinking about living through that pain is agonizing. There is a possibility, that maybe if I had been in such a situation, I would have done what Tillie did. At that moment, death would seem an easier option than living. It is sad, what she had to go through.
The constant self-defeating tone in Tillie’s chapter was extremely depressing, and I’m not surprised that it was. Leading this particular lifestyle to make enough money for your children to have a smooth experience is one thing, but to watch that child do the one thing you vowed to do so they wouldn’t have to is unfortunately a common theme throughout the world. I don’t have a solution, but waiting for someone else to come up with one isn’t the answer either…
I like the line you added about us looking in the mirror and seeing the truths about ourselves. The title really fits the chapter well seeing how a lot of it was about reflection and seeing ourselves.
Tillie’s feelings remind me much of those of Claire. The feeling of grief for a loved one– whether it be a situation in which they are alive or one in which they are dead– is still grief. The feeling that you could’ve done something to protect your little one echos in both of these characters and their cries.
Nice post Pruthvi! I just have one question. What did you mean by we become immersed in ourselves when we look at the mirror? I feel like you have something great here but I’m missing it. Thank you!
I agree with your statement that when we look in the mirror we become immersed in ourselves. I too think that we all look in a mirror to find our imperfections. Claire asked the mirror who is the deadest of them all which I think she believes is her imperfection. Her pain from her son’s death eventually killed her inside too, and to her that is her imperfection.
By saying that we become immersed in ourselves, I mean that we see the true us. I am not sure if that makes sense. What I am trying to say is that we know ourselves better than anyone else (might not be true all the time). So, when we see ourselves in the mirror, we start reflecting on our whole life’s story. Hence, the wording immersed in ourselves. Hope this answers your question David.
I think you have a great metaphor of looking into the mirror and seeing ourselves and how that relates to life. Yes, that moment is able to show humanity in someone who’s humanity is usually taken away or ignored. It brings life back to Tillie’s character.