Every morning, I get up and stare at my face in the mirror while brushing my
teeth. I stare and wonder: is the image reflected in the mirror a real representation
of myself? I play a game: I raise my right hand rapidly; the image in the mirror
does the same. I whisk my arm back and forth to and fro; although I strive to
deceive the reflected me, it never deviates for a minute. Frustrated, I however
notice that the image in the mirror does not do exactly the same action; even
though I firmly raise my right hand, it always raises it��s left. Regarding this
confounded aspect of the reflection, which in essence is me yet not, I hear Lewis
Carroll��s words: ��Who in the world am I? Ah, that��s the great puzzle!��
While Carroll succinctly voices the confusion of trying to understand one��s
self, his voice is by far not alone, as evidenced by O. Henry��s story One
Thousand Dollars, and Angelou��s Getting a Job.
In One Thousand Dollars, the main character Gillian appears in the exposition
and rising action of the story as a somewhat flighty, transparent man prone to
reprehensible behavior and incapable of making a decision on how to dispense $1000
willed to him by his uncle (O. Henry 389). He is depicted as dependent,
needing advice, yet indifferent and slightly annoyed about the money, which
while a significant amount is insufficient to transform his life: ��I wish I
had been (in on the $10 joke too). Then I could have had two bottles of brut,
tipped the waiter with the ring and had the whole business off my hands��
(O. Henry 389, 43-47). On a whim and true to character, he decides to render
the money to a quiet woman named Hayden whom he actually loves, so as to be
done with it and not have to consider the subject any longer. However, his true
identity comes through at the end of story when he purposefully decides to
��remain in character��, state that he spent the $1000 on horse racing, thus
forfeiting his claim to $50000, which instead goes to Hayden
(O. Henry 393, 36-50).
Contrary to the capricious Gillian, the main character Marguerite in the
narrative nonfiction Getting a Job fosters her own identity by doggedly
confronting the absurdity of a society that refuses to actuate her ambition
of becoming a train conductress. Marguerite is stubborn and determined in
her nature, and vows to attain a supposedly inaccessible goal. Despite the
many job opportunities available to women in wartime 1940��s San Francisco,
types of employments were slightly limited to Marguerite, a black girl,
due to racial prejudice. As Marguerite��s mother said: ��They don��t accept
colored people on the streetcars.�� (Angelou 413, 14-15) Nevertheless,
despite the chauvinism and social conventions that drove most other blacks
to abandon their dreams, Marguerite through strength of will and an
indomitable spirit conquers all these hindrances, and becomes a conductress.
When considering these two stories superficially, one might assume that
Gillian and Marguerite have very little in common. However, by the end of each
story, both characters reveal themselves to be in fact quite similar: Through
their experiences, both Gillian and Marguerite have attained a new personal awareness.
In Gillian��s case, when he realizes that the $50000 would in fact be bequeathed
to Hayden if he had spent his $1000 foolishly, he acts on his love and destroys
the evidence of his benevolence, thus allowing himself to attain a true
happiness and more grounded sense of self: ��they heard him whistling gayly
in the hallway as he waited for the elevator.�� (O. Henry 393, 52-53)
In Marguerite��s case, once she returns to school she realizes that due to her
experiences fighting the system and existing in the broader world, she has moved
beyond and away from her classmates, and is no longer interested in the
simple and inconsequential affairs that fill a normal student��s life. (Angelou 416, 63-75)
The overriding theme in each story is that life experience teaches us many
things, and that our sense of identity is actually fluid and in flux. As each
day passes, the experiences we have change our perceptions and our sense of self.
Now, I recognize the mirror for what it is: not a device that is meant to
confuse and distort, but as a tool that helps me to get ready to face myself.
It allows me to not just look at my reflection, but to reflect on who I am so
as to better face the new challenges of a new day.
Work Cited
Angelou, Maya. ��Getting a Job.�� The Language of Literature. Eds. Applebee,
Arthur N, et. al. Evanston: McDougal Littell, 2006
O.Henry. ��One Thousand Dollars.�� The Language of Literature. Eds. Applebee,
Arthur N, et. al. Evanston: McDougal Littell, 2006