Comparing Elephant And Mirror Image

Short Story Comparative Essay Appearances are often deceptive. Being able to see something through physical appearances differs from viewing it based on insight. The themes from the short stories The Elephant, by Slawomir Mrozek, and Mirror Image, by Lena Coakley, provide the basis of an interesting comparison. The authors’ of both stories have created characters that portray the idea that looks can be deceiving. By studying and discussing these characters, it can be argued that what looks to be true in both stories turns out to be false.
In The Elephant groups of children who are visiting the zoo on a class trip, become suspicious when the new elephant isn’t eating or moving. Then, they see a strong wind taking the elephant up into the air
in broad daylight. Later, they discover the elephant in a nearby garden and realize it is punctured by a cactus that exposes its rubbery hide. These schoolchildren, as the author points out, “had witnessed the scene in the zoo and soon started neglecting their studies and turned into hooligans…and they no longer believed in elephants” (Mrozek, 106). This scenario is an example of how looks can be deceiving. Similarly, in Mirror Image the main character, Alice, is the “first surviving brain transplant recipient”. Alice feels that she is the daughter of another character, Mr. Jarred, only because of her appearance, but she also knows that appearance and personality are two different things. However, Mr. Jarred wants to believe that Alice is the real daughter he fathered prior to the transplant. Since they do not live together, when they do meet up one day, Mr. Jarred is surprised that the person he sees is not the person he knows. This explains why Mr. Jarred says he cannot find his daughter when he looks into Alice’s eyes (Coakley, 18). The children in The Elephant conclude that they no longer believe in elephants and Mr. Jarred in Mirror Image believes his real daughter no longer exists. Both the rubber-made elephant and the character, Alice, are physical appearances and images of what they really are. And so, they are both deceptive.
Another incident in The Elephant, shows deception in the making.
The children are gathered at the zoo studiously taking notes and learning about the animals there, especially the elephant which they seem to like the most. In the story itself, the children “were looking at the elephant with enraptured admiration” (Mrozek, 105). Little do they realize that before their trip is over, their favourite animal will be exposed as a fake because what they see turns out to be different from what they believe. This disparity between appearance and belief is also shown in Mirror Image where the Jarreds’ want to desperately believe that their real daughter is alive. They eventually think they have found her but with mixed emotions reveal that “[the girl] is alive and living somewhere in Toronto and [it is unable to] even allowed to see her.” (Coakley, 15). Locating Alice without being able to see her then is like the time when Mr. Jarred meets up with her but realizes that he cannot see his real daughter in Alice’s eyes. The children in The Elephant are kept from seeing a real elephant so what they see is not what they believe. In Mirror Image, the Jarreds’ are able to see only an appearance of their real daughter in the body of Alice so what they see is only an image of what they know as real or believe to be true. Both cases highlight a significant difference between what is seen and what is
believed.
To know something is propaganda, but to pretend that it is real is a reverse form of deception. The zoo keepers in The Elephant are guilty of this kind of self delusion. They know all along that the elephant is not real but provide opportunities for the visiting school children to think it is. The children are allowed to view the elephant from a certain distance but not to be close enough to see it feeding or playing like all the other animals. During the mysterious construction of the elephant, after filling the inflatable animal, the zookeepers are pleased with their finished product, the author implies that, “it looked real: the enormous body, legs like columns, huge ears and the inevitable trunk.” (Mrozek, 105). The elephant is clearly a case of something appearing to be what it is not. This idea of mistaken appearances is also depicted in Mirror Image where Jenny has come to the realization that Alice is not her real sister because she does not feel comfortable with her appearance. After blowing out the candles to their birthday cake, Alice forces a piece of the cake into her mouth that she does not like, and Jenny notices. When Jenny takes note of this, she refuses her piece of cake and starts showing anger towards her sister. In fact, Jenny states that she thinks her sister is dead because of her new body (Coakley, 17). Although Jenny can see a live body in front of her, she questions the fact that it is the sister she knows. In The Elephant the zoo keepers create something they know will appear to be what it is not, whereas the differences in Mirror Image, show a body that is renewed appears to be someone who is not there.
In conclusion, the examples taken from both short stories portray the central theme that appearances are often deceptive. A comparative study of the characters in both stories shows a significant difference in their attitudes towards the idea of appearance versus reality. The children in The Elephant see the elephant through physical appearance and believe it to be real. In the Mirror Image the Jarreds’ and Jenny see Alice’s physical appearance but feel, through insight, that they are not seeing the real person. The characters in The Elephant are duped into believing what they see whereas the characters in the Mirror Image don’t believe what they see is real.