Stefanie Herrera
Mythology, Tue. Thurs. 3:35
Dr. Sexson
Mirrors
Each day upon waking up, I look into the mirror and check to see if I am ready to go out into the day. The face that I see in the mirror is always basically the same; however I always notice new things such as new changes to my skin. Each change I notice are due to the choices I made that day; how late I stayed up, how much make up I put on, what kind of food I ate. All these little choices affect how I will look in the mirror the next day. The only thing I notice that stays the same when I look into the mirror is the mirror itself; it always hangs in the same spot, always showing me myself. I will then go about my day, however I stop at most every mirror I see throughout the day and glance at the picture they reflect. In these mirrors I do not look at myself, but rather I look at everyone else. I look into this story book, and I see things that my eyes do not normally see. I see the future being reflected to me.
”I had immediately the sensation that I was expected. Something had been waiting there all my life. I stood there and I knew who waited, who expected. It was myself. I was here and this house was here, you and I and this evening were here, and they had always been here, like reflections of my own coming. It was like a dream. I had been walking towards a closed door, and by the sudden magic its impenetrable wood became glass, through which I was myself coming from the other direction, the future” (Fowles 108-109) Mirrors have always symbolized the opening to another portal; a view on something that has much more depth and meaning than the life we are already living in. Nicholas realizes this when he enters this clearing, he realizes that he is expected, that the closed door he was walking towards is actually glass and that he can see himself coming from the opposite direction. He sees his future self in his reflection. Perhaps the reflections that people see are not a reflection of the life that they are currently living, perhaps it is something deeper; perhaps they instead see the future. Throughout story tales, and myths, mirrors are also more than just ways to see the future so to speak, they also reveal that maybe someone else is watching; maybe there is someone else out there. The paths that we are currently on have already been lain out before us; history repeats itself. However, it does not repeat itself exactly as it did before for every person. A look in the mirror tells us that we have a story; however it only tells us one story. Only when we shatter the glass into which we look does the true nature of that story reveal itself. Each crack represents a different path that can be taken; and we always have the choice of which one to follow.
John Fowles novel, The Magus is about the narcissistic Nicholas Urfe. As well known, Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection, which is how we associate narcissism with mirrors. Mirrors seem fitting for this novel because not only do they represent Nicholas, they are the eyes of the story teller. The forever popular “mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all” from Snow White shows the meaning behind the mirrors, they house the future, and they house the story teller. They are the source of something far greater than us; they are where fate resides. Fate is a specific web of different paths that one can be expected to take, which path a specific person decides to take is completely up to them; just as group 1 demonstrated with their presentation. They had the specific scenario; however, the class was able to decide which answer they chose for the given scenario. This is like a cracked mirror, it is easy to see the spider web of different paths that one is able to follow, however, many of them draw more attention than others, and so the person just ends up jumping around on the cracks. Chonchis plays the part of a puppeteer in Fowles novel; he plays the part of fate itself. Chonchis controls some of the situations and some of the actors, however, they still have the free will to choose different paths. Chonchis toys with emotion such as a God would; by sending a fake letter of Allison’s death to Nicholas he sets up a new blow to the mirror with many different cracks one of which Nicholas will choose to follow in his reaction. Chonchis plays a part similar to what I assume a God would play. “His theatre without an audience made no sense, it couldn’t be the explanation. The one thing all actors and actresses craved was an audience”. (Fowles, 458) This is the part of fate; fate has created a theatre without an audience. It has set up some specific events that will occur, however, the actors have the free will to choose how the play will end or rather what new beginning it will take on.
In Illo Tempore is always said in class, however, it is never covered about how things will end. This is possibly because there is never actually an ending; it is all just new beginnings. Nicholas starts his story in London as a certain person, and at the end of the novel, he is right back where he started, London. This time a little change in the person that he is, as well as the person that Allison is; however they did make a full circle. “Then why are you here? She was mysterious, almost a new woman; one had to go back several steps, and start again; and know the place for the first time.”(Fowles, 650) To go back and start again, it is a never ending circle. The everlasting puppeteer fate set up a very intricate web of different paths that people can take. If the web designer or puppeteer is even still around is a mystery. Are the Gods still around? Or are they long gone, nothing but the beautiful web they wove remain; a spider will die long before it web does, as long as it remains untouched by a larger force. The universe and fate are interwoven, they created a giant sphere of paths that can be taken, some obviously larger and more traveled than others. Each story will end at the beginning of another, and so the cycle will never end. “All that is past possesses our present” (Fowles, 311) History repeats itself; it always has and always will. Non-existence possesses the infant before it is born, and the same goes for the person after death. Humans complete a giant circle for a life; everything that has been lived will be relived again. It is fitting that the novel has no real end, for with a real ending it would not make an actual circle. The novel itself would never resemble real life, and it is the realism of this novel that gives it so much draw. It is an explanation of humanity, and the infinite cycle that the human can go through.
In essence, it is all connected. The puppeteer wove the web long ago, whether this puppeteer was fate, the gods, or the universe, it will never be known; however, the web was placed and the architect has long since passed. Only looking deeper into the mirror can people see that it is all a giant story that they are in, as Madi said in her blog, it is similar to the movie “Stranger than Fiction”, in this movie, the main character is a man realizing that he is a story. Nicholas also realizes that he is part of a story that Chonchis is telling. Nick becomes uneasy in situations feeling as if he is always being watched. “The ball was now firmly in the old man’s court; I must wait to see what change this brought to tomorrows “script”.”(Fowles, 322) At the end of the novel he believes that he knows where “they” are watching from, and he acts accordingly positioning himself with his back to them. He also slaps Allison as an added theatrical bonus. However, he finds that there was never actually anyone watching. Never does he change the script of the old man, because what is already supposed to be cannot be changed. The designer of the web is gone. Since Nick was an actor, he craved the audience, as all actors do. Only he finally realized that there was no audience anymore. The audience was gone.
Myth and The Magus are all interwoven; they are just a part of the giant circle that was put there long ago. If one looks into the mirror, it is easy to see the future. Staring back is the face that walks towards from the opposite direction. Cracking the mirror shows the many different types of cracks and paths that a person can step to. They are never limited to just one crack, with each step brings a new crack, a new direction. If the mirror is large enough, when looked upon, any given person can see that the cracks stretch into a circle. The Magus, written by John Fowles is just a mirror showing the circle of life as he sees it. He portrays the puppeteer Chonchis as fate, the hammer that cracks the mirror, but has no decision on which way the cracks are chosen to be looked upon. Fowles even writes the novel as a giant circle itself; never giving an ending, because in life there never really is one. Upon looking into the mirror, the mirror never changes, but there are always differences in the face looking upon it. The face will continue to change, as long as it never chooses to keep walking along the cracks, choosing to go around the circle and understand more each day.
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