Hall of Mirrors

In Paule Marshall novel, Praisesong for the Widow, Avey Johnson sits at dinner, looks up to a huge mirror on the wall in the Versailles Room, and does not recognize her own reflection (48). At first she just sees an older woman and notices the clothes of that woman and the two sitting next to her. She admits that this is not the first time that such a thing has happened. More than likely, she and her friends are the only African American women in the dining room. Avey has not integrated into the passengers on the ship; she has assimilated and therefore does not recognize herself. There is a Hall of Mirrors in Versailles which is referenced a page earlier as the place where the treaties were signed that divvied up India. This mirror and the Hall of Mirrors are connected through Avey. Avey is looking into a hall of mirrors. When a person stands in the middle of a hall of mirrors there are multiple images reflected which show a regression. Avey has to trace back her reflection in order to recognize herself. This shows how detached she is from herself and her heritage. The mirror can also be seen as a mirror to reality which causes Avey to be jolted out of her detachment. Avey cannot begin true introspection until she has shattered the former image in the mirrors.

Jessica von Fremd