A Few Days By Michael Cunningham - 1572 Words

The Hours, Michael Cunningham’s telling of the lives of three women in the course of a few days, reveals how the simplicity of objects can give insight into the characters, just by the way they interact with them. His use of mirrors, water and flowers explain the disparities between Clarissa’s, Virginia’s, and Laura’s lives suggesting that ultimately their weakness is themselves. The constant appearance of mirrors sheds light on superstition, helping us better understand Laura’s connection with Mrs. Dalloway. She contemplates life and whether or not it is worth living. Constantly thinking about suicide creates a dark gloom over her that only leaves when she becomes truly free. A lot of her reasoning behind not killing herself is because†¦show more content†¦She does not allow herself to look into the mirror because â€Å"the mirror is dangerous; it sometimes shows her the dark manifestation of air that matches her body, takes her form, but stands behind, watching her, with porcine eyes and wet, hushed breathing.† (Cunningham 30). By not looking into the mirror, she gives into the shadow’s presence instead of facing it head on. This reflection of Virginia in the mirror seems to be her real self who she tries to hide because she fears facing her â€Å"dark side† thinking it will take over her normal self. Here â€Å"dark si de† refers to her insanity. â€Å"Do not think of putrefaction or feces; do not think of the face in the mirror† (Cunningham 85). Virginia battles demons she cannot face alone but she still refuses to ask for help. She feels apprehensive about her ability to write well so she does not look in the mirror, since she might catch sight of the shadow that will disturb her writing. Donald Winnicott, psychoanalyst in the field of object relations theory, depicts suicide â€Å"as involving a fantasy of destroying bad aspects of the self with the remainder of the self surviving, or as a destruction of the entire self when the true self is threatened with exploitation or annihilation† (Winnicott 779). Virginia feels both exploited and annihilated when she encounters the shadow that is actually her, so through psychoanalysis the motive for her suicide becomes clear: escape from the monster that is emerging. Clarissa’s disregard of