Fires In The Mirror

Mirrors act as a major symbol in this play, as evidenced in the title. Smith plays with the idea of art as a kind of social mirror, reflecting the experiences of people concerning one specific event. In this case, the play is meant to act as a mirror of the Crown Heights incident, reflecting back a variety of experiences through the interviews of the characters. Smith also plays with the idea of mirrors and reflecting in how the play is constructed, as many acts mirror one another in number of speakers. Similarly, the oscillation between Jewish and black perspectives can be seen as a mirroring of sorts, although one might construe them as a mirroring of opposites, much like how when one’s face is reflected in a mirror, one actually sees the opposite of what they are used to. This opposition represents an important aspect of mirrors, as they only serve to reflect back what appears. In this way, the reflection is not the same thing as the event itself, and the reflection might indeed differ from what one expects. The reflection is then ultimately influenced by perception, as we cannot separate our perception of events from our own experiences.