Compare and Contrast the themes of hypocrisy and deception in ‘Mirror’ and ‘A

Stone’s Throw’.

The themes of hypocrisy and deception are both significantly portrayed throughout the
poems ‘Mirror’ and ‘A Stone’s Throw’. The poem ‘Mirror’, by Sylvia Plath, was written in 1961
and can be interpreted from the point of view of a personified mirror. It also explores the
author’s own fears and concerns regarding both age and death. In the poem, the mirror insists
that it reflects the truth all while objectifying the woman. This is similar to the poem ‘A Stone’s
Throw’ written by Elma Mitchell. The poem alludes to the story of Mary Magdalene in the Bible
(John 8:3-11), highlighting themes of religion, violence, sexism and hypocrisy. The persona is
addressing some sort of unknown audience who he either wants to convince of his beliefs
regarding the situation or simply share his point of view. It is however assumed that it is the
former. The persona appears to be a misogynist simply based on the way he speaks about the
woman and the way he objectifies her as well as subjects her to a very public punishment for the
sake of “justice”. This would be where the theme of hypocrisy comes into these poems.

Hypocrisy can be most simply defined as behaviors or actions that contradicts what one
claims to believe. It is seen very vividly throughout these poems. In ‘Mirror’, the mirror
immediately announces itself claiming in the first line, “I have no preconceptions.” With this
being said, it can be assumed that the mirror passes no judgment but simply reflects exactly what
it sees. “I am not cruel, only truthful ‚//The eye of a little god, four-cornered.” This sets up
for the second stanza reinforcing the statement that the mirror only reflects what is in front of it
and does not form its own judgment. The mirror refers to itself as a little god, a god is seen as the
amplification of truth in the realm of humans and what is said or shown by a god is considered to
be the only truth. However, in the upcoming lines we notice something change. The mirror
continues to speak of the monotony of its existence as it sits facing the opposite wall “pink with
speckles”, “I have looked at it so long I think it is part of my heart.” This line is an example
of personification. This would mean that the mirror has both the ability to feel and the ability to
reason which therefore leads to unreliability from the narrative. Therefore, after the mirror has
claimed in several lines that it projects no judgement towards those who look into it, it’s ability
to feel emotions would lead to having a perspective on what it reflects and therefore opens
grounds for judgement and shows the mirror’s hypocrisy.

Hypocrisy is also seen within the poem ‘A Stone’s Throw’. The poem begins simply.
"We shouted out, 'We've got her! Here she is! It's her all right '. We caught her." The
persona begins with the use of the pronoun 'we' to show that he was accompanied by at least one
other person. This could be in an attempt to share accountability, but it is more likely a display of
the involvement of multiple pursuers in search of this woman. The persona then continues to say
"A decent looking woman, you'd have said, (They often are)" The persona evidently sees the
woman as physically attractive, but uses the phrase 'you'd have said' to somewhat distance
himself from admitting to the idea of finding her attractive. "And not the first time By any
means She'd felt men's hands Greedy over her body - " These lines show that the men took
the opportunity to let their hands roam around the woman's body. The persona makes a point of
expressing that it wasn't the first time something like this would have happened to her, so it
wasn't out of the ordinary. This also insinuates that she was a prostitute or an adulteress given to
such promiscuity. The use of the word 'greedy' suggests a violent ravaging of the woman's body
by these men who hope to sate a hunger by molesting this scared woman. They likely had long
wanted to do so, but had neither the audacity nor the opportunity before. "But ours were
virtuous, Of course." The persona here tries to make it seem as though they are virtuous in
probing her body with their hands; as if they are above reproach for doing so. He tries to distance
himself from those men with whom she fornicates. This is both hypocrisy and irony in that the
persona suggests that he and those with him are 'virtuous' in fondling this woman's body,
although they are doing the same thing as those she 'sins' with and somehow are not expected to
be held accountable for their actions.
Deception is also observed in these poems. Deception is the act of causing or allowing
someone to accept what is false or invalid as true or valid. This occurs both within ‘Mirror’ and
‘A Stone’s Throw’. In ‘Mirror’, the theme of deception is seen with regard to the woman’s age.
The mirror makes her question whether she is still herself after her beauty has faded away. On
the inside, the woman is the same person she’s always been, yet as she gazes into her reflection
each morning, she sees “an old woman / Rising toward her, day after day, like a terrible
fish.” This description suggests that the woman's reflection is disconcerting, as if the aging
process has made her unrecognizable; her changing face feels shocking and unreal. The mirror
makes the woman feel that because her appearance has changed, that would mean that who she is
on the inside has changed as well; even if this is not the case. “She rewards me with tears and
an agitation of hands.” This line would suggest that the woman is now unhappy with the way
the mirror reflects her and because she is now convinced that she is seen as ugly on the outside
that must mean she is ugly on the inside as well. Despite this, the woman is convinced that the
mirror would not lie to her as it passes no judgement onto those it reflects. This is where the
mirror has deceived the woman as we’ve found out that the mirror has the ability to feel
emotions, therefore, it can alter that which it reflects and can in fact pass on judgement to the
woman.
The theme of deception is also seen within the poem ‘A Stone’s Throw’. It is seen in the line
"For justice must be done specially when it tastes so good." It is made evident by this line
exactly how self-righteous the persona really is, because it isn't made clear in the poem exactly
whose justice is being executed. These lines, then, clarify that this is simply providing pleasure
for the persona, who neither values the life of the woman nor the idea of true justice. After all,
whose laws did the woman break? What authority have they to deliver punishment? And most of
all, is anything done here even close to justice? This extrajudicial punishment is clearly just
enjoyable for the persona as shown by the line "...it tastes so good." This would mean that they
simply have no care for whether she actually committed these acts she’s being accused of but
just want to relish in the brutal assault and violation of this woman. This delight in her
misfortune or Schadenfreude, continues this metaphor of a meal to sate the appetites of these
power-hungry, misogynistic miscreants. "We walked away still holding stones that we may
throw another day given the urge." The crowd leaves, feeling dejected and unable to satisfy
their craving for brutality and violence. However, they still have their stones in hand- showing
that the insight given by the man would not be permanently incorporated into the minds of the
crowd. The precepts of true justice- rationality, truth and fairness. Even if the law has now been
revealed that both the woman and the man in which the woman was caught with must be
punished, they leave in fear that they too will be stoned if the truth about their actions and
reasoning’s are revealed but move forward with the intent of stoning the woman on another day.

In conclusion, the themes of hypocrisy and deception are explored in the poems ‘Mirror’
and ‘A Stone’s Throw’. The theme of hypocrisy is seen with the mirror as it claims to not pass
judgement and also with the men in ‘A Stone’s Throw’ as they try stoning the woman whom
they also wanted to be with. This is similar as both the persona’s are being hypocritical towards a
woman but differs as the woman in ‘mirror’ believes the things the mirror reflects and thinks
about it incessantly while the woman in ‘A Stone’s Throw’ simply accepts her faith . The theme
of deception is also seen in ‘Mirror’ as the mirror convinces the woman that she is as ugly on the
inside as it reflects on the outside. Similarly, the men in ‘A Stone’s Throw’ have convinced
themselves that they are innocent despite wanting to become involved with the woman and the
things that she does but differs as the woman in ‘Mirror’ is, to an extent, being self-destructive
while the men in ‘A Stone’s Throw’ are the one’s making the attempt to bring down the woman
for her actions.