Student Question
Which fairy tale is alluded to in lines 10 and 21 of Pat Mora's "Same Song"?
Quick answer:
In "Same Song," Pat Mora alludes to the fairy tale of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" in lines 10 and 21. The poem references the "mirror, mirror on the wall," evoking the story's magic mirror used by the evil stepmother to question who is the fairest. This allusion highlights the unhealthy focus on beauty and societal standards that the speaker's children grapple with, as evidenced by their dissatisfaction with their reflections.
Part of the success of this excellent poem lies in the allusion that it contains to the fairy tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and how the evil stepmother used to look into her magic mirror every day and ask the fatal question: "Mirror mirror on the wall who is the fairest of them all?" Thus, the reference in this poem to the speaker's children looking into the "mirror mirror" is a reference to this fairy tale and the kind of unhealthy focus on beauty and attaining it that it indicates. Note how the allusion first appears in the first stanza:
...peers into the mirror, mirror on the wall
frowns at her face, her eyes, her skin,
not fair.
The answer to the unspoke question is obviously found in the "frown" of both the daughter and the son as they find that they do not measure up to society's expectations or standards of beauty.
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