Who Asked: Donald
Nano-novel: Currently untitled
Answer: Yes, by which I mean, both elements are going to be important. This is because mirrors work by giving light a smooth reflective surface. This surface can be either flat or curved.
When it’s curved, you can achieve interesting effects. For instance, you can see the reflection of cars in a road from some distance, yet they don’t look distorted. Inversely, you can also see yourself ten feet tall in a fun house mirror.
Mirrors can be made of a wide range of materials from metal, liquid, stone, to and even plastic (organic) material. Mirror Mirror states that a number of early mirrors were made from copper. However, nothing quite replicates the reflective power of silvered glass.
The way light hits the surface is important. Here’s an important bit of physics terminology for understanding how this works: angle of incidence equals angle of reflection.
This means that at whatever angle the photon (what light is made of) hits a reflective surface is the same angle that a photon will leave the surface related to a line perpendicular to the surface at that point. You want all your light particles bouncing the same way, so that you get a clear, unified image. Which is why you need a smooth surface, which means you really can’t separate this whole reflection thing into surface or light; it is the way the two react together.
Mirrors have been used symbolically since the days of the Greek Oracles, and could easily become a symbol in your novel for any number of things—your character’s self-absorption, perhaps, or maybe how the villain sees everything in the world backwards. Or any number of things.
Hope this helps!
Thank you for playing Stump the Librarian!
Amber
Web Resources
Print Resources
- Mirror Mirror by Mark Pendergast