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Maleeka’s plastic hand mirror symbolizes her self-acceptance. Maleeka’s dad gave her the mirror prior to his death three years before the events of the novel. One day, after Maleeka has gotten a haircut, she’s disheartened by other students making fun of her—even though she knows that she looks good. She goes to cry in the bathroom, and as she looks at herself in the bathroom mirror, she feels that she’s lost the confidence she had in the hair salon. In this way, the school bathroom mirror represents how the other students see Maleeka, and how they project their own insecurities so that she, in turn, becomes insecure.
Then, Maleeka pulls out her hand mirror and recalls her father’s words: “You got to see yourself with your own eyes. That’s the only way you gonna know who you really are.” The hand mirror thus represents how Maleeka’s father saw her—that is, how much he loved her and how beautiful he thought she was—and how she should see herself in turn. By looking at herself not in the bathroom mirror but instead in the hand mirror, Maleeka understands that the only approval she truly needs is her own. Maleeka walks confidently out of the bathroom after this, which underscores how seeing herself for who she is, rather than how others see her, fosters self-acceptance.
Maleeka’s Mirror Quotes in The Skin I’m In
The The Skin I’m In quotes below all refer to the symbol of Maleeka’s Mirror. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 9 Quotes
I jump off the sink and lean close to the mirror on the wall, and think of Daddy. “Maleeka,” he used to say, “you got to see yourself with your own eyes. That’s the only way you gonna know who you really are.”
I reach down into my bag and pull out the little hand mirror Daddy gave me and look at myself real good. My nose is running. I blow it and throw the tissue away. I splash some water on my face and pat it dry. I reach deep down into my pocketbook and pull out the little jar of Vaseline and shine up my lips. Then I ball up my cap, stuff it in my backpack, and walk right on out of there.
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When Maleeka shows up to school with a new haircut, her classmates bully her to the point that she putts on a baseball cap and goes to cry in the bathroom. Yet, as she looks at herself in the mirror, her thoughts mark a turning point in her confidence and her understanding of herself. First, it demonstrates the value that Maleeka finds in supportive adults like her father, who passed away three years prior to the events of the book. The hand mirror he gave her represents the difference between how Maleeka’s classmates see her (as symbolized by the school Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur labo
Chapter 32 Quotes
Would you be my Almond Joy
My chocolate chip, my Hershey Kiss
My sweet dark chocolate butter crisp?
Caleb’s poem makes me cry. It is so sweet. I look at my face in the mirror and smile. I promise myself to hang Caleb’s poem on the wall with Daddy’s and the one from the library.
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At the end of the novel, Caleb writes a poem for Maleeka in which he calls her his “sweet dark chocolate candy girl.” The poem, and Maleeka’s response to it, demonstrate the value of supportive relationships. Caleb’s descriptions of Maleeka as an Almond Joy hearken back to Maleeka’s own description of the girls at Central Middle School, the nicer school across town. She commented that there were “no Almond Joy-colored girls” like her, clearly viewing this description as negative. Maleeka’s dark skin was something she was insecure about, something that marked her as not belonging. Here, however, Caleb frames Almond Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a de
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Maleeka’s Mirror Symbol Timeline in The Skin I’m In
The timeline below shows where the symbol Maleeka’s Mirror appears in The Skin I’m In. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 8
...talks to a boy named Larry on the phone. Meanwhile, Maleeka looks in a plastic mirror that her dad gave her when she was little. She has her dad’s eyes and...
(full context)
Chapter 9
...that she had to see herself with her own eyes. Maleeka pulls out the plastic mirror her father gave her and looks at herself. She blows her nose, splashes some water...
(full context)
