Hi, I posted this on the old forum, so for those who didn't get to read it here's a neat and very subtle touch to look for in the game.
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Once you enter room 312 of the Lakeview Hotel (the room where James and Mary stayed) look to James' left. Next to the wardrobe there is a vanity and the mirror on it is covered with a light colored cloth. So what's the deal with a covered mirror? In Jewish tradition when a person dies the mirrors in one's home are covered for several different reasons.
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Here is what the website http://www.mazornet.com says about the practice....
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There is also a rather prominent appearance of (another? the same?) covered mirror to the observant viewer that can be viewed in a scene that only plays in the opening movie. We see Laura enter a room (Mary's sick room? Room 312?) and next to her is a vanity with a covered mirror.

As soon as I saw this thread, I thought of that old thread and the Jewish tradition.

It's very interesting, and I think that it's quite possibly the reference they were making, personally.

And what's the first thing James does when arriving to Silent Hill?
Looks at himself through a mirror.

True, it definitely points to a change in James, though. It's as if he is accepting his responsibility for Mary's death.

-N.B.

On an interesting site i was reading about mirrors:-


Maybe someone in 312 was making up for something that hadn't been done yet before James entered?

And i never thought that the start of the game could be an example of the belief that the soul projects out of the body and into mirrors in the form of reflection.

True but also there is a mirror in the room where you get your flashlight on the manequin wearing clothes that resemble Mary's but this mirror isn't covered yet you can't see your reflection either? So here's my theory, when james looks into the mirror in the beginning of the game he is seeing the shell he has created of himself

[spoiler]since he lied to himself about killing mary[/spoiler]

And as he moves further through the game he finds himself realizing what he did but doesn't want to face himself, or take a look in the mirror and realize the truth

But then again it could just be b/c they didn't want to put that many mirror physics in the game, also point out that it's a vanity mirror and Mary thought she was disgusting b/c she was sick maybe that's looking into the mirror and not seeing what is there but imagining what he wants with the vanity in the manequin room you can see yourself in the mirror in Angela's room, but i believe angela was looking in that mirror for the same reason why James was in the beginning....

Okay, i'm prolly wrong tho so i'm expecting the all knowing St. Thomas to show up and shoot my theory to shit... oh well

The mirror in the seamstress' room is reversed. I've been saying for years that this entire room is the essence of Mary--everything about it relates to her.

Souls being caught in a mirror.

Could support the notion that the save points are mirrors.

My grandma puts black cloth over all the mirrors in her house after a death in the family. I'm not sure why though because she's not jewish. She is mostly mexican mixed with comanche Indian.

This is a really interesting theory. Kinda makes you think about death in another light, too

But they're red, and non-reflective.

They are windows.

They're red? How does that make them windows more than it does mirrors?

Anyway, I'm not saying that I'm right, but at least I'm not stating my hypothesis as fact.

The 9 savepoints put together resembles a window, wouldn't you agree?

Well, to back this up, Mary does say in her letter that she feels so ugly and pathetic. I can see why she would cover up a mirror.

I dont know if this is just our weird family, but if theres a storm or something, my grandma covers a mirror because if you look in a mirror in a storm you see the devil. perhaps james's own inner "storm" shows him as the devil? i dont know where im going with this...
but i never noticed the mirror in the seamstresses room, ta.

Camera hack screenshots back this up. The covered mirror could symbolize this as well, with a double meaning perhaps.



This is really cool...James definately was not a tower of strength at that point, and neither was Angela, who also had a mirror scene. The thing about Angela is though, she didn't expect any help from anyone, she couldn't trust people any longer, therefore I think the huge mirror in Blue Creek may have symbolized just how caught up in her own reflection (in terms of how lost she was) she was...And she was toying with a knife...

It's a little different with James though. I think when James was looking into that mirror in the beginning of the game, he was covering himself in his delusion. He was trying to "rely" on himself - to keep it together any way he knew how - instead of deal with what he had done. He was creating a false self, full of vanity (portraying himself as the strong and devoted mourning husband), not the deeply troubled man who murdered his wife in selfish desperation a day or two before.

Another stretched tie to this is his creation of Maria...In comparison to Mary, her vanity is way up there, or should I say James', since she is his creation, his delusion, to draw him away from the truth.

Anyway, excellent post adamblue, I really thought this was cool.

I've never heard of that before...is that religious or ethnic? I'm curious now...and it's hurricane season...

I Know who PH is now Its Gorge W bush! he is Ph and the maniquens represent the whole world, get it? Ph aka gorge w bush is rapeing the manuqen witch represents the whole world!, get it?


Sorry about that

like i say, its probably just my family being weird. i dont THINK its religious....i'll ask her next time. we just....do it!

That's a very nice point you brought up (both adamblue and Figurine). It definitely seems to make a lot more sense. Especially, with James looking in the mirror at the beggining.