While reading the play “Fires on the mirror”, a section by Norman Rosenbaum called “sixteen hours difference”, caught my attention. The section is about a young man who receives a call from his wife asking him to come home as there is problem. He rushes home to be informed by his good friend that his brother has been killed amongst the riots in Crown heights, Brooklyn, America.
I found it intriguing that it hadn’t even entered his mind that his brother could have been harmed. His brother was on the other side of the world and got caught up in the wrong crowd and payed the ultimate price. I went on to read the other sections, “My Brothers Blood” to find his brother was murder for being a Jew. Not because he had done someone wrong but because he had a different belief system. Norman now seeks revenge not just on the people who killed his brother but also every American who represents the injustice justice system. Only 1 of the 20 people who attacked his brother was arrested.
This section really drew my attention because I am also 16 hours away from home and also have a brother. The thought that I could possible get a random phone call with this kind of news, simply scares me. It was only in 2005 when the Cronulla riots (also racially motivated) broke out in Queensland (where I live) and 23 people were injured. We think ourselves as invincible and our family will always be there but happens when uncontrollable circumstances occur? Where do we turn? What action do we take?
I also found "My Brothers Blood" to be a really interesting part of the play. It is amazing how someone so close to the victim of a hate crime can desire to commit a retaliatory attack of virtually the same nature. I wonder if this is the meaning of the title and that the "fire in the mirror" refers to the spread of hate and a person becoming that which they themselves hate
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