The Dwarf by Ray Bradbury

Mirror, Mirror on the wall...

I'm not quite sure what to make of this one. Ray Bradbury has real talent for dipping into the macabre, and The Dwarf certainly fits that category. It’s surreal, disorienting, and totally bizarre. Set in a carnival, the story follows Aimee, one of the employees at the ticket booth, who becomes fascinated with a dwarf who visits the mirror maze every night. Inside the maze, illusion becomes a kind of refuge for him. The mirrors reshape his reflection so that for once in his life, he sees himself as tall, confident, even handsome.

The mirror symbolism is pretty obvious, maybe even a bit on the nose. However, it still effectively underscores the story’s core ideas including self-worth, superficiality, loneliness, and a fractured sense of identity. That brief moment of altered reflection gives the dwarf something the harsh world never does: dignity and a sense of belonging. For a brief moment, he doesn't feel like a circus freak or an outsider, prone to ridicule by others. Aimee, moved by his plight, grows emotionally attached to him and genuinely wants to help. She even tries to buy him a similar mirror for his home, which feels like a sincere, if somewhat naïve, act of kindness.

Unfortunately, her compassion sparks jealousy in the carnival manager, who harbors his own crush on her. His resentment curdles into cruelty, and he retaliates by pulling a vicious prank by swapping the flattering mirrors for ones that grotesquely shrink and distort the viewer’s reflection. When the dwarf returns the next night, the result is devastating. What was once comfort turns into public humiliation. The ending is left deliberately ambiguous. After fleeing the maze, the dwarf steals a weapon from another booth and we are left wondering what comes next. Will he seek revenge for the cruelty inflicted on him, or is his pain turned inward? I am leaning more towards the former because it would make for a great villain origin story. As long as the sequel isn't one of those terrible Leprechaun movies, we should be good.  

Bradbury’s prose, as expected, is elegant and restrained with that signature poetic touch. Still, despite its strong atmosphere and heavy themes, the story itself felt a little underwhelming to me. It was missing that final emotional punch that would really make it memorable. The ideas are compelling enough, but the impact never quite reaches the level the setup promises.