The Hidden Meaning of Spike's Name
WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS!!
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In an essay Leigh published about the parallels and ironies within Cowboy Bebop, the prospect of there being a deeper meaning to Spike's surname (Spiegel) was raised then promptly dismissed. I beg to differ.
Firstly, it's important to define the word. Most CB fans probably already know that “Spiegel” is German for “mirror” but I’m not simply talking about the modern definition of the word, but its etymology:
"early 13th century, from Old French mireoir: "a reflecting glass, looking glass; observation, model, example"; circa 11th century, miradoir (from mirer): "to look at" (oneself in a mirror), "observe, watch, contemplate"; from Vulgar Latin, mirare: "to look at"; variant of Latin, mirari: "to wonder at, admire" (see miracle)."
Source: The Online Etymology Dictionary
And further on we find this:
"Words for 'mirror' are mostly from verbs for 'look', with a few words for 'shadow’.”
The verb form of mirror is then defined as, quite simply, "to reflect". Spike certainly does a lot of that. He spends most of the series quiet and contemplative. I have my doubts that in those moments Spike is wondering if he left the oven on…or the lobster in the fridge, as it were.
More importantly, Spike acts as a mirror for others. Consider this: were it not for mirrors, we would never know what we look like. Someone could describe to you what you look like and you can draw your own conclusions through touch and the instinctual awareness one has of their own body, but only a mirror (or yes, also a picture, but cameras take pictures with the use of mirrors too) reveals to you the truth of what you look like, hidden in plain sight.
Take, for example, the session Waltz for Venus ("WFV"). In it, Spike meets a young man named Roco and later Roco's sister, Stella. When she mentions Roco hangs out with some bad people and the prospect that Spike might be one of those bad people is raised, Stella says this:
"Maybe. Maybe you are. But you're different. I can tell. Both you and Roco have something beautiful deep in you. It's hard to tell but it's there. I can see it... that's why I'm offering you tea like this."
Firstly, it's important to define the word. Most CB fans probably already know that “Spiegel” is German for “mirror” but I’m not simply talking about the modern definition of the word, but its etymology:
"early 13th century, from Old French mireoir: "a reflecting glass, looking glass; observation, model, example"; circa 11th century, miradoir (from mirer): "to look at" (oneself in a mirror), "observe, watch, contemplate"; from Vulgar Latin, mirare: "to look at"; variant of Latin, mirari: "to wonder at, admire" (see miracle)."
Source: The Online Etymology Dictionary
And further on we find this:
"Words for 'mirror' are mostly from verbs for 'look', with a few words for 'shadow’.”
The verb form of mirror is then defined as, quite simply, "to reflect". Spike certainly does a lot of that. He spends most of the series quiet and contemplative. I have my doubts that in those moments Spike is wondering if he left the oven on…or the lobster in the fridge, as it were.
More importantly, Spike acts as a mirror for others. Consider this: were it not for mirrors, we would never know what we look like. Someone could describe to you what you look like and you can draw your own conclusions through touch and the instinctual awareness one has of their own body, but only a mirror (or yes, also a picture, but cameras take pictures with the use of mirrors too) reveals to you the truth of what you look like, hidden in plain sight.
Take, for example, the session Waltz for Venus ("WFV"). In it, Spike meets a young man named Roco and later Roco's sister, Stella. When she mentions Roco hangs out with some bad people and the prospect that Spike might be one of those bad people is raised, Stella says this:
"Maybe. Maybe you are. But you're different. I can tell. Both you and Roco have something beautiful deep in you. It's hard to tell but it's there. I can see it... that's why I'm offering you tea like this."
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One might say that Spike is a reflection of Roco's deeper character and vice-versa.
Three scenes later, we cut to the crime boss and his goons threatening Roco with violence because they, really want that plant/ plot device. Here, Roco quips:
"Sorry. I dropped it... That ain't gonna work, is it?"
Sounds like something a certain someone else might say... And didn't they meet later at a mosque/ place of worship, just like Spike had met with vicious in a cathedral in Ballad of Fallen Angels ("BoFA")?
Three scenes later, we cut to the crime boss and his goons threatening Roco with violence because they, really want that plant/ plot device. Here, Roco quips:
"Sorry. I dropped it... That ain't gonna work, is it?"
Sounds like something a certain someone else might say... And didn't they meet later at a mosque/ place of worship, just like Spike had met with vicious in a cathedral in Ballad of Fallen Angels ("BoFA")?
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In WFV, right as a jazzy, upbeat song stops in the scene (like when, in BoFA, a somber song starts), Roco is shot (Spike falls) as glass shatters, creating uncannily similar visuals for the plant in WFV and the church window in BoFA.
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And as Roco lies dying, he says, "Master... did you see it... I was fluid like water," a call back to what Spike was trying to teach him earlier in the session. And guess what water acts as under the right conditions...
Going back to my earlier point about mirrors revealing truths, later, when Stella is telling Spike how much she wants Roco to be the first thing she sees when she gains her vision, she discovers the fate of her brother through Spike "Mirror" Spiegel. Interestingly enough, she does so not by seeing but by reading his expression on his face with her hands. To this news, Stella says:
"He must have died because he was doing something wrong, I'm sure."
Spike is a really good mirror.
Going back to my earlier point about mirrors revealing truths, later, when Stella is telling Spike how much she wants Roco to be the first thing she sees when she gains her vision, she discovers the fate of her brother through Spike "Mirror" Spiegel. Interestingly enough, she does so not by seeing but by reading his expression on his face with her hands. To this news, Stella says:
"He must have died because he was doing something wrong, I'm sure."
Spike is a really good mirror.
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Then, Stella asks our metaphorical mirror what Roco was really like. Because when you have a mirror, you're bound to ask it questions (cough, Snow White, cough).
Back home onboard the Bebop, Spike's present comrades also mirror his past ones. Eyes, which work based on mirrors (or lenses), are often viewed as a window into someone's soul and in the final session (The Real Folk Blues II), Spike confesses as much to Faye. Seeing the past in one and the present in the other.
Much like Roco, Faye and Jet have Spike to act as a mirror for themselves.
In Spike, Jet sees the brash, hot headed youth he himself use to be. Like Jet, Spike has already paid the price for his past mistakes, losing an eye while Jet lost an arm.
Meanwhile, Faye says:
"You told me once... that the past didn't matter... You're the one who's tied to their past!"
And she was right, because after she had worked so hard to recover memories of her own past, this is what she found:
"My... memory came back. But... nothing good came out of it. There was no place for me to return to... This was the only place I could go back to!"
Once again, Spike reveals those truths hidden in plain sight, as a mirror does.
I'm sure there's other examples of this throughout CB, but these are the ones that stood out to me.
Finally, a quick note on the old superstition that a broken mirror brings bad luck. Funnily enough, despite having nothing but bad luck throughout the whole series, Spike himself never breaks. Even when Faye points a gun to his head, he doesn't bat an eye. When he's about to crash land in an old NASA space shuttle, he just calmly lights a cigarette while saying, "Whatever happens, happens" - even as the two people with him are in full on panic. Nothing fazes Spike.
.... Either that or the creators thought Spike Spiegel sounded cool. But that explanation is far less interesting.
[by Jeremy W.]
Want to share your thoughts on this essay? Join in the discussion in the Comments section:
Back home onboard the Bebop, Spike's present comrades also mirror his past ones. Eyes, which work based on mirrors (or lenses), are often viewed as a window into someone's soul and in the final session (The Real Folk Blues II), Spike confesses as much to Faye. Seeing the past in one and the present in the other.
Much like Roco, Faye and Jet have Spike to act as a mirror for themselves.
In Spike, Jet sees the brash, hot headed youth he himself use to be. Like Jet, Spike has already paid the price for his past mistakes, losing an eye while Jet lost an arm.
Meanwhile, Faye says:
"You told me once... that the past didn't matter... You're the one who's tied to their past!"
And she was right, because after she had worked so hard to recover memories of her own past, this is what she found:
"My... memory came back. But... nothing good came out of it. There was no place for me to return to... This was the only place I could go back to!"
Once again, Spike reveals those truths hidden in plain sight, as a mirror does.
I'm sure there's other examples of this throughout CB, but these are the ones that stood out to me.
Finally, a quick note on the old superstition that a broken mirror brings bad luck. Funnily enough, despite having nothing but bad luck throughout the whole series, Spike himself never breaks. Even when Faye points a gun to his head, he doesn't bat an eye. When he's about to crash land in an old NASA space shuttle, he just calmly lights a cigarette while saying, "Whatever happens, happens" - even as the two people with him are in full on panic. Nothing fazes Spike.
.... Either that or the creators thought Spike Spiegel sounded cool. But that explanation is far less interesting.
[by Jeremy W.]
Want to share your thoughts on this essay? Join in the discussion in the Comments section:
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