The fact that the main character in "Mines" is a female Youth Authority (YA) Corrections Officer was very intriguing to me. I have always wondered what it would be like to be a Correctional Officer and how they can take themselves out of the prison role when they leave. In this story, Straight takes you back and forth from Clarette's home life and her job at the YA. This is exactly what I have always questioned, how does a Correctional Officer turn it off when they go home? When Clarette is at the sink washing her hands and going through her change from YA Officer to mother it's seems to me that she is washing the filth of her job off so she can continue her day with her children.
Susan Straight uses symbolism to describe how these hardened criminals shave their heads to look tough when really they look naked as they were when they were born. This deftly describes how Clarette feels about the wards. They tattoo themselves and shave their heads so that everyone knows how hardened they are when really she looks at them and knows that this is someone's son. Her husband Ray shaves their son Ray Jr.'s head without asking her and it really upsets Clarette. He made her son's head look just like the boys inside YA. Througt the story she is happy every time her son does something that lets her know he is nothing like the boys that are locked up. When he does the dishes, the laundry or wants to play piano even though the other kids might tease him.
The author's use of irony stood out for me in regards to Clarette's own hair. She is required to keep it scraped back and in a bun. While she is out during her "off" time a woman complains about the severity of her hair and this prompts her to tell the woman what she does for a living. This woman forms a negative opinion of Clarette because her own son is locked up, but Clarette talks about how she is the one keeping the boy alive until he can go home. Then at the end of the story a braid gets lose and gets pulled out by one of the boys that she just protected from a fight. When even a hint of her feminity comes out in the YA environment, it is savagly ripped from her by the boys she is trying to protect.
The upright piano was something that Clarette wanted for her son. Looking for this piano became a central point towards the end of the story with it being one of the last conversations with her husband and when the fight at the YA was over she went back and put her finger on the ad for the upright. Do you think the piano represented something beautiful that she could provide in her everyday life with the money from working in such a terrible place?
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