Creative work is simply an echo of life. Many art forms are inspired by events that take place in the real world. The experimental novel, Pale Fire, written by Vladimir Nabokov, describes the many ambiguities of John Shade's life as seen in perspective by commentator Kinbote. Kinbote is a professor at Wordsmith College in New Wye with John Shade, author of the poem "Pale Fire." Kinbote claims to be the exiled King Charles of his beloved homeland of Zembla, a distant northern land parallel to the present world. Although Shade may have had different intentional meanings for his poem, Kinbote states that the premise surrounding "Pale Fire" is the events taking place in Zembla who now understand the present as mere reflections of their current world. In his novel Pale Fire, Nabokov uses reflections, alter egos, and historical references to represent the theme of how art reflects reality. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay To reference the land of Zembla, Nabokov uses aspects of the poem Shades and commentary to explore art as the reality of guises. Shade introduces his poem with “a sheet of glass in which a mirrored sky, with its slightly darker hue and slower clouds, presents the illusion of continuous space.” Shade writes of the glass pane and the mirrored sky which metaphorically speak of a reflection of the land of Zembla. This is in relation to the way Shades describes his furniture: his lamp, plate, chair and bed presumably hang above the snow-covered grass in the reflected sky. It creates the impression that Zembla is the alternate world of Shades that almost coexists in a separate universe. Zembla's supposed existence is linked to the geographically distorted world of "Pale Fire." In conjunction with the mirrored sky, Shade compares the reflection to “that crystal land” which Kinbote believes is “an allusion to Zembla, his dear country”. Many crystals have different meanings. Some represent purity, strength, power, regeneration, new beginnings and purification. The “crystal land”, in relation to Zembla, symbolizes a different life. Perhaps Kinbote equates his exile from Zembla with a new beginning; a rebirth where Zembla encompasses many aspects of the modern world. Zembla comes from “sembla” in the word semblance. It is a land of close-up appearances of lookalikes and events that occurred before the events in the world of Shades. Shades reality is an imitation of Zembla. Nabokov includes doppelgangers to show how the art of Zembla's world intersects with the modern world. When King Charles of Zembla came across a lake, he bowed his head to walk down to the water. In his clear tintarron he saw his scarlet reflection but, strangely, due to what at first appeared to be an optical illusion... it was accompanied by the reflection distorted by the ripples... his doubleganger in the red sweater and cap red turned and vanished... on which was just a counterfeit king. Carlo's reflection in the water is a mirage, an unreal version of himself. Just as some artistic reflections are strange and out of the ordinary, his image mirrored in the water becomes a self-determining figure receding. What Charles saw in his reflection was his alter ego, Kinbote, who exists in the world of Shade. In reference to art, the way it is perceived is illusory to life, as the reflection of a mirror shows objects inverted. Gradus, the assassin sent by Zembla, is ordered to kill the exiled King Charles of Zembla (later known as Kinbote). He locates where Kinbote is and heads his way. It is only by coincidence that.