In my last blog post, I touched on escapism through popular culture. I'd like to go a little more in depth on that, and mention a couple more things I noticed, but didn't talk about in my last post.
Emmett's bird watching seems to be a major part of his escapism. He "watch[es] birds... to keep his mind from wandering" (Mason 139). He's always looking for one bird in particular, the egret. It's more of a carried over escapist way from Vietnam. He used to bird watch in Vietnam, so he says, and he saw an egret. He's been looking for the same kind of bird ever since.
As Sam is talking to Tom, they mention Emmett and his bird watching, but Tom says he never saw a bird over in Vietnam. "'Emmett talks about those birds all the time, but out in the jungle, around that time when we came up on that dead place, there weren't any birds, Maybe for miles, there weren't any birds'" (Mason 95). So now, we question Emmett and his hobby. Did he really bird-watch in Vietnam? Is he making it up? Or is he alluding to something else entirely?
Something really interesting to think about is Emmett's relationship with Anita, especially what he alludes to her as. "Anita had on a slinky pink dress and spike heels. She was smiling. 'You look like a flamingo," Emmett said" (Mason 99). He alludes to her as a bird. He does this again, at the veterans' dance. "Anita had on tight jeans and high heels and a bright red top with string straps.... 'She's not a flamingo tonight,' Sam said. 'No. She's a redbird. A Kentucky redbird" (Mason 114).
Emmett's obsession comes out in different aspects of his life. It's really interesting to think about exactly what's going through his head.
2 comments:
I really enjoyed reading your post. I had totally overlooked Emmett's connections to birds. I never would have made that connection with out you pointing this out. Now looking back on his character his obsession with birds really does stick out to me.
This linkage that Emmett has between Anita and the birds is something that I think is very important. Throughout the story Emmett talks about his love for birds and he even went to the extent to write down all of the birds that he has seen. Through this it is understood that he loves birds, but what is not apparent is his relationship with Anita. I believe that by Emmett referring to her as a flamingo, Mason is trying to let us know that Emmett really does have feelings for Anita, but Emmett does not want to come out and say it.
Post a Comment