Issues concerning bird identification are, I suspect, rare in works of fiction. So, when they do occur, we must examine them critically. Obviously. One of the most gripping ( no pun intended) issues crops up in A.A. Milne's most famous book, Winnie-the-Pooh. It is an integral feature of the plot-line in " Kanga and Baby Roo" which is really a story about entrenched xenophobic attitudes in a closed and and overprivileged claustrophobic society crammed with lazy, pleasure-seeking inhabitants . Kanga is a newcomer to "The Wood" ... a thinly-disguised dictatorship in the steely grip of Rabbit and Owl. So ...they hatch a plan to get rid of Kanga via the kidnapping of her presumably bastard offspring, namely "Roo". This seems a bit much,but it's true .... here's exactly what gets said ... " We'll tell you where Baby Roo is, if you promise to go away from the Forest and never come back." I bet you never saw this story in its true light ! But now you know. Their clever plan is to distract Kanga, then steal Roo, replacing him with Piglet in Kanga's pouch. But how will they distract Kanga's attention from her beloved Roo? Here's how .... they try poetry first, but it doesn't do the trick ... so they have to try Plan B..... here we go " Talking of Poetry," said Pooh quickly, " have you noticed that tree right over there ?" "Where" " said Kanga. " Now, Roo .... " "Right over there", said Pooh, pointing behind Kanga's back. " No" said Kanga." Now jump in , Roo dear, and we'll go home." " You ought to look at that tree right over there" said Rabbit. And he picked up Roo in his paws. " I can see a bird in it from here," said Pooh. "Or is it a fish ?" " You ought to see that bird from here," said Rabbit. " Unless it's a fish." " It isn't a fish, it's a bird." said Piglet. " So it is." said Rabbit. " Is it a Starling or a blackbird?" said Pooh. "That's the whole question," said Rabbit. " Is it a blackbird or a Starling?" And then at last Kanga did turn her head to look. And the moment that her head was turned, Rabbit said in a loud voice " In you go, Roo!" and in jumped Piglet into Kanga's pocket, and off scampered Rabbit, with Roo in his paws, as fast as he could. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's not often that a crucial ID issue has such tumultuous consequences. Literary critics have also commented on the fact that "blackbird" has no capital b but the Starling is capitalised. Are they such beginners that they can't tell whether it's a Crow or a Rook or a Blackbird ? Is there a hidden meaning. And on top of that, why choose those two. Surely Kanga would have been far more likeky to turn round, and looked for longer, if they'd "seen" a Jay, or an Eagle, or a Hoopoe. We'll never know what Milne's intentions were I suppose. Maybe, in this mysteriously unworldy "100-acre-wood" all birds are equally common ... or, maybe, equally rare. If you have come across any "crucial ID issues" in your no doubt extensive reading of fictional works, let me know..... and I'll coax all the subtle undercurrents out of it for you to . You can send it in the comments thingy,or to my email ...... [email protected] Meanwhile, while you are all scouring through Bleak House and/or One Hundred Years of Solitude /Catch 22 or even The Magic Mountain, you can take a break to listen to this ..... it's "Alles" performed by ½ of Wir sind Helden .. live as you like....
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AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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