Monday, March 15, 2010
The Mythos of Spring in “Birdland”
Although most of “Birdland” occurs during the literal season of fall and although its tone is often satirical, almost pushing it into Frye’s mythos of winter, by the end of the story, “Birdland” fits into the mythos of spring. Before the spring, in the winter (Frye’s winter) of “Birdland,” parrots repeat racist epithets; the people of Elbow live for Alabama’s Crimson Tide and pine for its glory days; Raymond repeatedly asks The Blond to marry him, and she refuses; and The Blond has applied for a government grant, which, if she receives it, will take her away from Elbow. The culmination of this winter comes when The Blond informs Raymond that she is pregnant, then leaves him. And if the story had ended there, Raymond alone with his “melancholy peanut butter sandwich” (18), “Birdland” would have remained in the mythos of winter. But spring comes: The Blond returns, and everyone lives more or less happily ever after.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I definitely agree with the structure of Frye's mythos within the Birdland text. The mythos of summer in relation that it conveys "representations of the ideal world" and concepts of "romance" are portrayed in which the city of Elbow itself is a sort of ideal world. It is in the middle of nowhere, the people within the city are pretty content with their small town lives (not interested in a reelection of a new mayor, united by something bigger than they can ever achieve; their unity is bound by football), and the city holds its own uniqueness and pride (football has-been's and tourists for the parrots). Obviously the romance in Raymond's situation starts out ideal; The Blond boarding in his house, the sex life, and the memorization of this beautiful intelligent woman.
ReplyDeleteThe transition to the mythos of fall or "a fall from the ideal world to the real world" can be seen from uneasiness Raymond feels when he doesn't know if The Blond will stay and the losses of the football team. The "complexities of life" and the mythos of winter is revealed when The Blond tells Raymond repeatedly that she "can't live [there] the rest of [her] life" (7), and she is pregnant and attempts to leave him.
Spring comes and makes full circle in the end though, and the "movement from ideal to real" constructs once again as we see that The Blond compromises and the team has an "outside shot." (18). Everything is put back into the small town framework.
I agree that this story is ultimately a mythos of spring. In addition to the "happily ever after" for Raymond and the Blond, things are looking up for the cities football team and the city as a whole. Mayor Dillard will not be around forever but his friend is not going to take what he loves from him. Inevitably Lookout Coley's turn will come and he will be able to “sweep injustice from our town like an Old West sheriff.”
ReplyDeleteThe baby of Raymond and the Blond is in itself a mythos of spring because it is the beginning of a new life with unlimited potential and a bright future.