ipl-logo

Fly Away Peter Book Analysis

1132 Words5 Pages

Fly Away Peter, written by David Malouf, delineates Australian soldiers’ involvement in World War I and he utilises a variety of literary devices to convey his central ideas. Through the experiences of the protagonist, Jim Saddler, Malouf establishes the destructive nature of war by contrasting sensory imagery. As well as Jim’s ability to manufacture a separate reality to adapt to the destructions in his textual world through the motif of the birds. Malouf’s philosophical approach to the nature of life is also demonstrated using textual framing. Overall, Malouf presents these ideas with an eloquent text that employs numerous literary devices which evokes emotions from the reader and therefore, further their understandings of the text.

The …show more content…

The birds are the most prominent recurring symbol throughout the text. Jim is caught like a fly in the web of war where he is constantly feeling discontent and under the imminent threat of death. Conversely, the presence of the birds is able to help Jim find comfort during his tough times. Jim has an affinity with the birds back home, which when Jim sees the birds, he is able to experience a worry-free and harmony moment again. This enables Jim to stay in a “world of his own”, a separate reality that blocks out the harsh reality of war. The constant sound of the bombs exploding irreconcilably explodes the text’s harmonious moments and this exacerbates Jim’s feeling of discomfort. However, the leitmotif of the birds singing further aids in Jim’s ability to manufacture a separate reality to cope with the destructive nature of war. The singing of the birds is evident in the text such as “Thu thu it went, a soft whistling. Then, more quietly, wut”. This vivid description of the joyful sounds of the birds composes a beautiful melody that is reminiscent of Jim’s time back home. This helps to distract Jim from the reality of war and places him in a peaceful moment all to himself. Overall, the presence of the birds provides Jim “a kind of private reassurance for himself alone” and is able to bring Jim back from the brink of despair resulted from the

Show More
Related

Finding Darcy Quotes

825 Words | 4 Pages

An individual’s life, identity, and their relationship with other people can be impacted by the suffering and loss that war and its aftermath bring. Australian composers address these issues in their novel to convey the Australian identity. Australia composer Sue Lawson explores and creates images of the Australian identity through their actions, words and personality. Showing the effects of war not just of immediate generation but those who follow war. In exploring clear features and techniques of the Novel FINDING DARCY we find that the protagonist and antagonist eventually connect and interact with each other.

Read More

Symbolism In The Bean Trees And Mirror Image

1270 Words | 6 Pages

Kingsolver relates this to various characters in the book, particularly Taylor, Turtle’s adopted mother. In addition to that, the birds in the throughout the story are also a nature based form of symbolism used widely in the book. As Taylor’s life changes so do the sounds the birds make; each of these bird sounds representing different emotions like comfort when the mother quail and her chicks are walking in

Read More

Literary Devices In Waxen Wings

708 Words | 3 Pages

There are many in here, but I think my favorite is her name. The name “Birdie” alone can be two different types of literary devices. The first is imagery. This is a possible option because all she wants to do is fly. Birds fly, so it shows a direct comparison of Birdie to an actual bird.

Read More

Fly Away Peter Essay

816 Words | 4 Pages

‘Fly Away Peter’ is a novella written by David Malouf in 1982, set in 1914 in Queensland, Australia. Three very different people were brought together by their location, and share a love of birds and the natural environment, where the Queensland coast in 1914 is a timeless and idyllic world of sandpipers, ibises, and kingfishers. The two young men, Jim Sandler and Ashley Crowther enlist in the army when the Australian Government joins the allied forces in WWI. They soon experience the mud and horror of the trenches of Armentieres. Malouf’s use of narrative techniques such as third person perspective and contrast serve to explore the dangers of patriotism in relation to war.

Read More

Tragedy And Care In Sherman Alexie's War Dances

1410 Words | 6 Pages

In Sherman Alexie’s short story, “War Dances,” the narrator unravels in thoughts and takes us through events in his life. He picks up by speaking about a cockroach that ends up dying in his Kafka baggage from a trip to Los Angeles. The cockroach still appears many times throughout the story. The narrator spends quality time in the hospital with his father, who is recovering from surgery due to diabetes and alcoholism, all along the way while he, himself, discovers he might have a brain tumor, leading his right ear to talk about his father. Using a style of tragedy and care both incorporate together a symbolic story that would make even a plain reader feel touched, leading to the major occurrence of a theme of the importance of family.

Read More

Thomas King's A Short History Of Indians In Canada

1283 Words | 6 Pages

Likewise, the bird metaphor and Native Canadians symbolize nature whereas the buildings and concrete stand in the way of nature which suggests the destruction of the Native way of life due to the western society and its industrialized world. To further develop the bird metaphor, Thomas King uses “How can you tell? By the feathers, says Bill. We got a book.” (King 63) to make the demise of the Native Canadians deemed as entertainment to the colonizing community.

Read More

Birds And Other Things We Placed In Our Hearts By Timmy Reed

1259 Words | 6 Pages

In Timmy Reeds short story, “Birds and Other Things We Placed in Our Hearts,” there is a significant amount of imagery and symbolism through the authors use of style, characterization, and theme. The profound use of symbolism in the authors style of writing greatly captures the use of imagery throughout the story. The beginning sentence of the story reads, “As our chests hollowed out, we filled them with birds” (Reed). This beginning sentence is simply stating that the hearts of humans have withered away, leaving them feeling empty, and to fill that emptiness they filled their cavity with birds.

Read More

Rhetorical Strategies In Lord Of The Flies

539 Words | 3 Pages

In the Lord of the Flies by William Golding, many children get stranded on an island after their plane had crashed. The children need to work together to figure out how to survive without any adults to help them along the way, until they are rescued and brought home. The author uses symbolism, and irony to develop the theme that without society’s rigid rules, anarchy and savagery can come out. When the children first landed on the island, they stuck together and kind of made a little society and “village” of their own. They made shelters, had a bathroom, bathing pool, etc.

Read More

Flannery O Connor The King Of The Birds Analysis

394 Words | 2 Pages

The peacocks become a central point of the narrator’s life. The narrator describes the appearance and attitude of these grand birds in great

Read More

Alfred Hitchcock's Use Of Symbolism In The Film Psycho

758 Words | 4 Pages

The painting contains quite a small bird which can be translated to a powerless and weak figure that can be related to Marion since she is the weak and helpless character in this film being prey upon by Norman who is seen besides hawks in certain scenes. The painting is placed right outside of the bathroom in which Marion is killed showing that the bathroom was the trap for her while Norman, the hawk in this case, killed her in the shower. The painting reflects Marion’s personality as weak and powerless and foreshadows that something wrong was going to happen to Marion similar to the Susannah and The Elders painting. The painting symbolizes Marion since the bird in the painting is also small, powerless, and weak. The painting does an effective job in letting the viewer relate bird to Marion and foreshadows her death since Norman in placed in scenes with bigger birds like a hawk.

Read More

Literary Elements In Eudora Welty's A Worn Path

526 Words | 3 Pages

Literary Analysis: “A Worn Path” Eudora Welty uses many literary elements in her short story, “A Worn Path,” to allow the reader to stay engaged throughout its entirety. Although there are many literary elements present in this story, there are three that Welty focuses intently on. She uses elements such as imagery, symbolism, and motifs to draw the reader’s attention. It is important for an author to write their story in a way that can be understood but also enjoyed. In “A Worn Path”, Welty focuses in on the elements, such as, symbolism, motifs, and imagery and writes a story that has great meaning and can be discovered by the reader when looked at carefully.

Read More

Rhetorical Analysis Of The Myth Of The Latin Woman

965 Words | 4 Pages

The author mentioned popular media people (like Rita Moreno) and literary characters (“Mammy” from Gone with the Wind) to show the source and the deepness of stereotypes. She includes dialogues and description of own ruefulness during the current event to create more emotion-oriented essay. Several main issues and single words are highlighted with the aid of italics, like the word ripen (Cofer 4) that showed boy’s expectances to Cofer’s sexual behavior. Was it author’s choice or not, the decision helps readers to see an important topic.

Read More

The Dead Parachutist In Lord Of The Flies Analysis

827 Words | 4 Pages

The Lord of the Flies novel, by William Golding, is a symbolic allegory, delving deep into the true horrors of war, savagery, and the loss of innocence throughout the duration of time the children spent on the island. I the novel a situation arises involving a dead parachutist, still he represents so much more than Mr. Golding makes apparent. Commonly applied to the story is the ideology of a “beast,” the concept behind these two aspects are similar, yet have a distinct separation between them. Just like the notion of the “beast” and the dead parachutist is the “Lord of the Flies” himself, pertaining to reasons related to that of the other two major examples of symbolism. The dead parachutist is so much more than what you see, you must go deeper

Read More

The Awakening Summary

1234 Words | 5 Pages

Bird: symbolize freedom and independence in the novel, the awakening. Birds are able to roam free and do as they please rather than being subjected to society 's standards and help down rather than flying. The bird with a broken wing flying above before Enda swam into the ocean and drowned represented her current state. She could not continue to fight even though she remain strong in the beginning. The caged parrot in the beginning of the novel represented how women were caged by society during those times and were removed if they caused some sort of recuse.

Read More

Summary Of The Poem 'Hurt Hawks' By Robinson Jeffers

1294 Words | 6 Pages

Freedom is a right that every human should have. Without freedom, the world is a dim and dull place. The poem,“Hurt Hawks” by Robinson Jeffers is about injured hawks that face the issue of no longer having freedom and feeling defeated. Throughout this poem, Jeffers uses symbolism, exposition, conflict, tone, as well as falling and rising action to deliver a poem with character. The second piece of literature, “Silent Protest” by Shadi Eskandani is about the fight for women’s rights in the Muslim religion and culture.

Read More

More about Fly Away Peter Book Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document