Preview

Animal Symbolism In Louisa's Pets

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
101 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Animal Symbolism In Louisa's Pets
Towards the end of the story, we come to realize that Louisa is not a woman who is worried about the convictions of society. Louisa’s pets appear to be minor characters in the narrative, however they are fused into Freeman’s writing to express certain aspects of Louisa’s character and represent the oppression in which she endures. The canary is a representation of how Louisa feels caught in her engagement, while her pet dog represents Louisa’s confinement in the relationship and loner-like personality. After looking beneath the surface and actually understanding what these animals symbolize, the audience can better understand Louisa’s character.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    At the introduction of Joe Dagget in the story, Louisa’s little yellow canary suddenly begins flapping its wings violently against the wire cage. Does the canary have a feeling that Joe is capable of bringing a change to our feathered friend’s pleasant life? Is the canary a symbol of the feelings that Louisa herself is harboring within about Joe’s return (205, 7)? Freeman mentions that when Joe enters he seems to fill up the entire room. It seems to Louisa that she fears a disruption in her delicate lifestyle. In many ways Louisa seems like she herself is a canary locked in a cage, but she has locked herself in waiting for Joe’s return. While waiting for Joe, however, she has grown comfortable in her lonely life.…

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As Marion walks into the parlor, a close-up of the owl and raven are shown between shots of Marion as she scans the room. The black raven is both a predator and a scavenger whereas the songbirds are the targets of owls, hawks, and even ravens. As the songbirds sit next to Marion and the crow hovers eerily over her, Norman tells Marion that she “eats like a bird”. Assuming that Norman is comparing her to a songbird and not a predatory bird, Marion seems to exemplify Norman’s statement by picking at a piece of bread for the whole scene. Norman then says, “I hear the expression ‘eats like a bird’ is really a falsity, because birds really eat a tremendous lot”. Then, Norman says, “I think only birds look well stuffed because, well because they’re kind of passive to being with.” As Norman places his hand in an almost affectionate way on the smaller bird next to him, he describes how he uses his hobby of “stuffing things” to fill time rather than pass time. The small bird that Norman has his hand on symbolizes his feelings toward all women: they are better dead and inactive. As Marion stands to leave the parlor and return to her room, each shot of Marion reveals the raven’s beak pointing straight toward her neck. Audience feel a sense of threat toward Marion, but after the owl becomes associated with Norman’s mother, the tension between Marion and the birds…

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tennessee Williams play “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” is a story that captures a family with problems hidden behind many lies. The setting of the story on a plantation farm in Mississippi on Big Daddy’s, the Father of the main characters, beautiful estate. Each character in the play desires something completely different. The focus is going to be on Maggie the so called “Cat.” Maggie is driven to have the perfect life with her husband, Brick, and wanted children on her father-in-laws beautiful estate she wishes to inherit.…

    • 1645 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In this book the symbolism of the Bird serves as a reminder to Edna’s entrapment of her victorian women in general, like the birds the women's movements are limited by their society and are unable to choose their own rights and communicate with the world around them. The novel winged only describes the women so they can use their wings to protect themselves and shield so they can never fly. Another symbol for the book is the Sea. The sea symbolizes freedom and escape, the sea also serves as a reminder to Edna of the fact of awakening in a rebirth, and the strength, glory, and lonely horror of the women's…

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The animals work “like slaves” 60 hrs/week including Sunday. If they refused to work on Sunday, Napoleon would cut their pay in half .…

    • 165 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jarrell wanted to show a woman who sees other women in happy colored saris compared to a leopard and immediately assumes that woman’s life is better than hers. Now, the first woman doesn’t know the sari wearing woman at all, her life may be unfulfilling to her, but the first woman sees the worst in herself when comparing herself to other women. The woman at the zoo may have a boring, dull life that she trapped herself in, and when she sees other women happy, she is resentful and wishes she had maybe chosen a different path than she did. Then, the woman compares herself to the food of other animals. She wants the “vultures” or the people taking advantage of her to give her the motivation to change her lifestyle from predictable to spontaneous, dull to interesting, monotonous to…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Loneliness can hurt a person. It makes them feel like they are an animal all alone in an empty forest. Just getting by. In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men he uses animal imagery to portray the personality and actions of his characters showing the loneliness of the characters.…

    • 303 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In conclusion, the literary element of symbolism is constantly presented in The Glass Menagerie. Tennessee William’s uses the fire escape, Laura’s pleurosis, and the actual glass assortment of animals to represent…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Louisa’s dog Caesar and her yellow bird also represent a part of her. The dog Caesar was always tied up outside…

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Awakening Symbols

    • 943 Words
    • 4 Pages

    ▪ The fact that both birds are caged clearly indicates a feeling of entrapment. The ability to spread wings and fly is a symbolic theme that occurs often in the novel.…

    • 943 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Laura’s collection of glass animals is also a major symbol in the play. Laura Wingfield keeps a collection of tiny glass animals that she cares for as if they were her pets. She takes care of this glass menagerie, (which the play is named after) frequently, polishing them, rearranging them, and playing with them on a regular basis. But this tiny glass animal collection is more than just a…

    • 1194 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Even though the symbolism Glaspell uses in “A Jury of Her Peers” represents the oppression of women by men that use of symbolism provides the readers the freedom to interpret the story in their own way. The broken stove, the broken birdcage, and lastly the bird all symbolize the completely different aspects of the personalities and overall relationship between Mrs. and Mr. Wright. The death of Mr. Wright sets Mrs. Wright free, even if she is in…

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Birds: Birds are symbolic of the Victorian era women present in the story, just as the cages they are placed in mirror the societal restraints placed upon these women by the creole society. As the birds scream “Go away! Go away! For God’s sake" it is understood that this restriction of sorts is not always accepted, rather a select few instead reject them, enter our main character Edna.…

    • 838 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the beginning of the novel, caged birds are used to represent her lack of freedom and her entrapment by society. The novel takes place during the Victorian Era, in which many women were not allowed to think or act on their own and their job was merely to care for the health and happiness of their families. In the first sentence, a Parrot squawks, “Allez vous-en! Sapristi!” as it sits in a cage, being ignored by Mr. Pontellier. It's literal entrapment represents Edna’s figurative imprisonment, both being something they cannot control. The Parrot is speaking nonsense to others, yet the caged…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Secondly, Lulu’s puppies also hold some symbolism. The main one was of the idea that the puppies represent the cruelest parts of…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays