Images of Birds as Symbols of Character Traits and Struggles

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Images of Birds as Symbols of Character Traits and Struggles

     In addition to their importance in dreams, birds are significant to literature in a myriad of        ways. As a common symbol in dreams, they sometimes appear soaring high in the sky, sometimes trapped in a cage. Birds in flight symbolize liberation, while caged birds represent suffering and the strong desire for freedom. The literary material gathered through examining bird imagery in the novels Dom Casmurro and Chronicle of a Death Foretold is critical in strengthening the reader's understanding of characters' inner struggles. Throughout this paper I will compare how the authors Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis and Gabriel García Márquez use different images of birds to unveil the characters' aspirations for freedom, embody their struggles to break free from encagement and identify important character traits.

     García Márquez and Machado de Assis both use extensive bird imagery to portray certain traits in their characters, and Bayardo San Román is no exception. An aristocrat like him is commonly associated with predatory birds such as falcons and hawks due to their aggressive hunting tendencies. In this sense, Bayardo San Román is very much like a falcon hot in pursuit of its prey, a notion first introduced in the novel's epigraph "The pursuit of love is like falconry" (1). A falcon is tamed for sport, and the need for entertainment overrides sustenance. The above situation parallels Bayardo's pursuit of Angela Vicario: He never needed a wife, only a suitable woman to be his wife, an object of show rather than necessity. In the beginning of his courtship, he hunts Angela Vicario as if she is small game; by leaving her, he trains her to hunt, and she then hunts him.

         Another character in the same novel that demonstrates hauteur in his pursuit of love is Santiago Nasar, who is likened to the predatory hawk. Not only is he described as having hawk-like hands, giving unwanted attention to Divina Flor, he is also said to be "a sparrow hawk [. . .] just like his father, nipping the bud of any wayward virgin who began showing up in those woods" (90). This image of masculinity is in stark contrast with Nahir Miguel's later description of him looking "like a little wet bird" upon discovering the Vicario Twins' intention to murder him (114). Santiago Nasar's manifestation of cowardliness is often interpreted as him showing guilt for taking Angela Vicario's virginity.

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 Like birds of prey, canaries, and especially those in song have a significant connotation. These delightful creatures are usually portrayed in tranquil settings and are a symbol of contentment. Coincidentally, Angela Vicario and Pádua both keep canaries, and on certain occasions the birds are heard singing, yet their owners are arguably far from content.

 At first sight, Angela Vicario is fortunate to have the company of a singing canary. When the Chronicler meets with Angela Vicario twenty-three years after the murder of Santiago Nasar, he notices "a cage with a canary that didn't stop singing" hanging above her head ...

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