In the essay, “‘A Green and Yellow Parrot. . . .’” In The Awakening: A Novel of Beginnings, Joyce Dyer explains the significance of the Farival Twins and the Parrot in the novel, The Awakening by Kate Chopin. Dyer found that the idea of imitation was very important in understanding the character, Edna Pontellier, and Chopin as an author. Dyer first gives some background to Chopin’s life noting that she did not like popular types of media and felt more appreciation towards authors like Maupassant, who at that time were generally unpopular. She also notes that Chopin deliberately chose subjects that would lead to rejections by conservative editors in the 1890’s. Dyer backs up her thesis by providing examples of how other authors have used birds to symbolize female imitation and limitations. She cites several pieces of literature where birds are used contrastingly to show women as free and caged and how Chopin shows the same type of avian imagery. The Farival Twins, Dyer describes as a classic usage of the twin motif. She notes that Chopin always has the twins and the birds in the same imagery. The juxtaposition of two ideas that are always repeating themselves and found slightly tiresome by all around them is seen as a common thread in Chopin’s work, citing “Boulôt and Boulotte,” a children’s story published in 1891.
I think that Dyer’s position was well researched, but lacked original thought. She cited many other articles, but she rarely made her opinion clear. She also seemed to go on tangents that were more interesting than the topic about which she was originally writing. She made many worthy connections, and explained her reasons why she made them articulately, but she was not persuasive that her thoughts were fact. I agree with Dyer about the parrot and the twins being motifs that represent parts of Edna’s character and Creole community itself. However, I wished that she would elaborate more on what their significance in the book itself, rather than how they were symbols in general. I liked her tangent about Adele. She makes great connections on the ideas of imitation and irony with Adele and Edna. I think that she could have written a completely different essay on it though. Overall, it was well researched, and worth reading.
