The symbol of wild birds appears subtly in the novel, but it recurs at key points. The characters first discuss the shooting of wild birds when the Bergsons and Carl Linstrum go to buy a hammock from Ivar. Lou and Oscar want to hunt the ducks, but Ivar, who understands that there is something fundamentally free and joyful about their wildness, is against it. Later, when Marie and Emil are by the pond, Emil shoots several ducks, and Marie becomes upset, also realizing that the ducks are too free to be killed for recreation, though it’s their very wildness that endangers them, makes them feel that they will not truly be hurt. This same sort of wildness exists in Emil and Marie. They are young, reckless, and until Frank shoots them through the hedges, they don’t believe that they can truly be harmed. On another level, it is when their love takes flight—as the birds do—that they are shot down and killed. Emil and Alexandra’s awe of the wild duck in the river also represents the respect a good pioneer must have for the land. Even as they try to shape and cultivate the land, they must maintain respect and love.
Ducks and Wild Birds Quotes in O Pioneers!
The O Pioneers! quotes below all refer to the symbol of Ducks and Wild Birds. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Part 1, Chapter 5
Quotes
She had never known before how much the country meant to her. The chirping of the insects down in the long grass had been like the sweetest music. She had felt as if her heart were hiding down there, somewhere, with the quail and the plover and all the little wild things that crooned or buzzed in the sun. Under the long shaggy ridges, she felt the future stirring.
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Part 2, Chapter 4
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“Isn’t it queer: there are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before; like the larks in this country, that have been singing the same five notes over for thousands of years.”
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Ducks and Wild Birds Symbol Timeline in O Pioneers!
The timeline below shows where the symbol Ducks and Wild Birds appears in O Pioneers!. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1, Chapter 3
...and Oscar express regret that they did not bring their guns to hunt the wild birds.
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...like to show the big pond to Emil. Ivar grins and describes some of the birds that have stopped by his pond, including one sea gull that strayed far from the...
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Emil, having lost his fear, asks Ivar about birds, while Alexandra selects a hammock. After she finishes choosing the hammock and speaking about other...
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Part 1, Chapter 4
...homesickness, and they’ve both liked the same things together, like hunting for Christmas trees and ducks. Carl promises to write to her for as long as he lives.
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Part 2, Chapter 4
...three human stories that go on repeating themselves like the same five notes of a lark, over thousands of years.
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Part 2, Chapter 5
...alone. Below him, Emil and Marie advance cautiously towards the pond, hoping to hunt some ducks. When Emil manages to shoot a few, however, Marie’s face crumples. She says that Ivar’s...
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Part 2, Chapter 6
...she was a child. She recalls a time when he drew a lot of little birds and flowers for her when her uncle left her at the store. Carl smiles and...
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Part 3, Chapter 2
...time when the two of them picnicked by a river and saw a solitary wild duck swimming and diving in the water. Both Alexandra and Emil remembered the duck for how...
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Part 4, Chapter 3
...Mexico and that he will soon be settled in life. Emil suddenly brings up the duck that he and Alexandra once saw in the river. Alexandra says that she often thinks...
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Part 4, Chapter 5
Marie wanders to the pond where Emil once shot the wild ducks, and it occurs to her that there is a dirty way out of this life....
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Part 5, Chapter 3
Carl describes the day he saw Emil and Marie hunting ducks by the pond, and how he felt they were young and charming and full of...
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