A Bird In The House

A detailed Summary of A Bird In The House

All players sit in a round table gleaming at one another. Each player studies the others motion, from the scratches they make to their body to the tempo of their breaths. But players in the game of poker realize any revealed feelings could cost them the game. Players try to obtain the perfect face trying to reveal nothing but conceal everything. They realize by expressing the slightest feelings the value of their cards could be revealed to the other players. Thus talented poker players create a mask known as a poker face. An ideal poker face expresses nothing but studies everything. But the world of masks are not just limited to the game of poker but is all around us in our everyday lives from a child telling a lie or when a mother tells her child he will not receive a birthday party when in fact a group of his closest friends wait for him in his room. In the novel A Bird In The House, characters are often not pleased with the path of their lifestyle and they use emotional masks to hide this. Characters masks take form of denial, confinement and avoidance.

In the Chapter the Loons, Piquette a half Indian comfiness herself because she is not pleased with her life. Piquette creates a mask confining herself from t

he outside world. Piquette "had failed several grades, perhaps because her attendance has always been sporadic and her interest in school-work negligible."(pg.97) At a young age Piquette was forced in to a early parental role, she took the duties of looking over her family conducting such chores as cooking meals and cleaning the house. To add to the Piquette's discomfort she "had tuberculosis of the bone"(pg.97) and was despised by the community because she was half Indian. When Piquette visits Vanessa's cottage she attempts she tries to avoid contact with Vanessa revealing Piquette's loner nature. As Vanessa approaches Piquette she is full of excuses to avoid Vanessa. Piquette refuses to play with Vanessa because she argues she is not a child when in fact she is only a few years older than Vanessa. She also avoids to go on walks or see the looms with Vanessa. As time progresses Piquette breaks free from the life style she despised. Piquette no longer lead the life of a house wife and was healthier "for her limp was almost gone"(pg.104). Piquette could also gain acceptance from the community by marrying an English man. Unfortunately Piquettes marriage falls apart and she is forced to move back to Manawaka with two children. She now realizes her life is actually in the same state of her childhood. She becomes a drunken alcoholic and dies in a fire with her children symbolizing how we have left no room for the Indians to grow within our society.

Grandmother Macloud a widow creates a fantasy world for self on in which she believed she is wealthy and is not threatened financially by the depression. She refuses to believe she is poor and creates a mask of denial

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Approximate Word count = 1136
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English