De Musset, Alfred. 1903 & 1917. The Story of a White Blackbird. Vol. 13, in The Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction, edited by Charles W. Eliot and William Allan Neilson, translated by Katharine Royce, 391-426. New York: PF Collier & Son.
Review by Michael Beach
This story is an allegory, perhaps maybe autobiographical. The main character is also the narrator, telling his own story. A little blackbird is rejected by his family when white plumage begins to show on its body. Eventually the family leaves him to himself. In his sadness, he travels to seek a new tribe. A number of bird families initially open their flock to him until they discover that he is actually a blackbird. Then they want nothing to do with him. He ventures about through a number of different animal species seeking a new tribe. The pattern is the same, initial acceptance ending in eventual rejection because he is, after all, a blackbird.
The blackbird’s attitude grows steadily more and more gloomy until he hears two birds speaking. One says to the other, “If you ever succeed, I will make you a present of a white blackbird!” He comes to recognize that he is less an oddity and more a rarity. His life then turns for the better as he comes to depend on himself, and is less concerned about finding a tribe.
The work is written in a way that can appeal to children as a simple story, yet adults can read many philosophical and sociological threads within it as well.
Review by Michael Beach
This story is an allegory, perhaps maybe autobiographical. The main character is also the narrator, telling his own story. A little blackbird is rejected by his family when white plumage begins to show on its body. Eventually the family leaves him to himself. In his sadness, he travels to seek a new tribe. A number of bird families initially open their flock to him until they discover that he is actually a blackbird. Then they want nothing to do with him. He ventures about through a number of different animal species seeking a new tribe. The pattern is the same, initial acceptance ending in eventual rejection because he is, after all, a blackbird.
The blackbird’s attitude grows steadily more and more gloomy until he hears two birds speaking. One says to the other, “If you ever succeed, I will make you a present of a white blackbird!” He comes to recognize that he is less an oddity and more a rarity. His life then turns for the better as he comes to depend on himself, and is less concerned about finding a tribe.
The work is written in a way that can appeal to children as a simple story, yet adults can read many philosophical and sociological threads within it as well.
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