Prompts 6 & 7
Posted by webbmaster on February 27, 2008
My question was going to concern Nordan’s use of the parrot and its significance in the novel, but since multiple people have already posed similar questions, I have chosen to ask something else. Although the murder of Bobo is an important part of Wolf Whistle, Bobo’s point of view is not expressed throughout the book. He speaks briefly in the scene that sets the events in motion, and following his murder we see the world through Bobo’s magical demon eye. Why does Nordan choose not to use Bobo’s voice in the novel or allow us to see things from his perspective? I want to pose an additional question. Nordan incorporates magical realism throughout the book, such as when we experience certain events through the perspectives of pigeons and buzzards, and, as stated before, through Bobo’s magical eye. How do these magical views affect the overall vision of the book?
As for the narrative analysis, my current idea is to trace the magical that occurs so frequently throughout the book. I will focus on Nordan’s use of magical realism to present events in an unorthodox manner and I will also discuss the sort of carnival theme that many of the scenes seem to have. I plan to discuss how those elements and magical points of view affect the story and why Nordan used them. The list of magic that we generated as a class will be helpful. Some aspects that I will likely analyze include the “voices” of the pigeons and buzzards, Runt’s parrot and perhaps its significance throughout the novel (particularly in the end), Bobo’s magical eye following his death, and others.
Amanda said
Discussing Nordan’s use of magical realism is certainly a rich topic. You can find some additional info about magical realism on some good websites – there’s one called the magical realism page – just make sure you cite any info you get from these sites.
I’d also caution you against taking on too much – I don’t think you’ll be able to talk about all of the instances of magical realism – you could probably talk about the carnival imagery for one paper, or talk about the talking vultures and the parrot as one paper, or talk about the demon eye – but I don’t think you’re going to have enough space to quote, analyze, and support your argument. There might also be different reasons for Nordan using the birds as opposed to crystal balls as opposed to the demon eye – so in order to set up a strong argument, you’ll have to pick one kind of magic, or magic in relation to a certain character, and build your argument based on that. You’ll cite several passages that represent whatever you choose, talk about what they mean in terms of contributing to what you think Nordan is doing with them, and use that to build your argument. I don’t have a specific example set up, but I think you can find the general format in The Everyday Writer.