Photo via Flickr
by Moira Young
A Bird In The House by Margaret Laurence is a vibrant collection of short stories which builds on the complexities of fictional characters, while simultaneously utilizing animal symbolism, as a satire of the real relationships and people that they represent. The characters within A Bird In The House are complicated, and contain an abundance of symbolism that is embedded across and beyond the collection. Using the analyses of Patricia Morley, Clara Thomas, and Nora Stovel to thoroughly understand the characters of Grandfather Connor and Vanessa, the underlying themes within the text become magnified. By exploring themes and parallels between masking and concealment, defense and vulnerability, freedom and confinement. This paper will demonstrate how Laurence’s vast and encrypted themes within A Bird In The House dwindle down to a central idea, the symbolism that illuminates the confinement of gender based roles within Manawaka.
To begin, Patricia Morley shares a powerful statement within her work of analysis on Laurences life and work within Margaret Laurence The Long Journey Home, that arguably and perfectly outlines the character of Grandfather Connor, “Brick house, bear, battle, bird, horse, song: the key images here are central to the collection. Grandfather’s house, like his person, is a dwelling place, monument, and embattled fortress in a heathen wilderness (Morley, Margaret Laurence The Long Journey Home 112)”. Grandfather Connor is a crucial character within Vanessa’s story, a pioneer in the eyes of Manawaka, and nevertheless, a bear in the eyes of his family. Within Laurences collection, Grandfather Connor is identified and presented as a bear due to the pure power and threat that he puts on to his family. He achieved this classification partially as a result of his persevering path to success, but in addition to him being the designated ‘man of the house’, and specifically of a house that he built himself. Therefore, all of the combined aspects amount to him being a strong and powerful force that should not be challenged. Vanessa quickly goes on to explicitly describe her grandfather as a ‘Great Bear’,“In my mind I sometimes called him ‘The Great Bear’. The name had many associations other than his coat and his surliness. It was the way he would stalk around the Brick house as though it were a cage (A Bird In The House 56)”. When Vanessa sets the tone for the audience’s perception of her grandfather, it is a pivotal moment for the audience’s understanding of both the relationship, and the dynamic that is to come, “Bear suggests his impatience, strength, and ability to survive. … he is fond of noting that no one helped him; proud of the financial responsibility he continues to shoulder; and puzzled that thrift and prudence do not earn love (Morley, Margaret Laurence The Long Journey Home 112)”. But what is Laurence truly implying when she describes this leading character as a violent, dominant, and assertive animal?
One of the most significant symbolisms within the text is derived from the bear coat that Grandfather Connor consistently wears as a mask for his underlying character. The valuable fur coat not only marks him as successful, but it also transforms his character into the literal animal of the bear. As the text develops, as does the character of Grandfather Connor. The idea of the bear mask is explored when, for the first time, Grandfather Connor is seen without his infamous bear coat, an act that symbolizes his vulnerability after the death of his wife, “As I gazed at him, unable to take in the significance of what he said, he did a horrifying thing. He gathered me into the relentless grip of his arms. He bent low over me, and sobbed against the cold skin of my face (A Bird In The House 73)”. To Vanessa, it was a perplexing occasion and it enabled her to begin to reflect on her grandfather’s character. It was additionally, a pivotal moment for the collection as a whole, and as Morley describes, for the upheaval relationship of Vanessa and Grandfather Connor, “Before Grandmother’s death, Vanessa is unable to understand that her grandfather loves his wife …Vanessa is appalled by the pain she glimpses. The older narrative voice alerts us to the suering concealed behind the masks (Morley, Margaret Laurence The Long Journey Home 115)”. Without the symbolic mask of the bear, explicitly in the form of the bear coat, Grandfather Connors’ emotion, weakness, and vulnerability was exposed for the first time to his family. As a result, he was no longer seen solely as a strong representation and embodiment of the bear-like qualities. This powerful moment of unmasking leads to a greater understanding of his character,“This story is unified by the bear-mask metaphor, symbol of lonely, bewildered rage, Literally, the mask is thoroughly appropriate: not only are bears indigenous to Manitoba, but the bear us a totem for the Canadian Indian and his socioreligious art. Grandfather’s heavy bear coat suggests the family responsibilities he has shouldered for half a century and his stern Puritan culture. (Morley, Margaret Laurence The Long Journey Home 115)”.
The animal of the bear unequivocally compliments the character of Grandfather Connor, as he is both intimidating and a pioneer of his land. Laurence makes it apparent that although animal symbolism plays a central role in the understanding of her layered characters, their symbolism would not be as impactful without the use of masking. Therefore, to answer the previous question of why the bear symbolizes Grandfather Connor: it is not the bear that symbolizes Grandfather Connor, it is specifically the mask of the bear. Laurence is labeling Grandfather Connor as a bear, but we learn that she is labeling him more explicitly as a wearer of the bear mask. Laurence’s idea of masking for this crucial character, is utilized as a symbolism for his buried vulnerability and the metaphorical wall, and when present, negates his family from ever truly understanding his character. Beneath and without the mask of the bear he is understood as vulnerable, or in the simplest of words, he is simply a man for the very first time in the eyes of Vanessa, “I remember then that in the days before it became a museum piece, the mask had concealed a man (A Bird In The House 81)”. Perhaps that is why Laurence’s text is a collection, as it oers a clear progression of character to unify the numerous chapters, in order to create a cumulative understanding of the complex characters. A demonstration of said character progression is seen again when Grandfather Connor eventually dies, and Vanessa’s perception of him shifts again, “Perhaps I had really imagined that he was immortal. Perhaps he even was immortal, in ways which it would take me half a lifetime to comprehend (A Bird In The House 204)”.
Laurence’s collection of A Bird In The House highlights the development and shifts of her characters. This shift is highlighted intimately, as it is expressed through the youthful perception of the narrator Vanessa. Within The Manwaka World of Margaret Laurence, Clara Thomas unifies the real life inspiration from Laurences childhood, with the fictional characters of Manawaka, in hopes of finding a stronger stance for character analysis. Within Thomas’s work she shares an interview with Laurence, where she describes how the death of her Grandfather Simpson was an inspiration for Vanessa’s reaction to her grandfather’s death, “Grandfather Connor is, in fact, the hero of A Bird In The House. He is a fictionalized character of Margaret Laurence’s Grandfather Simpson (Thomas, The Manawaka World of Margaret Laurence 100)”. With the connection of Laurence’s reality to Vanessa’s fictional world, Thomas examines the shift of perception that Vanessa endures at Grandfather Connors funeral, “throughout the course of these stories, a cumulative accretion to the character of grandfather; he moves away from Vanessa’s childish conception of him as an overbearing, domineering old man to take on a mythic proportion (Thomas, The Manawaka World of Margaret Laurence 107)”. Vanessas ever changing perception of her grandfather is demonstrated across the collection, he is initially seen solely as a bear, then as a wearer of the bear mask, and then he is unbelievably dead. “It was only when I noticed the closed eyes that I knew that the blue ice of his stare would never blaze again. I was not sorry that he was dead. I was only surprised. Perhaps I had really imagined that he was immortal (A Bird In The House 192)”, it is significant to acknowledge Vanessa’s failure to believe how the individual who ruled over her childhood, and all of the people that she loved, could ever be dead. It is a prominent disbelief that is notably similar to her disbelief of ever escaping the cage, or more specifically, that the individual who would “Stalk around the Brick house as though it were a cage (A Bird In The House 56)” would ever go away and enable her freedom.
The theme of masking that Laurence brings to A Bird In The House, is initially introduced with Grandfather Connors’ bear mask, but the theme is continued within the text whilst discussing the women of the Brick house. Laurence’s topic of masking is explicitly explored within Margaret Laurence: The Women and The Masks by Nora Stovel. Stovel describes masking as a facet of one’s purposeful concealment, “Concealment is the simpler function of masking: to “mask” suggests disguise, implying hidden secrets. People who customarily wear masks, robbers and executioners, appear sinister. To “unmask” a person implies revealing guilty secrets (Stovel, Margaret Laurence: The Women and The Masks 156)”. It is arguable that Grandfather Connors’ guilty secret is that he is not solely the version of a strong and proud pioneer that he had always projected towards his family. Stovels’ idea of concealment has a powerful attachment to Laurence’s theme of masking, as Vanessa even utilizes it when reflecting on her grandfather, “I remember then that in the days before it became a museum piece, the mask had concealed a man (A Bird In The House 81)”. Grandfather Connor was able to wear a mask in order to maintain a saturated image of himself, hence utilizing his mask as a defense. Stovel brings to light Laurence’s seemingly short lived theme of masking, and analyzes the contrast and significance of those who are maskless. Masking involves gender, for masking “is a measure of power in social relations. Both in rituals and in theatre, masking is often confined to men, the women remaining maskless, [for] the mask is a special male privilege, oering access to power and secret knowledge… The power invested in the mask is crucial to Laurence’s empowerment of women (Stovel, Margaret Laurence The Women and The Masks 164)”. In the broader topic of masking, it is traditional that women do not wear masks, and it is likely that this inequality runs deeper than just a historical dierence of costuming. It is as if the women of A Bird In The House went into battle, and were the only ones who did not carry a shield of defense. As a result they were left unprotected and vulnerable on the battlefield. The lack of inclusion and mask wearing for the women within the text, signals their true vulnerability of their roles, or in better terms, they are what Grandfather Connor fought so hard to conceal.
The second largest demonstration of animal symbolism that Laurence brings to her collection, is the significance of the bird. The bird is utilized as a symbol for the members of the Brick house who are forced to endure the powerful wrath of the bear, also known as Grandfather Connor. It is seemingly uncoincidental that the characters within the collection, who are identified as birds are all women; Aunt Edna, Beth, and of course, Vanessa. The bird is a powerful reflection of the roles of women during the time period in which Laurence sets her writings. The sense of entrapment is ironically beautiful in symbolism as they are birds, a highly delicate animal, whilst the women must endure and sustain much tragedy. But more significantly, they are similar to the pet that is literally caged within the Brick house. In an interview with Laurence, found in Morley’s work of Margaret Laurence The Long Journey Home, Laurence describes the theme of entrapment and survival that is lining the symbolism of the bird, “When I first began writing, the theme to me then seemed to be human freedom and in a profound sense it still is human freedom. But this is linked with survival, which, as you say, has to be linked with some kind of growth and I would express this in terms of an inner freedom (Morley, Margaret Laurence The Long Journey Home 29)”. Although all the birds in the text feel a sense of entrapment, Vanessa shares the strongest connection to Grandmother Connors’ caged bird. Laurence leaves the audience with numerous clues and proofs as to why our main character Vanessa is the prominent bird in the cage within A Bird In The House, but the greatest proof lies in Vanessa’s helplessness and desperation to escape.
It can be speculated what the child Vanessa was aiming to achieve in her life: perhaps it was to leave the controlling claws of her grandfather? a life outside of confining Manawaka? or a space that offered more opportunity and power to women like her? Her age certainly played a role in her confinement, but Vanessa ultimately made no decisions for herself. She truly was helpless whilst she was also being forced to grow up due to the tragic events that surrounded her childhood, all of which were entirely out of her control, “We’re making you grow up before your time (A Bird In The House 44)”. It can be understood as foreshadowing that early in the collection, Vanesssa asks Grandmother Connor about the quality of life of the literal bird that remains inside of a cage in the Brick house, “ it had been there always and wouldn’t know what to do with itself outside, and I thought this must surely be so (A Bird In The House 4)”. How else would a young and helpless girl like Vanessa, navigating through a depressive and tragic time, know where to reside in society under dierent circumstances? Specifically, circumstances that quieted her voice, limited her opportunities, and stripped away her own control, “Vanessa, the child,was aware of all the surfaces of events; besides, she felt obscurely, confusedly, and often resentfully, all the swirling emotional undercurrents. But she did see as a child, darkly (Thomas, The Manawaka World of Margaret Laurence 104)”. Like the bird in the cage, Vanessa stays trapped within the Brick house, always listening and speaking in hushed tones, whilst the birds alike and surrounding her dreamt of an escape, “On these occasions, my mothers always said, “Do you think we are teaching the child deception?” And Aunt Edna always replied, “No, just self-preservation”(A Bird In The House 17)”. A life of ‘self preservation’, truly is the life for the birds. A sentiment that perfectly encompasses Laurence’s previous statement of the theme of freedom and survival within her work. In Margaret Laurence The Long Journey Home, Morley speaks on the significance of the bird, “Birds, with their power of flight, are traditional emblems of freedom and the human spirit. Laurence uses this archetype in her pun freegull, which recurs in the Manawaka fiction. The demonic form of the image, the captive bird which in prairie folklore portends death, also recurs (Morley, Margaret Laurence: The Long Journey Home 87)”. The idea of freedom and entrapment that is showcased in Morley’s previous interview with Laurence, is beautifully accompanied by the on-going symbolism within the bird. As Morley states, the bird is traditionally a symbol for freedom, but it is immediately contrasted by the Brick house that hopelessly entraps them.
This paper is not claiming that Vanessa and Grandfather Connor, the bird and the bear, represent all gender inequalities. But their connection to the historic and on-going topic should not be compromised:
As a feminist statemement A Bird In The House is subtle, never didactic. It shows three generations of women coping with inherited myths and changing conditions. Vanessa’s mother, who stood first in the province in high school graduation, was denied a college education. She and the indomitable Aunt Edna remain admirable models. “Escape” for their generation usually meant marriage. In the last story Vanessa sets out to college and the city feeling less free than she expected: higher education is no panacea. Laurences female protagonists continue to wrestle with diculties in the battle that is life. As Robert Gibbs notes, the real freeing is still in process where the book leaves o (Morley, Margaret Laurence The Long Journey Home 119)
A Bird In The House evolves around fictional characters amidst a fictional world, the collection presents elements derived from Laurence’s childhood in addition to historical events of the Depression; Which in collaboration highlight the accurate roles of women in Manawaka society. Therefore, because the collection is inspired by the real world, it can successfully present a critical and satirical reflection on gender roles. One can confidently acknowledge that the roles depicted are accurate, but that is not to say that they are right. The dominator of the Brick house is a man, Aunt Edna was only able to escape the confining dominance of her father when she married another man, and the female characters exclusively interact within the cage of the Brick house, and why are only those who are entrapped labeled as a bird? This question is arguably what Laurence is drawing the audience’s eyes upon. Upon witnessing and reflecting on the topics within the collection – masking, vulnerability, and confinement, brings questions of why the symbolism for the confinement of gender based roles even exists.
Symbolisms inhabit the very essence of A Bird In The House. It is an outstanding collection that explores themes of masks, concealment, vulnerability, freedom, entrapment, and animal symbolism as both a critique, and as a way to better understand the terrible confinement of gender based roles. Laurence writes on her real life and the real inequalities that exist in her world, whilst Vanessa endures the reality of these issues within her fictional world of Manawaka. A Bird In The House does not give a solution to eliminate the confinement of gender based roles, but both Laurence and Vanessa, arguably urge the audience to lower their masks, and unlock the cage door. In order for the birds to finally achieve the freedom that they had previously declared unachievable.
Works Cited
Laurence, Margaret. A Bird in the House: Stories. McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, 1970.
Thomas, Clara. The Manawaka World of Margaret Laurence. McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, 1975.
Morley, Patricia. Margaret Laurence: The Long Journey Home. McGill-Queen’s University Press, Montreal, 1991.
Stovel, Nora F. “Margaret Laurence: The Woman and the Masks.” Mosaic (Winnipeg), vol. 45, no. 4, 2012, pp. 155-174.