Analysis of Symbolism of the Caged Bird in the Novel

Abstract. As one of Mark Twain’s most classic short story， " Is He Living or Is He Dead" does not reflect the major problems and the serious drawbacks of society from the surface significance of novel， however， the events described in the novel can actually touch sensitive topic as well as the shortcomings of the era where， pointedly disclose the nature of society at that time. Mark Twain's short story tries to use this caged bird imagery to criticize the camouflage events occur and makes irony of this tragic story behind the social problems. Little caged bird in the novel contains profound social implications and is worthy of scrutiny and research.

Key words： Caged Bird； Symbolic Imagery； Irony

1. Introduction

Mark Twain's classic “Is He Living or Is He Dead“is short and simple， but sharp incisive and meaningful. The novel begins with the story of a caged bird， and leads to the tragic story of the artist meters out， revealing the social upper class luxury， indifference and hypocrisy and showing misfortune ， sacrifice and taken of life. The image of a bird in a cage of the novel has the key significance. Mark Twain gives it a deeply symbolic， so symbolic analysis of the bird cage is the key part of the profound themes of this novel.

2. Mark Twain and “Is He Living or Is He Dead“

As the humorist of American literary， his many famous novels are widely praised by readers and literary critic for their absurd humor and biting satire. His novels statement is simple and bright， with more three-dimensional and multi-faceted character， absurd and funny plot， full of humor atmosphere. Under the appearance of Mark Twain's novel， extremely sharp blades are hidden， and then directly into the heart of the community， with sharp criticism of the drawbacks of the various deep social， ruthlessly exposing social nature. This novel is a simple and meaningful satirical novel. “On the surface， it seems not directly touch the reality of the major themes， but its narrative story can truly reflect the beating pulse of the times， revealing the social nature of that era.” French artist Millie in text uses the means "death" to enhance the value of their own works of art life due to various social causes because of the so-called wealth and fame， along with a friend， but the story has a tragic ending. This story begins with a bird kept in a cage which has symbolic radiation of the full text， laying the whole a symbol and satirical tone of novels.

3. The symbol analysis of the caged bird

The novel "Is He Living or Is He Dead” with the beginning of about a caged bird shows us the artists Millie pretends death in order to get fame and fortune. Novel reveals all sorts of unfair fate brought to some artists by abnormal development of commercial society and criticize the corruption and evil upper class. This image of a bird kept in the cage has a more profound symbolism in the novel with a great research value.

3.1 The caged bird and the artist

In the ninth paragraph of the novel the reader told a philosophical story： a child likes a bird and he gave the bird locked up in a cage. After having the bird， the child has no confidence to take care of it. In order to catch his attention， the bird sings beautiful songs， but did not attract attention. Hunger and thirst caged bird have been always singing in order to obtain food and water， and its voice becomes weakness and resentment from cheerful， but the child still ignored it， and ultimately the sad caged bird died. After find the bird dead， the child cry and sadly held a grand funeral to the caged bird with his companions. Maybe these kids do not understand， if this solemn funeral money is spent on bird alive， it not only can save its life but also will make it live abundant and comfortable； if the child can be a little concerned about this bird， he will be attracted by the wonderful sounds of singing， and the fate of caged birds may be so changed， but eventually there only left a regret. In this sense， the funeral may be compassion given to caged birds， but also show their wealth and power from the other side.

Artists of Mark Twain era copied the fate of caged birds. For example， many poets， painters and other artists， at the time dedicated to the art of living， life is impoverished. Although their works are of high artistic value but no one appreciated them. However， after some of the maestro gone before， they get the attention and compassion of those in power， and their reputation， value and wealth pour. The artistic value of their work has been greatly improved， won the praise of many people， but their bodies have died， and the rest alive will be called "soul." Many artists of the era like caged birds reared in abnormal development of commercial society， who can not control their own life， art and destiny. The last sentence： "This bird， it does not let people step into： it is just lonely singing to die， and then gets a grand and cold funeral. We will be wary of the point." The finishing touch reveals a great irony and serious themes in this novel.

3.2 The caged bird imagery analysis

Bird is not uncommon in literature， and many writers and commentators agree that among many species， bird is one closest to living human， while they are more likely to be appreciated and observed. In the literature， its biggest feature is the flying and singing. It can fly freely in the air and sing melodious songs which have been the biggest advantage compared with other species. It is also because of this， the birds have broader significance and more valuable symbol connotation in the field of literature. In this sense， the bird will often be used with a wide range of literature symbolic imagery， and are placed in an aesthetic point of view to expressing rich thoughts， feelings and meaning implied by writers and poets.

In the novel， the famous French artist accepted his friends’ idea of pretending death in order to change the unknown and hungry life. His death surely brought him great fame and fortune， and the fate of his friends also has undergone enormous changes. Although he has already got what he wanted， he could not go back to the original life， only to live an additional identity in the world. This makes him become depressed， sad and self-enclosed. M is like the caged bird， which could not control their own destiny alive， even if he was a talented painter， but no matter how hard， they can not be appreciated， and it is difficult to survive. After died， fame and fortune are filled his whole world， which are meaningless at this time. He is no longer Millie， and he is just a dead person who can not achieve more and prove the talent and value. This is a great irony for Millie. He is obviously still alive， but only in the presence of the identity of a dead man. His fate is just like the caged bird. This imagery symbolizes the similar artist in this category can not control the destiny of their own values to display their tragic fate in such an unjust and disorder social system.

3.3 Reality symbolism of the caged bird

Caged bird imagery actually symbolizes the artists with tragic fate in the injustice and disorder business community who are victims of social deformity. In that era full of commercial civilization， no matter how talented， if not appreciated by the upper class， no one has given you commercial promotion， even if the true genius can not obtained what they deserve and can not improve their own destiny. After Millie died， the hypocrisy wealthy upper hype his death and derive wealth and fame from it. His works are not concerned when he is alive， but was valuable after he died. Mark Twain bitterly criticized the hypocrisy of high society and reveals the shortcomings of the business community.

Enormous prestige and wealth brought with Millie’s death is the as the grand funeral after the death of the caged bird， symbolizing an abnormal civilized business community. Under the deformity social system of that time， the upper civilized society humble coat was hiding a pair of hypocrisy and greed face. They spare no fear to sacrificing the interests of others for their own interests， with greed， cruel， desperate， violent and criminal acts. The so-called wealthy lived lives of luxury erosion， while talented people in the lower classes are unable to achieve and prove their worth， and can not control their own destiny， even basic livelihood. When alive， they are either poor for life， or unknown， or drift， and ultimately died quietly， which is undoubtedly a great portrayal of the fate of a caged bird. Even Millie in the novel won the coveted wealth and honor by "death"， but lost the basic right to life， he is still a caged bird who is unable to control the fate.

In the disorder business community， many people can not escape the fate of caged birds， and they had to compromise and yield with social reality. Without opportunity to display their own values and get social attention， they can only follow the unjust social system under the rule of survival and copy the caged bird tragedy.

4. Summary

Mark Twain think the most important key of a humorous novel is its serious themes， rather than in what form it shows. "As a distinguished master of humor and satire， Mark Twain with his unique style of humor and whimsy with ironic creative arts provided us the valuable understanding of American society， institutions and people since the 19th century and has practical significance of recognizing the evils of American society today.” ”Is He Living or Is He Dead？” is such a novel which is filled with humorous atmosphere， but implies a serious theme. Throughout the novel， with a huge irony humor and serious theme， it implies a meaningful symbol. Caged bird symbolically expressed the tragic fate of artist as Millie who is not appreciated in unfair business and disorder social system. The grand funeral for the dead caged bird is also a profound symbol of deformities civilization phenomenon works to enhance the value of art through death. Mark Twain mercilessly exposed the corruption of money and indifferent society， and sharply criticized the abnormal social phenomenon with his keen insight and unique funny story.

References

[1] Ruzhi Xu. Thinking on < Is He Living or Is He Dead？> [M]. Translations， 1980 （01）：35-36.

[2] Mark Twain， Translated by Yun Wang， checked by Ruzhi Xu. Is He Living or Is He Dead？ [M]. Translation， 1980 （01）：29-35.

[3] Min Liu. From Light Humor to Poignant Sarcasm―Analysis of Satire and Humor in Mark Twain’s Several Works [J]. Nanjing University of Technology： 2002， 15 （06）： 25-27.