Fly Away Peter, David Malouf
Fly Away Peter
In what ways does David Malouf use interesting literary techniques in Fly Away Peter to explore ideas and themes?
“Two little dickie birds,
Sitting on a wall;
One named Peter,
One named Paul.
Fly away Peter!
Fly away Paul!
Come Back Peter!
Come Back Paul!”
Traditional
Throughout ‘Fly Away Peter’ Malouf utilises a variety of literary techniques such as contrast, Imagery, Symbolism and foreshadowing to portray ideas and themes. The title ‘Fly Away Peter’ makes reference to the traditional English nursery rhyme ‘Two Little Dickie Birds’. Moulaf utilises this nursery rhyme to make the connection between themes within ‘Fly Away Peter’ and everyday life.
“Two little dickie birds, Sitting on a wall;” These opening lines of the nursery rhyme introduce two of the main ideas within the novel.
The two birds talked about in the nursery rhyme are Peter and Paul. the birds and are a reference to the motif of birds seen throughout the book. The birds are used to symbolise the idea of life being a continuous cycle that carries on regardless of the situation, “even here, in the thick of the fighting, there were birds”. For Jim the birds symbolised normality and provided a “private reassurance”. This provided Jim with a sense of normality in the middle of ‘hell’.
In the rhyme the wall symbolises the sanctuary. The sanctuary symbolises the ‘garden of Eden’ and Moulaf has used the sanctuary to contrast the war. This is introducing the idea of good versus evil. A variety of techniques are used to introduce the sanctuary. Being a poet, Moulaf has used long flowing descriptions utilising descriptive language such as “intensely blue” “tobacco brown” “flared” and “piano-wires singing”. These add an extra level to the understanding and the natural beauty of the sanctuary.
The sanctuary is also used to introduce another theme of the novel, two planes of live. Within the first sentence Moulaf uses a narrator voice to introduce the setting of the novel.
In what ways does David Malouf use interesting literary techniques in Fly Away Peter to explore ideas and themes?
“Two little dickie birds,
Sitting on a wall;
One named Peter,
One named Paul.
Fly away Peter!
Fly away Paul!
Come Back Peter!
Come Back Paul!”
Traditional
Throughout ‘Fly Away Peter’ Malouf utilises a variety of literary techniques such as contrast, Imagery, Symbolism and foreshadowing to portray ideas and themes. The title ‘Fly Away Peter’ makes reference to the traditional English nursery rhyme ‘Two Little Dickie Birds’. Moulaf utilises this nursery rhyme to make the connection between themes within ‘Fly Away Peter’ and everyday life.
“Two little dickie birds, Sitting on a wall;” These opening lines of the nursery rhyme introduce two of the main ideas within the novel.
The two birds talked about in the nursery rhyme are Peter and Paul. the birds and are a reference to the motif of birds seen throughout the book. The birds are used to symbolise the idea of life being a continuous cycle that carries on regardless of the situation, “even here, in the thick of the fighting, there were birds”. For Jim the birds symbolised normality and provided a “private reassurance”. This provided Jim with a sense of normality in the middle of ‘hell’.
In the rhyme the wall symbolises the sanctuary. The sanctuary symbolises the ‘garden of Eden’ and Moulaf has used the sanctuary to contrast the war. This is introducing the idea of good versus evil. A variety of techniques are used to introduce the sanctuary. Being a poet, Moulaf has used long flowing descriptions utilising descriptive language such as “intensely blue” “tobacco brown” “flared” and “piano-wires singing”. These add an extra level to the understanding and the natural beauty of the sanctuary.
The sanctuary is also used to introduce another theme of the novel, two planes of live. Within the first sentence Moulaf uses a narrator voice to introduce the setting of the novel.