The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2000

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-4

Chapters 5-8

Chapters 9-11

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

The Acacia Tree

Sprout constantly gazes out a crack in the chicken coop at the acacia tree in the yard. This tree is symbolic in several ways. First, it’s a beautiful being that exists outside the coop where Sprout is imprisoned, so it represents freedom to Sprout: “The acacia tree on the edge of the yard was blooming with white flowers. Their sweet scent caught the breeze and wafted into the coop, filling Sprout’s heart” (7). She gazes outward at the tree and marvels at its beauty, rather than focusing her attention into the coop and the feed, as the other chickens do, illustrating both her individuality and her desire to live outside of the coop.

Second, the tree’s sprouting buds and leaves that bloom each spring and then fertilize the soil each autumn thematically symbolize Nature’s Cycle of Death and Rebirth. This life cycle inspires Sprout’s self-given name: “Sprout wanted to do something with her life, just like the sprouts on the acacia tree” (7). This foreshadows her life cycle when she does escape the coop; she briefly “blooms” to enable the survival of the next generation, including Baby, her adoptive child, and finally sacrifices herself for the nourishment of the baby weasels. Like the buds that eventually become mulch to fertilize the tree, Sprout’s body enables the growth of new life.

The Egg

In the moment that Sprout is desperately wishing to be a mother but fearing that this opportunity has passed her by, she stumbles across a solitary egg, still warm and emitting a discernible heartbeat. The egg symbolizes motherhood, which is Sprout’s desire above all else. She sits on it and quickly realizes that she wants to be its mother more than anything: “This is my egg. My baby that I can tell stories to! Already Sprout loved the egg” (43). When morning dawns, Sprout reflects on how “[e]verything was different from the day before” (43), illustrating the absolute shift in her priorities to caring for the egg. Sprout’s immediate commitment to care for it above all else thematically exemplifies The Self-Sacrificial Nature of Parenting. Furthermore, Sprout’s achieving her desires to be free and to be a mother support The Search for Freedom and Self-Determination as a theme; the white duck’s abandoned egg helps her to achieve her dreams.

Death

Throughout the novella, death is a recurring motif. As the acacia tree, whose buds bloom and then die to fertilize the ground below, demonstrates through its life cycle, death enables life, supporting Nature’s Cycle of Death and Rebirth as a theme. Similarly, the weasel’s life and the lives of her babies require death, such as those of the white duck, Straggler, the hen’s chicks, and finally Sprout.

When Straggler dies immediately before his duckling (Baby) hatches, Sprout reflects, “Sometimes a farewell and a greeting happened at the same time” (59). This comment establishes the innate connection between death and birth; one necessitates the other, as Straggler sacrifices himself to ensure that the weasel won’t eat the freshly hatched Baby.

In the end, Sprout comes to realize that death is necessary for life; at this point, the weasel’s characterization shifts from an antagonistic harbinger of death to simply another mother trying to ensure the survival of the next generation. Sprout then welcomes death, knowing that it will positively contribute to the continuation of life on the reservoir.