Boy, Snow, Bird
What does it mean to be in a fairy tale, to live in a fairy tale? It seems to be Oyeyemis aim to explore the real world as a fairy tale and to give her characters a foundation in fairy tale lore. This fact alone gives them a kind of mythological edge that makes them more interesting than they might otherwise have any right to be. But again as with the Sexton poetry here is another modern author contemporizing the fairy tales of Grimm and filling them with more commentary than is necessary or is compelling. Boy, Snow, Bird is not so much a modern fairy tale retold as a slice of modern life stitched to an old worn out patch of cloth that might have been a fairy talebut it is unclear.
In her interview, Oyeyemi points out that The fairy tale explicitly [states] that Snow Whites beauty lies in the whiteness of her skin; and fairy tales focus on the
Thus the author racializes the fairy tale and puts it into a racial context. But what does this say about anything? The point is...…used in fairy tales to symbolize truth and self-reflection, and in Boy, Snow, Bird, they are used in a similar way. Boy, for example, is constantly looking at herself in mirrors, trying to understand who she is and where she belongs. The novel also features a character named Snow, Arturo's daughter from a previous marriage, who is described as having skin as white as snow. Snow is often contrasted with Bird, who is described as having skin as dark as night, and this juxtaposition serves to highlight the theme of identity and the way in which it is often tied to…
