Asian literature: major works and cultural contexts

¶ … Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe [...] how the name "bird" represents the characteristics of the main character and describe how his name corresponds to the actions he takes throughout the novel. It will also discuss if he was ever able to outgrow the nickname. "Bird" is the perfect name for a character that flits from person to person, flies away when times are hard, and dreams of migrating to Africa to get away from his troubles at home. Bird is not ready for fatherhood or a family, and so he abandons the "nest" for revelry and excess, until he finally takes responsibility for his actions, and sheds his childhood nickname forever.

Bird" is the nickname of the main character in "A Personal Matter." He is so much like a bird that he even looks like a bird, as the author notes early in the story. He writes, "It wasn't only that his hunched shoulders were like folded wings, his features in general were birdlike" (Oe 3). Throughout the novel, the author compares Bird to his namesake, sometimes subtly, and sometimes not so subtly. When he meets his in-laws at the hospital to find out about the baby, Oe writes, "He shivered, not violently as in the driveway, but with the helplessness of a weakened chick" (Oe 17). Thus, throughout the book, the reader cannot forget Bird's characteristics and his weaknesses. He is a bird, and a young bird at that. He is unable to take on the realities of life because he is not mature enough to handle them. He is still a chick that has not found the strength to leave the nest, and relies on others to mask his pain and his naive youthful lack of experience and commitment.

Many of Birds characteristics match those of the birds he is named after, from his appearance to the way he takes flight after he leaves his baby at the new hospital. He is flying away from his troubles, and acting as if he ignores them, they will disappear on the wind. This not only represents how Bird is like his namesakes, who fly away on the wind, it shows how immature he is, and how he may be 27 years old, but he is really still a boy. He would rather fly away than take responsibility for his "vegetable" son, and the only thing that gives him pleasure is running away from responsibility. Even his movements mimic that of a bird. He is often tentative, awkward, and gawky, just like an ungainly bird on land. He even reacts to adversity like a bird - regurgitating up his whiskey like a bird regurgitates dinner for their young. He is unable to face his family or his ruined child, and like males in many bird families, he leaves the family alone to fend for themselves, while he is off looking for a new girlfriend.

There is another characteristic that shows Bird is like his namesake, and even worse. Throughout the story, there are small, sometimes subtle references to animalistic violence. For example, "Abruptly, as if hatred had grown too much for him, he bit into Himiko's neck where it joined her shoulder. Again she screamed" (Oe 86). These small, intimate moments indicate that Bird is more an animal than a man, and that he has violent tendencies like an animal. He is unable to face his fears and his problems like a man, and he reacts violently, like an animal. Through it all, Bird is certainly not a man. Himiko comforts him, and illustrates that she is wise in the ways of the world while he is not. He seeks ways to remove himself from the world - sex, whiskey, and even thinking of flight to Africa. He cannot face his life, and until he can, he will never be able to leave his childhood nickname behind. His nickname has created his life for him, and he does not know how to be anything other than the "bird" he is.

Bird's infatuation with Africa is another aspect of his character that is birdlike. He has always been fascinated with Africa, and the first scene in the novel shows him buying roadmaps of the country. He saves money to go there, and dreams of running away to Africa with Himiko. Birds often migrate from one area to the next from winter to spring, and Bird is just like one of those birds that make the trek every year because of instinct. There is something about Africa that draws him to it, but he does not know why. It could be a hidden instinct that draws him to Africa, and makes him want to migrate there, especially when times get difficult, as they are when his baby with the brain hernia is born.