Boy Snow Bird Analysis

Helen Oyeyemi tries to bring out the element of dehumanizing racism which leads to the growth of family damages due to the selfishness of the wanting to belong to the white. It draws us back to the ancient times when America had the racial discrimination, and the fantasies concerning beauty still lurk depending on a person’s skin and not the inner soul. The mirror in the novel depicts the reflection of the outside look which people expects to see and love. This story tells of a young white girl, Boy Novak. She was born in New York to a father, Frank Novak who was abusive. She is given a snake-shaped bracelet thou she thinks of it as evil. Afterward, Boy and Arturo, have a quick wedding.

Later on, Boy learns that Arturo has a sister who was shunned by the family thus this raises many questions in Boy’s mind. Clara was the name of Arturo’s sister and she has a husband, John. Clara, unlike her family members, had a darker skin thus was viewed as an outcast. The bird is often bullied at school too as she was born in a region where dark-skinned people were not appreciated. On the other hand, Snow was born white and blonde. This stirred up jealousy with Boy why her child was being discriminated for being of African-American originality. The boy reaches out to Clara, Arturo’s shunned sister. She takes Snow to her to be raised by Clara thus Bird remains as the only child.

Clara also reunites with her husband, John. Mia, Boy’s journalist friend tells her of the article she was writing about women who were not protective, caring and loving mothers to their children. This article helped her track down Boy’s mother, Frances Amelia Novak. She was an intelligent feminist, a doctoral candidate, and a lesbian. Her lesbianism led to her being raped and left pregnant and that’s when she gave birth to Boy. Bird and Snow were step-sisters. During their childhood, there are brought up in different surroundings but as they grow up, they end up living together with Whitman family. Some incidences in the novel depict Boy as being the evil step-mother by sending Snow away to her aunt, Clara because Snow was loved and appreciated by all people in the family and town.

Thus Boy becomes a stepmother to Snow. Bird and Snow become stepsisters who on growing they have a good relationship. Being in a region where the white skin was being more appreciated in the name of beauty, she has a tough time trying to convince people that she was still beautiful thus made her a time resentful and bitter towards Snow but later on, she was over the bad emotions and understood as over-attention. Mother-daughter relationship and motherhood Another aspect that describes the relationship development of Boy, Snow, and Bird is motherhood. In the beginning, Boy had no mother to keep her safe and loved from her abusive father. She survived for the 20 years till she decided to escape. She felt abandoned as nobody could protect her.

While on the other negative side, it shows Boy depicting the role of an evil stepmother. Self-reliance In the beginning, Boy was born into an abusive father, Frank. After all the abuses and poor treatment, she decided to flee New York. This incident depicts the personality trait of self-reliance. She decided on her own and asked for no permission to leave her home. She understands why her daughter is being viewed negatively by the family and community at large. This makes her be thoughtful of how that community doesn’t appreciate people of color. Perfectionist The boy is a perfectionist in some occasions in the novel too. One of the major incidents to show this is when she sends Snow to be raised by Clara.

Bird grows as the only child for a while in the family. This is clear at first when she feels hated and unaccepted through the abusive relationship with her father. Any child wants a normal upbringing yet she is mistreated by her father. This makes her flight home to greener pastures. Another incident is when she feels betrayal through her husband. He never tells her about Clara and how his family discredits the dark-skinned people. When Snow came back from Clara, she apologized to her for making her leave Whitman, family. She treated her as own daughter. This was seen clearly when Boy had to go back to New York to look for her father. She went with Mia, Bird, and Snow.