The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly

A wild mallard duck, Straggler lives between the reservoir and the barn, rejected by the domesticated ducks. The farmer’s wife intentionally fattens him up to prevent him from flying away with the other ducks of his flock, and he’s further confined when the weasel attacks him, injuring his right wing. Straggler’s exclusion highlights the biases of the farm animals, who alienate minorities that don’t fit into the traditional behavior and roles of farm animals rather than mere wild animals; Straggler blurs the boundaries between wild and domesticated ducks, which makes the other animals, particularly the domesticated ducks, wary of him. He’s allowed in the barn but occupies a far corner close to the door, signaling his status as an outsider. The text establishes Straggler’s kindness when he argues that Sprout should be allowed to seek safety in the barn; as a fellow outsider, Straggler likely sympathizes with Sprout’s exclusion.

Straggler is devastated when the weasel kills his mate, the white duck. He later sacrifices himself to the weasel in order to safeguard his unhatched egg as well as Sprout, who adopts and nurtures the egg, thematically highlighting The Self-Sacrificial Nature of Parenting. Although Straggler is killed in the novella’s early chapters, he remains an important presence for Sprout; she draws on Straggler’s courageous self-sacrifice as a source of strength and is reminded of Straggler when Baby grows up. Sprout intuitively senses that Baby should join the flock of ducks that Straggler used to belong to; Baby follows in his absent father’s webbed footsteps and joins the wild ducks.

The biological offspring of the white duck and Straggler is Baby, who Sprout later renames Greentop. When the weasel kills the white duck, Sprout sits on the vacated egg, fulfilling her desire to be a mother. The duckling loves Sprout, his adoptive mother, but feels increasingly conflicted about his place in the world as he grows up. His growing ambivalence about where he belongs is evident when he lingers with the domestic duck’s leader after swimming in the reservoir, rather than returning immediately to Sprout: “‘Baby, come,’ she [Sprout] said, wanting to keep her baby safe under her wings. But Baby just looked at her and then at the leader, hurting her feelings a little” (82). Baby obviously wonders where he belongs, as the text further illustrates through his withdrawal from Sprout and his obvious worrying: “Baby sat in the nest, looking at the retreating ducks. He didn’t look as carefree as before” (83). Later, when Baby tries to join the brace of domestic ducks, they cruelly exclude him; he’s caught between worlds, not fitting in anywhere, mirroring Sprout and Straggler’s status as excluded loners.

Baby feels an immediate, emotional response to the group of wild mallard ducks who arrive, revealing his innate, instinctive draw to his father’s flock: “‘Mom, why is my heart pounding so hard?’ Greentop buried his head in Sprout’s wing, like he’d done as a baby. He was trembling, inexplicably moved” (109). After the flock initially rejects him, Baby proves himself an able guard. When the flock moves on, he joins them, bidding a tearful farewell to his brokenhearted mother, Sprout, and fulfilling his destiny. Through Baby’s search for his place in the world, the story explores The Search for Freedom and Self-Determination as a theme.