Boy, Snow, Bird is a modern day Snow White in its own way. There's an evil step mother - which you can decide whether she's evil to you or not - a beautiful, step daughter who ironically is named, Snow. Through the different stories being told from three different view points, Helen Oyeymi shows just how far some will go to lie about who they truly are.
In Boy, Snow, Bird, the book was a rewriting of the fairytale Snow White. This book had aspects of an essential fairytale, however, it wasn't your classical story either. I didn't believe that Boy, the main character, was as evil as the characters in the story made her out to be. She was a character that did have tendencies toward expressing anger—for instance, her fight with Snow towards the end of the novel, which I believe is because of the environment Boy grew up in. During her childhood, Boy, was abused by her father, Frank, also known as the rat catcher in the story. She would be tied down to the chair in the basement by her father who then allowed the rats to try and bite her face; her father would also inform Boy that she wasn’t pretty when Charlie would come to the house to voice his feelings towards Boy.
What confused me about the novel was the fact that we discover Frances ‘Frank’ Novak decides to become a trans man after being raped by a man who wanted to show her what a ‘real’ man was like due to her being a lesbian. This part of the story did throw me for a loop within the story, I kind of understood where Oyeyemi was trying to go with her story, wanting to bring in a big plot twist to the readers. However, I do not believe that was a plot twist she should’ve taken. This made it seem that because of her experience as a woman that becoming a trans man would be an easier coping mechanism. It gives off the idea that being a trans is a way to escape problems you face but when in reality it’s due to people becoming your true self. I do believe Oyeymi should have went with a better plot twist as in maybe Boy had been kidnapped as a child and Frank wasn’t her true parent.
In regards to Snow, I do like how the story was open for the reader to take their own interpretation of this character. Especially when it came to the idea of her being taught from childhood that she deserves the world or being manipulative towards those around her. In my opinion, I think Snow was somewhat manipulative because she knew the beauty and power she held in regards to her family and their adoration of her because of her skin tone. So, when Boy stepped into the picture, she could see past that and this was a reason she sent Snow away, for her to be separated from her family so she could see a different perspective from the rest of the Whitmans. Even though I don’t think Boy was right for sending Snow away, I do think her heart was in the right place. The passing that occurred throughout the book did not surprise me due to the fact it was very popular in the African American community, when you were fair-skinned African American you believed to get the best would be to live a life of a white person instead of your true race. (“A podcast that tells the story of an African American woman passing a white woman”).
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