Idealized versus Real Identity in Carson's Audubon - Essay Example

4 March Truth about Form and Substance: Idealized versus Real Identity in Carson’s “Audubon” If the truth is not sociallyappealing, some people think it is better to wrap it in deceptive packaging to become more acceptable. In “Audubon,” Anne Carson examines the implications of John James Audubon’s famous bird paintings to human identity. Audubon is a French-American ornithologist and painter, whose realistic portrayals of birds made his name similar to birds and conservation efforts (“John James Audubon”). For Carson, however, these realist works are not authentic because they signify forced renditions of natural birds. She presents a unique notion on the difference between substance and form in human identity. In “Audubon,” Carson uses image, diction, sarcasm, and metaphor to argue that, when people are blinded with their love for physical appearance and social stratification, they cannot perceive the difference between human form and substance and see the truth about their identities. The poem employs images of inauthentic portrayals of birds to depict the disparity between people’s perception and the reality of their identity. The images of the birds cannot be trusted as truthful because they are dead, in the same way that perceptions of humanity tend to be false because people base them on idealistic, but inaccurate, views of themselves. Carson puts open and close quotation marks on the phrase “drawn from nature” (2) because Audubon did not paint them as they are. Audubon paints them, not as they are, but as how he wants them to be. Carson accentuates that “…[Audubon] hated the unvarying shapes/of traditional taxidermy” (5-6). She suggests that he is not satisfied with the roughness of actual animal nature. He prepares them to be more palatable to his tastes and audience. But to change nature indicates deception. Some people also enjoy deceiving others with appearances. They will enhance or hide their natural features, in order for them to be acceptable in their society. Furthermore, a number of people take pains in being who they are not. Carson emphasizes how Audubon changes what a bird must be, according to how he wants them to be seen. She describes the “flexible armatures of bent wire and wood/ on which he arranged bird skin and feathers” (7-8). Nothing is natural in his paintings because the actions of the birds and their appearances are contrived. Audubon’s birds are healthy and colorful, but in their real habitats, they might be more unkempt and thinner. Some people want to be seen as beautiful too, and so they change their physical appearance. As a result, they become arranged beauties, far from their real identities. In addition, people pretend to be perfect, when inside, they are torn apart. The “unvarying shapes” of “traditional taxidermy” are chaotic images (5-6). They are accurate emblems of disorder inside humanity. Carson widens the horrifying image of the artificial birds. She illustrates “whole eviscerated birds/in animated poses” (10-11). These birds are disemboweled and posed to look better. The poem suggests how several people want to change their inner identities to become more perfect outside. Their animated poses, nevertheless, defy their intrinsically untidy nature. The forced images of the birds startle readers, pushing them to realize that Audubon’s birds are not real, in the same way that what people often see as their identities may also be unreal. While images emphasize the contrast between real and contrived identities, the poem employs diction to exhort the banality of sophisticated language, which emphasizes the banality of human need for social stratification that they use to divide themselves from “inferior” others. The diction of the poem is sophisticated, which targets the upper class. Carson absorbs the language of a scientist, specifically, an ornithologist to convey a superior character. Words such as “taxidermy” (6), “eviscerated” (10), and “armatures” (7) are not layman’s terms. They signify the stature of an intellectual person, who does not want to change his/her language to appeal to the masses. The purpose of this diction is to divide people into social classes and underline the superiority of the upper class over the lower class. Moreover, Carson undermines the beauty of Audubon’s realistic bird paintings to demonstrate that no matter how sophisticated his realist works are, they are not truthful and accurate. In Audubon’s times, these paintings were revered, actually until present times (“John James Audubon”). Carson mars these perfect images as imperfect because they are not based on reality. She describes the birds that are not birds: “You can look at these true shapes all day and not see the bird” (19). They are not real birds because they are manipulated to be something else. Carson employs upper-class diction to stress the divergence between real substance and superficial for. She says that the birds were “wired in the cloudless poses of the Great Naturalist” (32). These works are not real, but in “poses,” or posed to become extraordinarily beautiful. Some people also pose to be someone else. Their love for ideal physical beauty turns them into unreal renditions of their identities. Other people strive to change their identities, to the point that they change how others see them. The diction of the poem reveals that human sophistication is contrived and unreal. Apart from diction, the poem uses a sarcastic tone, where it sets to destroy the usual positive impressions about Audubon and his works, exposing him as a fraud, along with other people who use idealization, instead of realization, to portray their identities. The first line underlines that Audubon wants to be original, but sarcasm questions his ideal portrayal of his skills. It says: “Audubon perfected a new way of drawing birds that he called his” (Carson 1). Indeed, a person who does something can own his product, but Carson does not support this because for her, nature is the true painter of real life. In addition, Carson challenges Audubon’s painting skills, rendering his works inferior to real birds, and so the more people idealize their images, the more they fail to see the truth about their identities. Audubon only draws from nature (Carson 2). Carson suggests that nature draws these birds better. Audubon’s talent is a poor interpretation of reality. Some people abhor depicting human nature as it is; they prefer idealized forms over the “unvarying shapes” of their identities (Carson 5). They have a strong desire to portray superficial models of their identities. Moreover, the poem is sarcastic on who Audubon is, which can be connected to who people think they are. Carson calls him a “…noble rustic American” (31), when he is actually a “Haitian-born Frenchman” (29). Audubon pretends to be a natural country person, when he is born in one of the colonies France. His American-ness is untrue, in the same way that people exhibit fake identities. Furthermore, Carson questions the clamor for Audubon’s works, suggesting that the clamor is as superficial as the painted birds. She notes: “They loved him” (33) because he depicts “true American facts” (35). He is not even a true American, so his products are far from being “true American facts” (35). People fool themselves when they believe in something and someone that are not truthful in substance. Carson challenges what people value as real in form, when the form is not faithful to their substance. Carson suggests that some people would rather live in the shadows of the unreal. They use physical appearance to suggest a perfect substance. Like Audubon, they are only deceiving themselves with a twisted, inaccurate vision of their identities. The harm is in the deception, where deceiving the self and others do not confirm the truth about who they are. They cannot stay outwardly attractive for a long time without suffering inner consequences. The world is set in a stage. Instead of birds, this student sees people in unnatural positions, perfectly formed and lighted. They are all beautiful; they are all grotesquely pristine. Works Cited Carson, Anne. “Audubon.” Men in the Off Hours. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000. 17-18. Print. “John James Audubon.” National Audubon Society, 2013. 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