Hating Goldie- Phyllis Rose

     I found this to be a very interesting story. I thought it was well-written and truly illustrated the viewpoint/perspective of the author. It also, I think, displays her unique and refreshing senses of style and tone,  as well as her very interesting take on her childhood life. Rose spoke with such intensive abhorrence, describing her experiences with Goldie with words and phrases of such a negative connotation--i.e., "insipid," "caterwauling," "I waited for him to die." I was waiting for the story to alter and take a positive twist--i.e, an experience in which she learned a lesson from her antagonizing pet canary--but it remained very forthright and veracious. In a sense, it was very refreshing.

     This story yielded my own personal reflection on the events of my childhood. I remember my buying fish and hermit crabs and dogs; not once had my parents ever lied to me about the conditions of my pets. In fact, my parents never lied to me about anything...well, at least, I don't think they lied to me about anything. We had/have a very open relationship. They exposed me to the "good" things the world had to offer, but they never hid the "bad"/truthful things from me. We always talked things through. I think an open and honest sense of communication was missing from Phyllis' relationship with her parents. Her parents, did, in a sense "deprive her of the pain [she] needed to be nourished as an artist." If they had talked more about how they feel in regards to what was going on in life, it could have saved their entire family a great deal of time, money and distress.

     The bird, in a very obscure way, symbolizes the challenges that life throws at us. They may not last long, just like the canary in the story, but they are ever-present. We can avoid them or confront them. We can lie about them or truthfully accept them. We have choices and learn lessons with each given experience.