To kick this post off, I would like to begin by comparing the two stories.
Vikram's story is the sarcastic fairy-tale poem which is mixed with elements of sudden death and an ending that brings the poem through a full circle with a frog croaking away into a pool of monotony.
On the other foot, Oscar gives us the long-short story that shows how animals truly believe in love whereas for humans, it is a mere fad. Oscar himself once said, "A man can be happy with any woman as long as he doesn't love her."* His story shows the human-ability of ignorance and being able to sweep the past beneath a rug. It ends with the nightingale's sacrifice being left in a dark corner of this greenhouse of a story.
Nightingale...naïve?
Nah, don't think so.
Actually, yes and no.
Someone naïve is someone who falls for any story, believes in everything she/he hears, does anything anyone asks of her/him, cries while watching cheesy sitcoms blah blah blah...The Nightingale believed all the trees because she knew they wouldn't lie to her. When the tree said that she must make the rose red through pain - it wasn't a half-cooked story or a conspiracy to kill the bird, it was the truth. So she wasn't naïve.
However, the nightingale shouldn't have believed the student when he said that all he wanted was a red rose and nothing more. She should've just looked at him, said something like, "Jeez, get over it, human!" and dismissed the fact that some idiot desired a red rose. But, when she calls him a "true lover" and sets out to find a rose for him - it's not gullibility, it's sensitivity. The point at which she is classified as naïve is when she thinks, "Man, that lover is probably suffering and is desperate for that rose! I MUST USE THE OAK'S TECHINIQUE AND KILL MYSELF TO GET IT!"
At this point, my friends, we may call the bird "naïve".
Nightingale...do I like her?
Yet again, I'll say yes and no.
I like her because she believes strongly in something. She knows of something that she thinks has no flaws (Even though it's something gooey like love).
I don't like her for a couple of things. Firstly, she believes in love too-OO much. Secondly, she takes humans seriously. I mean, oaks are fine. But humans - you just can't trust them!
If she was aware of this fact she would appeal to me. But if she actually was aware of this fact, the story wouldn't have been the same and Sarcy wouldn't have asked this question and I wouldn't be typing all this out. Heh.
Who do I resemble the most and why?
Wow. Tough one.
I think I'll say I resemble a cross between the shrewd frog and the professor's daughter.
- > Why the frog?
Because I would've done something like what he did to the nightingale to an identity stealer or a plagiarist. Because he was cold and evil. Because I am kind of arrogant - even though I don't think so. And because he was, quite simply, cool.
- > Why the professor's daughter?
Because she acted practically by going with the dude with the ice. Because she seemed to be a straightforward thinker. Because she was cold and evil.
Now it's over. So turn off your computer and do something useful!
* HT City "15th April, Sunday - Front Page Bubble Gum, Top left corner."
