Perfection; it’s almost never achieved. For something or someone to be without a single flaw seems almost impossible actually. Everything and everybody has faults. If our world followed the story plot of a romance however, perfection would be attained quite easily. We would be living in a flawless world with flawless people and flawless things. Happiness would be pumping throughout our bodies as if it were our blood. In the short story “The Hundredth Dove,” by Jane Yolen, our dream of perfection, is their reality. In preparation for the King and Lady Columbia’s magnificent wedding, the fowler is ordered to hunt one hundred doves for the ceremony, but when one white dove keeps the fowler wondering, things start to get a bit unrealistic. This story is undoubtedly a romance.
When reading a romantic story, what’s the first sign that gives the plot away? The prancing unicorns, talking rabbits, or the sickening perfection of their world? Looking into the mode of literature of a story isn’t always the easiest thing to accomplish, but starting with symbolism can give some good clues. In “The Hundredth Dove,” there was endless symbolism. From silken swift unicorns to a gryphon flying by likes it’s no big deal, the story was puking out unrealistic romance. One major symbol of the story was a specific dove. She was “slim, elegant, and white as milk,” as the story had described her. Day after day, as she was being captured, she would spontaneously slip free of the fowlers silken net that had not one snag, snarl, or weakened thread. On the day before the wedding however, the fowler managed to capture the beautiful bird. As he wrapped his hands around her, she spoke to him. Frightened, she offered the man gold and silver, fame and fortune, and the true love of Lady Columbia in return of letting her free. Nothing worked. The dedicated fowler did not allow any of these offers to get in the way of his moto “Servo,” which means I serve. All of this seems pretty impractical. Is this story screaming romance at you yet?
Figuring out the mode of literature is not always the simplest of activities to carry out, but taking a good look at the symbolism of the story can really give you a decent clue. As Jane Yolen wrote “The Hundredth Dove,” she had wonderful intentions of creating a romantic piece for the reader to escape the reality of their defective world and enter the perfection of another.
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