2.3 An examination of Magpie Island by Colin Thiele
- PLOT:
Magpie was born on the Eyre Peninsula, but he is blown out to sea when, as an adventurous young bird, he cannot resist following a mighty wedge-tailed eagle. He comes to land on a solitary island and is alone among the seabirds there. However he is spotted by Benny, the ten year old son of a tuna fisherman who sails with his father whenever can. Many months later, on seeing that Magpie has survived his ordeal, Benny persuades his father to take a mate to the intrepid bird. Magpie and Mate enjoy only a brief time of happiness together before she is killed, and Magpie is alone again.
[The publisher’s blurb only gives the briefest outline of the story and makes no mention of Magpie’s adventures after he finds himself alone on the island.]
- SETTING:
-
The book begins on the Eyre Peninsula, but most of the story takes place on a solitary island off the coast of South Australia. Some action also occurs on Benbow Bates’ clipper, the Windhover. The time is the present.
- CHARACTER:
-
There are two important characters in this book, Magpie and ten year old Benny. Magpie, the main character, is shown as an adventurous bird, whose high spirits lead him into trouble, but whose qualities of courage and endurance enable him to survive the rigours of his harsh situation.
‘But Magpie was there, and alive. He would live out his whole life there now, defying all the storms … He would become a legend as big as a mountain’ (p.48).
Benny is a lively and resourceful boy whose keen eyesight enables him help his father find the shoals of fish. ‘… he had eyes like telescopes that could pick up the signs of a tuna rippler or salmon school when he was two kilometres away’ (p.20). He is also able to discern Magpie from off-shore, whereas his father has to use the binoculars to see the bird.
Benny identifies with Magpie, and in imagining his sadness (p.22), and wanting to alleviate his loneliness, the boy’s concern is evident. He later manages to persuade his father to interrupt his fishing to take a female magpie on to the island, and on a subsequent trip, to let him row ashore to check on the solitary Magpie sitting ‘down by the cove’ (p.45). Nevertheless, it is not in Benny’s nature to pity the bird, and as the Windhover sails away for the last time, Benny pays silent tribute to the heroic ‘Crusoe’ (p.48) figure of Magpie.
Although he may be regarded as a minor character, Benbow Bates does have a significant role in the story. As Benny’s father and captain of the Windhover, he is the decision maker. He appears to be gruff and authoritarian, but beneath this hard exterior, an essentially kindly man can be discerned. ‘“She’d [Mate] better find him,” old Benbow said, “after all the trouble we’ve been through to get her here.” But he was really smiling just as much as Benny was’ (p.30).
[Note: The publishers make no mention of either Benny or his father in their blurb.]
- POINT OF VIEW:
-
The narration in this book is mainly from the third person point of view, although initially the author employs the first person narrator to introduce the story and to explain why Magpie is so called. ‘I could make [a name] up and call him Martie Magpie … But … [n]ames like that are for birds that live locked up in cages …’ (p.1).
For the rest of the book, however, Thiele uses omniscient narration to tell the story which is also sometimes seen through Magpie’s eyes and at others Benny’s. With the main characters acting as focalisers at various times, the reader is able to see events from their different perspectives.
‘It was too much for Magpie. The fierce squall of their gabbling, the sound of the hard air tearing past their wings roused his blood … At first it was all headstrong and exciting’ (p.9).
‘Benny saw him there … - a small lonely figure held for a moment in the thin rays breaking through the clouds … Magpie was a dot on a tree … And all around was the vast violent wilderness of the sea … (p.47).
Interestingly, Thiele seldom uses the third person omniscient narrator to depict Benbow Bates, but reveals his personality mainly through the conversations he has with his son.
- THEME:
-
The publishers see the theme of Magpie Island as that of solitude and endurance, and while agreeing with the idea of endurance, much more emphasis can be given to the notion of isolation rather than just solitude. In spite of his courage, Magpie is left totally alone after the death of his new-found mate, and Thiele emphasises the bleakness of his situation in the last line. The bird may provide inspiration, may become a legend, and tomorrow may be ‘a bright new day’ (p.48).
‘But it was dark outside’ (p.48).
- STYLE:
-
This element will be discussed in detail in Part 5. However mention will be made here of Thiele’s use of description to give a vivid portrayal of Magpie’s experiences.
‘There were seabirds everywhere … wheeling in huge flocks above the breakers, screeching and shrieking. … Magpie … flew to join the milling mass near the cliffs.
‘He landed in a colony of terns – a jostling confusion of birds and nests with mottled eggs all over the place’ (p.17).
The repeated use of the present participle form ( the –ing form) of the verbs ‘wheeling’, ‘screeching’, ‘shrieking’ underlines the tumultuous movement of the birds, which is further heightened by the alliteration of the ‘milling mass’. At the same time, the harsh assonance and hard consonants of ‘screeching and shrieking’ echo the high-pitched, discordant sounds of the ‘jostling confusion’ of terns.
Other passages in the book are equally vivid, so that events of the narrative are clearly delineated against the backdrop of sights and sounds of the sea and the island.