Idealized versus Real Identity in Carson's Audubon Essay - 2

Idealized versus Real Identity in Carson's Audubon - Essay Example For Carson,   James Audubon’s realist works are not authentic because they signify forced renditions of natural birds. She presents a unique notion of the difference between substance and form in human identity. In â€Å"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 â€Å"drawn from nature† (2) because Audubon did no t paint them as they are. Audubon paints them, not as they are, but as how he wants them to be. Carson accentuates that â€Å"†¦[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 â€Å"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.