The Relationship In Helen Macdonald's I Is For Hawk

In a human life, there are so many relationships like the one between husband and wife, between mother and child, or between brother and sister. Besides those relationships, there can also be a connection between human and nature. Nature is comprised of a variety of things, such as plants, landscape, other features, and animals. There are plenty of relationships between natures, like relation with animal and plants. The book H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald talks about the relationship between her and a hawk. She got the hawk after her dad die. There is a strong connection between them that helped her got over the grief of losing her father. In the book I and Thou by Martin Buber, he talks about the I and Thou relationship between human and

nature. After reading the two very different books, one is a philosopher book and one talks about the connection between human and the hawk, I do agree, that one can certainly have an I- Thou relationship with nature.
Nature is wonderful. Everything from the spring flowers, the green of summer trees, the autumn leaves and the winter snow are all beautiful. It provides the busy human mind a calm and relaxing place to go to. Once a connection is established with it, one feels nature differently. According to “I and thou”, Martin Buber stated: “that as I contemplate the tree I am drawn into a relation and the tree ceases to be an It” (page 58, Martin Buber). Most of the time, people see nature as an object, an I- It relationship, people do not usually connect with it. However, when people appreciate their relationship or connection with nature, it will be no longer It but it will be Thou, an I- Thou relationship. When saying It, it sounds like there is no emotional connection, no emotion in it. But when saying using Thou or treat objects as Thou, it sounds like there is an emotional and deep connection with it.
One of the great examples that emphasize this concept is the relationship of Helen and the hawk in “H is for Hawk”.

As taken from page 89, “as I sit there happily feeding tidbits to the hawk, her name drops into my head, Mable. From amabilis, meaning loveable or dear” Helen mentioned (page 89, chapter 9). As Helen was watching the bird, one could say that she fell in love. She named her hawk Mable. A name is something that identifies a person. It, however, can be more than just a term of reference for humans give names to the things that they love. For example people name their dogs, cats, and fish. The names can represent their personalities, which is why the giving names can convey some sort of connection between human and animal. The name given is what one thinks best fits the animal being named. No one names their pet unless they want to treat it as a human or even, as a friend, who they can play, talk, or spend time with like a real human being. Calling names rather referring to a dog or a cat shows more affection towards the pets. Through this detail, it is proving that Helen looked at the hawk as a being I- Thou relationship, something that she loves and cares for, not as an object. Besides the naming, the author of the book “H is for Hawk” also feels her connection with her hawk somewhat resembles a mom’s connection with child. She stated: “she is a child… I reach down and start, unconsciously as a mother helping a child with her dinner, plucking the pheasant with the hawk” (page 184, chapter 19). Helen feels like she was a mother and the hawk was her child. She was helping the hawk to eat like a mother preparing a meal for her child. The relationship between a mother and child is quite unique in a way that it can shape a person’s life. Through this point, it shows that there is a very strong connection between Helen and the hawk. Though it might not be the same as the I-Thou relationship, the motherly love is as strong love as that of the I- thou

relationship.
Nature is so beautiful that one can definitely have a relationship with it. As in the three spheres, in which the world of relation arises, that Buber mentioned; one of the three spheres that he talks about is life of nature. He said: “Here the relation vibrates in the dark and remains below language. The creatures stir across from us, but they are unable to come to us, and the You we say to them sticks to the threshold of language” (page 57, Martin Buber). The You here means I- Thou relationship. This refers to us, who are making an I-Thou relationship with objects. This means that the relation is hidden in the dark and has a limit of language. Natures are all around in our every daily task, but we do not usually connect nor have a relationship with it. We see natures as an It. But once we treat it as Thou, we will reach the border of language, an obstacle which separates human and nature. Overcoming that obstacle by seeing nature as Thou, we will have connection with it. Taken from H is for hawk, “I was turning into a hawk” (page 85, chapter 9) said Helen. She felt like she was turning into a hawk. She tried to understand the hawk’s state of mind by looking at its postures and movement of feathers, so she could figure out what the bird needed. By understanding body languages of the hawk, she can tell how the hawk is really feeling. The author tried to make connection to the bird in different ways. By doing so, she felt like she was literally turning into a hawk. She felt so connected with the hawk, she was aware of the meaning of every action of the hawk like it was communicating to her.
A similar quote that points out the I- Thou relation by Helen is: “hunting with the hawk took me to the very edge of being a human” (page 195, chapter 21). By being close to the hawk for some time, she felt like the hawk is making her felt like she is on the edge on human and hawk. By running after the hawk when it hunts the prey, the author feels like she was merged with nature and becomes a hawk. When the hawk got the prey, however, she pulled herself back to human. Another point about the I- thou relationship between author and the hawk is that she denied everything in her daily life to be with the hawk. She said: “in two months, I will have no office, no college, no salary, no home. Everything will be different” (page 124, chapter 13). She denied her job that was offered. All she wanted to do was to fly the hawk. She had no ambition for her career like other people usually do. She could not see anything else beside the hawk in her coming days, or perhaps months and years. At this point, it shows that the relationship between her and the hawk is very strong, which made her unable to leave the hawk. These details show that what Helen did is matched with Buber‘s statement, which is mentioned above. At first when Helen got the hawk, she saw it as an It. She could not understand the hawk nor did the hawk understand her. There was a barrier between them that prevented them from connecting. But by trying to understand the hawk’s mood, and felt that she was transforming into a hawk, seeing It as a Thou, helped them get over the obstacle, the “threshold of language”. They understood each other more and more, to the point where Helen sacrificed her everything for the Hawk. Helen’s human- nature relationship was strong to the point of sacrifices being made for her hawk.
Life is both coincidence and chance. It is filled with all surprises, one won’t know what he is going to get. Buber stated: “the You encounters me by grace- it cannot be found by seeking…all life is encounters” ( page 62, Martin Buber). The relationship I- Thou are by encounter, by chance, not by seeking it out. Like in the H is for hawk when she first encountered Mabel. Helen said: “this is not my hawk” (page 5, chapter 5). This is what the author said when she saw the bigger bird’s eyes even though she was assigned to the bigger bird. After she saw the smaller bird, she felt like there is a connection between her and the smaller bird, and not the bigger bird. The author encounters the smaller bird by chance and it is also by chance that she wanted to keep her. It was by chance that the bigger bird happened to have a wild look in her eyes. Helen was somehow scared in a way and did not want to take in the bigger bird, instead, she wanted the smaller bird.
As mentioned above, the relationship between I- Thou can very much be similar to the relationship between Helen and Mable, who she sees as Thou and nature. Both of them are similar in the aspect of love with nature, encounter, and a strong connection of love. Encounter here means that the relationship between the two is random, coincidence. By this factor, it will change the perspective of that person. It will make the relationship become deeper and stronger. Even though I and thou is more of a lover relationship, the relationship between mother and daughter is just as strong as that of I and Thou. Helen was willing to give up everything for her hawk, she was in love with the hawk, she can prefer the hawk as I- Thou.