'Waxen Wings' By Ha Songn An Analysis

“The moment of doubting something and being told it can’t be done, is always worth a try even if it can kill or harm.” In “Waxen Wings,” the author Ha Songnan gives the idea of a girl that has the passion of wanting to fly. Knowing that humans can’t fly, the girl finds an alternative to fulfill her passion. If there is something that a human want to do and knowing or have been told it’s impossible, it is always worth a try or an alternative option for that specific passion. The character Birdie has shown her connection to this quote. Birdie wants to fly and has been told by many that it is impossible so therefore, she goes skydiving to give her the experience of flying which then ends of harming her. Throughout the story, Songnan uses metaphors,imagery,and

biblical allusions to show how this story has different understandings and meanings.
In this particular story, Songnan uses problem and solution as one of her structure to show how many things can occur but most likely there will be a solution.Th first problem Songnan adresses is with the girl which is called “Birdie.” As shown in the story,on page 165, “Only birds can fly.” “It’s impossible for people to fly.” Therefore, at this point the teacher is doubting Birdie’s passion to fly. Also, not only does her teacher doubt her, but her mom does also. As shown on page 180,the mother says, “People are meant to have both feet planted on solid ground” over and over again each day. As the story goes on, the girl make up her solution and starts to become a gymnast. “The moment of doubting something and being told it can’t be done, is always worth a try even if it can kill or harm.” This quote has a direct connection to the girl Birdie because she has the needs of wanting to fly, but being told that humans can’t fly,she then takes another approach at her situation. She then goes to try skydiving, doing that gives her the feeling of flying but in the end causes harm to her and she ends up losing one her legs. So Songnan uses problem and solution to introduce a problem of someone and the obstacles for them to go through to find a solution.
In ‘Waxen Wings,” Songnan uses a lot of second person point of view to give the reader a different side of the story. For example, on page 163, “Your watch stopped at 3:14.” Also on page 163,”Sometimes you glanced at your watch as if waiting for someone.” The use of second person point of view put the reader inside of the story by using”You.” In other words like on page 163, “You,ten years old, are cutting across the school field.” “ You look maybe six or seven at the most.” This also put the reader in a state of mind of being in place of the character.’The moment of doubting something and being told it can’t be done, is always worth a try even if it can kill or harm,” with that being said, the author tries different analysis even if the story may seem all over the place but knowing that it was worth a try.
Ha Songnan gives the reader an idea of the story being a tragedy but not only physically but emotionally also.

Physically, Songnan states the girl wanting of flying but ends up harming herself. She ended up with a broken leg which shows how she ended up hurt. As Songnan writes, “As you hit the ground, you heard your right leg crack and out it popped from under your skirt, glancing off the seesaw and dropping to the sand.” “My leg!”(181) As the girl goes through this, it becomes a tragedy because she is losing part of her which causes changes in within her life. Songnan also introduces an emotional tragedy to show tragedy can come in different standpoints. As shown on page 177,” When he kisses you for the first time, it’s “Don’t kiss me.” if you kiss me, i won’t be able to leave,” it gives the impression that Birdie had found love. But not so long later does this turn into an emotional tragedy for her. “Although he borrowed a line to say goodbye, you think that the words “I’d rather lose you than destroy you” are true” as shown on page 177 shows how he has left her. “The moment of doubting something and being told it can’t be done, is always worth a try even if it can kill or harm.” This quote connects to her because it shows how she has so many downfalls but she still continues to try and strive for herself.In this shorty story, Birdie’s tragedies are things that she can handle because pass things has made her

stronger.
In “Waxen Wings,” the author Ha Songnan gives the idea of a girl that has the passion of wanting to fly. Knowing that humans can’t fly, the girl finds an alternative to fulfill her passion. This is assumed to be her problem and she finds solutions by doing things that gives you the opportunity to go up in the air. The author, Songnan uses second person point of view to put the reader in the place of the little girl ”Birdie.” When the girl found things to give her the idea of fulfilling her passion, she ended up hurting herself which caused a physical tragedy. As she moved on and got older, she found love but in the end it caused her emotional tragedy. The short story shows life event in different ways to interest the reader. “The moment of doubting something and being told it can’t be done, is always worth a try even if it can kill or harm.”