IndexIntroductionDescription of DeconstructionClose Reading of the Blue BirdDeconstruction of the Blue BirdConclusionIntroductionCharles Bukowski's famous poem Bluebird depicts a metaphorical, invisible bird that lives in his heart. On first reading, the poem leaves an impression that urges readers to search for the inner bluebirds that live in their hearts. In the poem, Bukowski completely dominates the bluebird, feeding the bluebirds what he wants and locking the bluebirds in his caged heart. The poet tells the readers that he has the power to hold the bluebird despite his desire to escape. However, a careful examination of the poem shows otherwise: he sees only the ghost of the bluebird. First of all, Charles Bukowski's statement that there is a “blue bird” hidden from others in everyone's heart is questionable. Apparently, the bluebird represents the authentic and unbridled desires of man. According to Bukowski, humans are forced to curb their unbridled desires. Perhaps the bluebird is just a phantom of the poet's imagination. Furthermore, even if there was a bluebird – representing the id, could we control it as Bukowski depicts? In using the method of deconstructionism, this article attempts to show the opposite of what Bukowski struggled to convey, readers learn nothing of the bluebird, but simply a ghost of Bukowski's drunken dream. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayDescription of DeconstructionIn order to pave the way for further analysis, this article clarifies the basic claim and method of deconstructionism. Deconstruction theory examines a given text in two stages. The first step involves understanding the poem, i.e. identifying the symbols, metaphors, ironies, tone, points of view, etc. It requires readers to capture the meaning and meaning that a text intends to convey. However, deconstructionists are mischievous, questioning all meanings. In other words, the deconstructionist does not believe that a text has an immortal soul or an all-encompassing meaning that holds the text together. Consequently, meanings are always filtered by people's points of view, that is, by aspects of reading. For example, deconstructionists use terminologies such as difference to denote the arbitrariness and futility of meaning. We know what it is only by knowing what it is not. In other words, one identifies what is only by recognizing what is not. For example, I claim that this is a book. My request is valid as long as I recognize that the book is not a chair, nor a flower, and the list goes on. Therefore, what is and what is not are binary oppositions. Oppositions coexist in the unfolding of meaning. The arrival of a privileged meaning requires the recognition of its difference, that is, through a continuous process of exclusion. In other words, meaning is a process of “deferral.” However, postponement does not exclude opposition: what is postponed remains. The so-called arrival at the ultimate meaning is always conditioned by its opposites, that is, by what is not. Under the influence of psychoanalytic theories, deconstruction deals with the apparent, with the slip of the tongue. It deconstructs the meaning that other theories attempt to construct and articulate. Careful reading of BlueBirdBluebird by Charles Bukowski is composed of two stanzas. In the first stanza, the poem directly points to its main focus, the bluebird that lives in the poet's heart. The blue bird wants to go out. The line is repeated four times in the poem,which rhymes in the readers' ears. The poet describes the non-literary relationship between the bluebird and himself. He completely dominates the blue birds, as he writes, "I'm too tough for him." Whiskey and cigarette are the bluebird's daily tasting. Whiskey is a form of spirits, while inhaling cigarettes is harmful to your health. The blue bird has no choice but to passively accept everything Bukowski offers him. To understand the poem, you need to examine it closely. In the first verse, Bukowski describes his relationship with the bluebird in his heart. However, it is not a smooth relationship, as the bird struggles under the poet's dominance. The poet tells the reader in the first line of the poem, “there is a bluebird in my heart that wants to come out.” According to the poet, the bluebird longs for the outside world, that is, a world of freedom. However, the poet cancels his wish: “I will not let anyone see you”. The red and bold part is repeated many times in this poem, - a use of reiteration, it is the main theme of the poem, the bluebird inside the poet that had never been seen. Nobody knows about the bluebird. If only the poet sees the bluebirds, the reader can ask a valid question: Does the bluebird exist? The image of the blue bird is a metaphor, representing the poet's hidden face, another self that no one else is aware of. The bartenders who serve him drinks, the whores who sleep with him and the grocery clerks who offer him his daily food; they can only see Bukowski's appearance, his face, his movements and his body. However, none of them know that the blue bird lives in Bukowski's heart. In other words, none of them truly “know” or “understand” the other/real Bukowski, i.e. the bluebird in his heart. The battle between the poet and the bluebird was becoming a serious war. In the second stanza, the poet describes the war. Once again, the poet emphasizes his harshness in dealing with the bluebird. The poet asks the blue bird to sit down, keep calm and not confuse him. But the only answer he gets from the blue bird is: “he wants to go out”. Perhaps, out of frustration, the witty poet finds a reconciliation with it. As the poet writes: “I only let him out / at night sometimes / when everyone is asleep”. The bird gets the freedom it desires. Only on dark nights, when everyone is asleep. Is it true that no one can witness the existence of the bluebird? The poet claims the opposite, it is enough for him to testify and affirm the existence of the blue bird. Comfort the bluebird by telling him, “I know you are here, so don't be sad.” Inevitably, as the inhabitant of the poet's heart, the bluebird carries with it all the poet's secrets. Those secrets, the poet tells the reader, are “beautiful enough to make a man cry.” Those lines create a sentimental feeling: if the bluebird were free, the poet would live as if he had no secrets. However, the secrets are incompatible with reality, as the blue bird would ruin Bukowski's works and blow up his book sales in Europe. Crying is beautiful because it smoothes scars, secrets are hard because they involve discontent, resentment, and resistance, and life is fragile because humans are mortal, as is the bluebird. Only when night comes, the poet shows some tenderness to the bluebird, and the bluebird sings. The poet is happy to be with the bluebird, but only alone. The poem ends in a depressive way, the poet is tough, tough enough not to cry over human frailty. Life is hard, man must not cry and affirm his short existence, which brings with it all its secrets. To summarize, the poem creates a binary between an unfulfilled desire.