The 2013 book, The Conference of Birds by Peter Sis, develops an understanding of human wisdom and the decisions which people make, following their experiences. The author creates different characters, including the Hoopoe, the Simorgh, and other birds. The characters symbolically make the audience comprehend and relate to the human mistakes which prevent attaining enlightenment and the need for hope and patient virtues. Therefore, Peter Sis’s book The Conference of Birds makes the audience relate and understand the different happenings to the real world, hence developing virtues of patience, perseverance, and optimism.
In The Conference of Birds, Peter Sis portrays the birds’ journey to the Kaf mountain as a trip that measures individual patience and perseverance. Some birds despair even before the first stage is commenced (Sís, 2013). Notably, considering the high number of birds which started the journey from different parts of the world, only thirty managed to reach the end and subsequently meet their leader (Sís, 2013). According to Schnitker et al. (2017), patience and perseverance require people to act independently towards attaining their target goals and overcoming different obstacles which might be on their way. Similarly, the thirty birds which reach the terminal overcome different challenges. The persistence of the birds can have an affiliation with the actual life journey which people pass and achieve success. Connectedly, the birds’ mountain trip reveals fortitude and insistence, whereby the audience learns that the waiting attitude is crucial.
Additionally, the author presents the birds’ journey as a motivation for individuals to work hard towards attaining the stipulated goals. The birds are on the mission of finding and meeting their true leader (Sís, 2013). Despite nature eliminating some on the way, they thrive towards seeing their sovereign, being led by Hoopoe. Dörnyei (2019) opines that motivation allows people to change their behavior and growing interests, boost engagement, and develop critical competencies. Understandably, Hoopoe and his colleagues are motivated to fly to different valleys before finally meeting their monarch, hence, it is a considerable motivation. Every bird aims at seeing the king, including those who decided to quit in the first phase of the trip (Sís, 2013). Thus, the book presents the birds’ voyage to Kaf massif as an impetus for people to work diligently to attain their objectives despite the challenges on the way.
Besides, the text develops the trip as a massive exploration, whereby individuals learn different life scenarios, increasing their knowledge regarding diverse concepts. The book creates a design where the birds go to the seven valleys, starting with the valley of Poverty, and moving to the ones of Quest, Love, Detachment, Knowledge, Wonderment, and Unity (Sís, 2013). In the Quest valley, the Wayfarer commences by casting aside the unbelief, belief, and dogma (Sís, 2013). Subsequently, the birds abandon the reason for affection’s sake in the love dale. In the valley of Detachment, the characters leave behind worldly pleasures (Sís, 2013). The Unity vale teaches the Hoopoe and others birds that multiplicity, eternity, and harmony are far less behind beloved. Moreover, the Wonderment and Poverty canyons teach the characters that they do not understand the beauty of their beloved-and-self disappear into the world, making the Wayfarer timeless (Sís, 2013). Hence, the birds’ journey to Kaf mountain is an exploration experience that leaves Hoopoe and other characters with excellent life skills.
Furthermore, The Conference of Birds text portrays the journey as a struggle which increases Hoopoe, Simorgh, and the other thirty characters’ endurance, hence, emerging quite strong. They start the trip as a group, but only thirty reach the final destination (Sís, 2013). The birds pass all the tests and gather enough knowledge, leading them to the terminal where they meet their king. In the end, the problems and harsh conditions the characters have faced have made them strong and impervious. Equally, the birds’ journey teaches the audience that they should bear different life obstacles and be optimistic that they will succeed at the terminal by embracing significant progress. Thus, Peter Sis portrays the characters’ trip to the mountain as the one that shows them the importance of motivation, hence need to endure different incidences since they make one sturdy, able to navigate various live ordeals successfully.
Distinctively, McLuhan’s hot and cool concept and the human history theory are applicable in analyzing the birds’ conversions in Peter Sis’s work The Conference of Birds. In the hot and cool theory, McLuhan argues that “the communicated message in media is hidden and not directly presented” (Conway & Quellette, 2019, p. 1). The quotation relates to Sis’s book, whereby the birds are of different colors (Sís, 2013). The different colors of the characters represent people pursuing life differently. Moreover, human history theory mentions that people are shaped by various life transitions (McLuhan, 2015). In other words, the environment shapes the behavior of an individual. The concept relates to the birds which have undergone different changes before reaching their king. Connectedly, McLuhan’s hot and cool ideology, and human history concept relate to the occurrences in Sis’ book.
Conclusively, the book The Conference of the Birds teaches the audience the virtues of patience, persistence, and optimism. The birds that thrive throughout the seven valleys are the ones that meet the King. It is only thirty characters that reach the target end. Above all, there is a need for people that struggle and never lose hope as a way of becoming successful in life.
The picture presents the theme of patient and perseverance, whereby they are critical pillars in a person’s life. Hoopoe and the other birds remain persistent and patient until they meet their king. The thirty birds which reach the final destination are similar to the character in the above picture who starts from zero. Significantly, the picture above relates to the book considering that it teaches the audience that when one embraces confidence, courage, hard work, dedication, and patience, they ensure success. Overall, the picture presents an understanding that there is a need for people to be optimistic and embrace endurance.
References
Conway, S., & Ouellette, M. (2019). Playing it cool: Considering McLuhan’s hot and cool taxonomy for Game Studies. Convergence, 26(5), 1211–1225. Web.
Dörnyei, Z. (2019). From integrative motivation to directed motivational currents: The evolution of the understanding of L2 motivation over three decades. In the Palgrave Handbook of Motivation for Language Learning (pp. 39–69). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. Web.
McLuhan, E. (2015). The Sensus Communis, Synesthesia, and the Soul: An Odyssey. BPS Books.
Schnitker, S. A., Houltberg, B., Dyrness, W., & Redmond, N. (2017). The virtue of patience, spirituality, and suffering: Integrating lessons from positive psychology, the psychology of religion, and Christian theology. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 9(3), 264. Web.
Sís, P. (2013). The conference of the birds. Penguin Books.