grade 9 lit formative

1. The pheonix
By sylivia Warner

2. About the
Mythical
Phoenix
phoenix is a symbol of
immortality.The phoenix
bursts into flames at the end
of its life, only to rise up
from its ashes.It is typically
associated with the sun god
Apollo.It appears in both
Egyptian and Greek
mythology.

3. Theme
 Greed and the derailing of
the natural order of things
for profits are the main
themes of The Phoenix.
Irony
 The crowds that flocked to
view the phoenix,
unnaturally aged for the
profit of Poldero, go in
hopes of seeing the grand
death of the phoenix, but
instead, they are the ones
to die,

4. Conflict
 There are two conflicts
occurring in The Phoenix.
One conflict is Man versus
Self. Poldero has a greed for
profit and goes to extremes
to gain profits when the
phoenix stops bringing him
such. This leads into the
second conflict, Man versus
Nature. To gain profits from
the phoenix, he tries various
ways to age the phoenix
unnaturally, hence messing
with the natural order of
things.
mockery
 This story is a mockery on
the human need to view
grotesque things, the
extremes one will go to for
greed, and the
repercussions of messing
with the natural order of
things.

5. The Characters
 Lord Strawberry He is a bird-loving noblemen
who collected a variety of birds in his aviary. The
one bird he does not have in his aviary is the
Phoenix. Once he acquires this rare, legendary bird,
he dies soon after, and his aviary is sold to the
public, including the phoenix.

6.  The Phoenix It is a legendary, rare bird. Legend
has it that the phoenix builds itself a nest at the end
of its life, bursts into flames, and then arises young
again from its ashes.
 Mr. Poldero He is a greedy, money-minded
businessman. He is the owner of "Poldero's Wizard
Wonderland," a collection of strange and bizarre
sights, to which the phoenix would be a profitable
addition.

7. The Plot
 The nobleman Lord Strawberry is a collector of fine birds;
although, the one bird he has yet to add to his collection is the
mythical phoenix. After much searching and fake phoenixes, he
finally finds the genuine phoenix, wins its confidence, and
takes it home to his aviary. Unfortunately, Lord Strawberry
dies soon after, leaving the birds of his aviary up for bid by the
public. His dead, occurring after a world war, left may short
on money and birdseed. Mr. Poldero then comes into the
ownership of the phoenix.Mr. Poldero adds the phoenix to his
"Poldero's Wizard Wonderland." The bird makes him great
profits, until the crowds begin to lose interest. Mr. Poldero
then decides to go on a new profit-seeking venture with the
phoenix, learning that it will explode into a grand show of
flames at the end of its life. He begins to age the phoenix
unnaturally, by making it as miserable as possible

8.  He scarcely fed it, made it cold, put disagreeable birds in
with it, put alley cats in with it, and, finally, put the
phoenix into a wet environment, which was not suitable
since its natural habitat, Arabia, was very dry. He also
abused the bird daily.When Mr. Poldero was sure that
the phoenix was as near death as possible, he called
upon the media to advertise the spectacular show of the
phoenix's death and revival. Crowds and cameras soon
flock to watch the phoenix as it dies. It expectantly burst
into flames and was born again, though in this blaze
incinerated the greedy Poldero and viewers.

9. 6 important quotes
 1. But for many years the finest set of apartments
remained empty, with just a label saying:
“PHOENIX. Habitat: Arabia.” Lord Strawberry
kept the finest aviary in Europe. It was spacious
enough to house full grown eagles. The climate
control inside ensured that humming birds and
snow buntings that lived on the two ends of the
climate spectrum existed comfortably inside. The
only bird that was missing was the fabulous
phoenix, a native of Arabia.

10.  2. But it was not puffed by these attentions, and when it
was no longer in the news, and the visits fell off, it
showed no pique or rancour. It ate well, and seemed
perfectly contented. Lord Strawberry travelled all the
way to Arabia to procure the phoenix. When it was
brought home, it caused a sensation and a steady stream
of visitors, ornithologists, poets, journalists and milliners
filed past, pausing to exclaim and gawk. After a while all
was quiet and the stream of visitors dried. But the bird
minded neither the constant attention nor the inattention.
It was an amiable bird that was contented with life and
nothing much could upset it. .

11.  3. But then business slackened. The phoenix was as
handsome as ever, and amiable; but, as Mr. Poldero
said, it hadn’t got Allure. Even at popular prices the
phoenix was not really popular. It was too quiet, too
classical. To begin with, the phoenix was a major
attraction at Poldero’s Wizard Wonderland with
large crowds paying top prices to see the phoenix.
But as time went on, people got jaded with the
phoenix as it did not do anything much. It did not
flap about or screech. Its good looks were not
enough to draw the crowds in. Poldero reduced his
prices but the crowds did not come.

12.  4. “Suppose,” continued Mr. Poldero, “we could
somehow get him alight? We’d advertise it beforehand,
of course, work up interest. Then we’d have a new bird,
and a bird with some romance about it, a bird with a life
story. We could sell a bird like that.” Poldero is
desperate to make profit using the phoenix. The numbers
of people coming in to view it had dwindled over the
weeks. That’s when Poldero learns a little more about the
bird and its habits. The phoenix would burst into flames
when it became old and from the flames a new bird
would rise. If this phoenix would set itself alight, they
could exploit that event by whetting the appetite of the
people for sensation and selling the event as a mega
happening.

13.  5. These could not be won by manners, but the
phoenix darted above their heads and flapped its
golden wings in their faces, and daunted them. As
part of the aging process, Poldero exposes the
phoenix to a hostile environment. He starved the
bird so it grew thin, he turned its heating off and
housed it with noisy, querulous birds. Though these
birds troubled it first, he won them over by being
pleasant all through. But when alley cats were
moved into its apartment, the phoenix became
aggressive and they cowed down.

14.  6. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the thrilling
moment the world has breathlessly awaited. The
legend of centuries is materializing before our
modern eyes. The phoenix…” After months of
preparation, it appears that the phoenix has aged,
though artificially. The crowds coming to see the
phoenix has swelled again. Moviemakers to whom
filming rights have been sold are in attendance. The
loudspeakers keep blaring sentimental mush in
order to whip up sentiment among the public. The
whole exercise is conducted with an eye on the
money the event will bring in.

15. Author background
 Warner was born in Middlesex in 1893. Her father
was a house master in Harrow School. His early
death was a blow to Sylvia and she moved to
London soon after and found work in an armament
factory. She had strong leftist leanings and she
wrote anti-fascist articles for communist
publications. Her dislike for commercialism is
evident in this short story.

16. Relevance of the title
 The Phoenix is the central character in the story. For
most of the time it plays a passive role but at the
denouement is of its creation. The phoenix is a bird
that had unusual powers. It sets fire to itself when it
turns old and dies in the conflagration but a new
bird is born from the ashes. In this story too there is
a fire but it engulfs everyone in the vicinity. It does
this in revenge for the indignities its owner heaps
on it trying to make grow old unnaturally.

17. The main theme
 main theme is the greed of man and his exploitation
of nature for commercial success. Man comes into
conflict with nature and nature exacts a heavy price.
The phoenix stands for nature and Poldero stands
for the human race which will do anything for
money. Poldero finds that people are not interested
in the phoenix as it is “too quiet”. So he puts the
bird through an artificial aging process so that it
will burn itself. There is also the theme of the
society’s fascination for the sensational and the
grotesque. People queue in large numbers to
witness the macabre self immolation by the
phoenix.

18. Metaphorical inferences
 the phoenix is a mythical bird that is a symbol of
immortality because from the fire that consumes
one bird, another is born. The bird in this story
stands for nature. Poldero is a symbol for man who
is greedy and tinkers with nature in his pursuit for
money. Whereas fire for the bird is not the end,
Poldero and the spectators perish in the fire. There
is poetic justice in the bird’s revenge.

19. thankyou
Made by
 Krish mehta
 Tanya joshi
 Sheykha gada
 Rishee deshpande