Crusading Is "for the Birds": Politics and Eudora Welty's The Shoe Bird

In 1964, Eudora Welty published her one children's book, The Shoe Bird. Not long after it came out, Welty sent a copy of the book to her friend and one-time editor Mary Louise Aswell who responded, "The Shoe Bird will counteract a great deal of current poison. It's worth all the editorials—very sly, and addressed to the right audience, and because it encourages the reader to keep his wits about him children will want to read it over and over again so they won't miss the jokes. Then the Word will seep in, if it didn't penetrate at first" (Aswell). The letter underscores how Welty is able to use her children's book to subtly guide the reader to lessons that were important in the social and political environment of the 1960s. The birds in Welty's children's book teach the reader about welcoming inclusion, avoiding a groupthink mentality, embracing a willingness to learn and change, and acknowledging that words have real consequences. All of these lessons were of vital importance to the 1960s audience, but they are equally important today. If the novelist must not crusade, then maybe crusading is for the birds.

In The Shoe Bird, Welty uses word play and a myriad of bird characters to present a funny story about the Open House at the Friendly Shoe Store.¹ Arturo, the parrot who works in the Friendly Shoe Store, overhears a young boy, Robbie Thompson, say, "Shoes are for the birds!" (10). Arturo, being a parrot, repeats what he hears to Gloria the Goose. Gloria goes into the park and tells the Park Pigeon, who then tells his cousin the Carrier Pigeon. By the time the Carrier Pigeon is off to share the news, Robbie Thompson's statement "Shoes are for the birds!" has turned into an invitation to an Open House at the Friendly Shoe Store where a prize will be given to the chosen bird. Since the announcement was made with such short notice, each family sends one representative to the shoe store. At sunset, birds from all over the world begin descending upon the Friendly Shoe Store, surprising Arturo, who knows nothing of the Open House. Gloria informs Arturo that the prize that each bird should be given is a pair of shoes. Arturo and Gloria begin handing out shoes, but the birds find the shoes are entirely too big. Arturo decides to reduce the size of the shoes, as Mr. Friendly does when he has a sale. Arturo pulls out a sign that says the shoes are reduced, then another saying greatly reduced, and this finally brings the shoes down to the size that the various birds need. Once all birds have shoes, they party around the store, complimenting each other and enjoying their new shoes. At the height of their enjoyment, Freddy the cat comes into the store for his weekly cleaning, when he rids the shoe store of mice. When Freddy discovers the birds, he taunts them by threatening to eat them. The birds all try to figure out a way to escape the shoe store without being eaten by Freddy, but their shoes weigh too much, so they cannot fly, and to walk out the front door they would have to pass by the cat. Grandfather Phoenix arrives and tells Freddy, "Frederico, retire" (64). And, as everyone does when an authority figure uses their full given name, Freddy obeys. The frightful encounter over, the birds turn to the phoenix for the solution to free themselves from the shoe store. Teaching, never telling, Phoenix shows the birds that they must use their wings to leave. The birds realize in order to use their wings, they must give up their shoes, and this leads to a vote on wings or shoes. The vote goes 133 to 1 in opposition to shoes (Gloria the Goose refuses to give up her golden slippers). Deciding that shoes are not for the birds, the birds help clean up the Friendly Shoe Store, deposit their shoes on the welcome mat, and...