Christopher Gregorowski

I have mixed feelings on this book. My brother told me this story not too long ago, but in his version, the eagle never discovered its identity and continued to live like a chicken, so I was uplifted to discover that someone had identified the eagle’s potential and devoted his time into surfacing its capabilities. I also enjoyed reading that the eagle was “never again to live among the chickens” after it took its majestic first flight. Through the clever usage of this phrase, the text formed an assumption in my mind that the eagle could not go back to living like a chicken after having felt the new and uplifting sensation of flight and finally having discovered who or what it was meant to be. Although I relished the story’s message of self-discovery and catering to one’s potential, I would have appreciated the story more if the text further supported the setting of the tale. The author provides some information of the setting, like “He searched in the long thatch grass, taller than his own head,” but the descriptions are all visual and do not cater to any other human senses. There also are moments in the book that I do not understand. For instance, why did the owner of the eagle say, “The eagle is the king of the birds, but we shall train it to be a chicken” (which makes the reader assume that the owner acknowledges the eagle’s identity) and then say, “it walks like a chicken, it talks like a chicken, it eats like a chicken. It thinks like a chicken. Of course it’s a chicken?” In summary, the story’s message of discovering another’s potential and self-realization is uplifting, but the story itself appears to lack fluency.… (mehr)