Birds Singing in Greek

“Sometimes, faintly, she can distinguish a word. ‘Hurl,’ once, ‘under’ on two occasions. A flock of sparrows outside her window once sang, unmistakably, in Greek” (71).

The fictional Virginia Woolf is claiming to hear voices in her head that are telling her to hurl herself under, and that she heard birds singing in Greek. This is illustrative of the mental illness she is suffering from without blatantly saying that she is insane. The real Virginia Woolf also claimed to hear birds singing in Greek and to hear voices telling her to do rowdy things. By using real experiences of Virginia Woolf to create her fictional counterpart, Cunningham gives the novel a more realistic appeal.

Works Cited:
McManamy, John. "Virginia Woolf and Her Madness." McMan's Depression and Bipolar Web. 12 Feb. 2008. 28 Sept. 2008 http://www.mcmanweb.com/woolf.html.