Fup the duck embodies a wild-domestic binary

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Formal Essay III
Introduction

Fup written by Jim dodge and was firstly published in 1983. The story took place in the North

California hill. Fup is a modern fable and revolves around a duck and two human; Tiny the

grandson and Jake the granddaddy. A duck was found by Tiny and brought to home and then

named Fup. Fup at the start was a wildish animal and refused to eat domestic food even but later

she was turned into a domestic animal and a part of the granddaddy family. Fup the duck in the

novel presents a wild-domestic binary. Duckling was a wild animal when wondering around and

then was brought home by Tiny and became a domestic animal. Therefor the Duckling in the

story embodies wild domestic binary.

Thesis statement

Fup by Jim Doge is a modern fable and the main characters in the fable are granddaddy, Tiny

and the Duckling that is named as Fup the Duck. Fup the dock was brought to home by Tiny

when he was around the fence to hunt Lockjaw that was an enormous pig and the greatest enemy

of Tiny.

When Fup was brought home she was not in conscious and once granddaddy thought that the

duck is even dead. But when granddaddy listened to the heartbeat he came to know that the duck

is alive as stated in the Novel “Granddaddy quickly bent over it and pressed an ear to its chest.

He listened intently. "Sweet-leapingjesus," he barked, jerking upright, "Its heart is commencing

to quit. Tiny, fetch a jar of Death Whisper from the cabinet—this calls for some emergency first-

aid.". Granddaddy Jake cured the duck.

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Fup as a wild animal was an unusual duck with wild habits. She refused to eat domestic food the

shit that is the food of domestic birds. She was not a frankly bird rather she had wild

characteristics. She used to wobble the doors by her bill and until she was removed by the force.

She has a wildish appetite like omnivorous and her appetite was immense. As it is stated in the

novel “Her appetite was omnivorous and immense. Pancakes, cheese, cracked corn, deer meat,

onion peels, whatever: it got devoured. And as she ate, she grew”. The appetites, the temper and

the hunger of the duckling were all wildish. She always acted like a wildish animal. When Tiny

and Granddaddy used to play game Fup did not like the game at all and she used to jump over

like a wild animal as stated in the novel “She did like it when she jumped one of theirs and got to

pick it up with her bill and drop it on the floor, but when one of hers was jumped she would jump

too—up and down on the board with her webbed feet wildly stomping, scattering the pieces so

that it was necessary to declare the game a draw and start over.”

When it came to name the duckling a conflict between granddaddy and Tiny started over naming

the Duckling. Granddaddy suggested the name Fup. At first Tiny opposed this name but later

Tiny agreed and the duck was named as Fup as stated “Terrible or not, and despite Tiny's

resistance, Fup became the duckling's name”. This shows another characteristic of Fup as a

domestic animal as domestic animals are named only. Fup was first time taken by the

granddaddy and Tiny to a movie theater at last. The driver of the Cab asked what is that

Granddaddy told that it was a duck. The driver told that they can take the duck with them and

that the approval of the manager is though required as stated in the novel "No, there's no extra

charge—she's part of the load. Go on in. I'll talk to the manager, and if there's any problem with

codes or like that, he'll come talk to you”. This shows another embodiment of the Fup duck as a

domestic animal and a part of the Granddaddy family.

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Duck as a domestic animal enjoyed watching movie as well. The favorite movies of Fup were

the romantic movies. After that Fup also participated in the hunting of Lockjaw as a family

member of granddaddy and as a domestic animal.

Another domestic characteristic of Fup the duck in the novel is to learn flying. Usually ducks do

not fly but granddaddy decided to help Fup fly in the skies. Granddaddy decided to do this task

because he was “getting bored of the immortality” and he had to take a challenging task like that

as stated in the novel “when he'd suddenly realized he was already getting bored with

immortality. He needed a task, a task that would not only challenge his wisdom, but enlarge it:

he needed to teach something he didn't know”. The task for granddaddy was in his hands with a

pupil like Fup the duck. Granddaddy told the duck that she should learn to fly and that he and

Tiny had tried to get a couple for duck but could not found. Old man further suggested that the

duck could have met a husband as well as stated in the novel “"Fup, I think you should learn to

fly. It'd do wonders for your social life. Hell, maybe you could pick up a husband—or at least

zoom off for a quickie in the cattails with some emerald headed stud”. A husband and a social

life both are the domestic characteristics and hence display Fup as a domestic animal. Fup in the

novel embodies a wild domestic binary.

Conclusion

Jim Dodge fable is about a duck and two humans. The duck in the novel embodies a wild-

domestic animal. The duck was found unconscious in by Tinny and brought to home. At the start

duck had wildish characteristics like a lose temper and she refused to eat the domestic food as

well. But later the duck had turned into a domestic animal and became a part of the granddaddy

family.
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Work Cited

Jim Dodge, Fup (1983), City Miner Books ISBN 0-933944-04-7.