VLVL2 (1) Opening sentence: Zoyd wakes

[jbor]

In the novel's opening sentence, the descriptive detail of "a creeping fig
that hung in the window" tells us a number of things about Zoyd. First off,
his bedroom window is permanently open, or perhaps entirely paneless, and so
he is unconventional and perhaps even a little bit eccentric for letting the
fig branches grow into the room. It also indicates that he is close to
nature, and it preempts both the (anti-)logging and defenestration themes to
come.

Other aspects of his character are revealed here too. "Later than usual"
implies habitual laziness, unemployment. And, the idyllic "drifted awake in
sunlight" is interrupted by the martial imagery of "squadron" as much as it
is by the noise of the birds "stomping around", and this rude awakening
symbolises the way that his gentle and natural lifestyle is continuously
under threat (annually, in fact) by the forces of authority.

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