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The ostriches symbolize humanity’s relationship with nature, which is often unpredictable but can, with patience, be harmonious. Early in the novel, Fiela acquires a new female ostrich named Pollie, which she hopes to breed with her current ostrich, a male named Kicker. Long Kloof, where Fiela and her family live, is a hot, dry climate where few things can grow. This makes the ostriches not just a source of local pride, but also a necessity for Fiela, who is only able to continue renting her farm and ultimately purchase the land due to her successful ostrich breeding.
Initially, Kicker and Pollie seem reluctant to mate. Fiela takes a calculated risk by bringing them together earlier than her husband Selling recommends. Ostriches are potentially dangerous animals, and they can hurt humans who don’t respect their space. Fiela’s willingness to be tough with the ostriches and to put faith in them ultimately pays off, and Kicker and Pollie give birth to many chicks. Even at the height of her business, however, Fiela refuses to the take shortcuts like other farmers, allowing her ostriches to mate in pairs for life (as they generally do in nature) instead of trying to pair two females to one male, as her greedier rivals generally do. Fiela’s patience with the ostriches and her respect for nature are the foundation of her success, and so the evolution of her farm illustrates the benefits of living harmoniously with nature.
Ostriches Quotes in Fiela’s Child
The Fiela’s Child quotes below all refer to the symbol of Ostriches. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 3
Quotes
Only in retrospect did Fiela take account of the omens—she did not recognize them at first. […] Omens that should have warned her, but her mind was on the ostrich and she did not heed the warnings.
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Chapter 6
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‘You’re making a mistake, Fiela, wait another week or two.’
‘No. I’ve kept them apart long enough, I had them out at pasture for weeks, I’ve put paraffin into their ears so that there wouldn’t be a single tick to worry them, I’ve let Kicker starve—I’m not waiting any longer.’
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Chapter 9
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It was late when they got home. His mother took one look at the egg, took down the strap from behind the door and beat their backsides well for them.
The next day she baked a sugar-cake with the egg.
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Chapter 10
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‘I’m going to Knysna,’ she announced.
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Get the entire Fiela’s Child LitChart as a printable PDF.
Ostriches Symbol Timeline in Fiela’s Child
The timeline below shows where the symbol Ostriches appears in Fiela’s Child. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...With her husband, Selling Komoetie, she watches her children, including Benjamin, as they herd an ostrich back home with thorny branches. Fiela and her whole family are “Coloured” (multiracial, and what...
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When Benjamin gets back with the other children and the ostrich, the first thing he does is check on his boats, which he carves out of...
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Chapter 4
...tries to reassure her the men are gone for good. The family names their new ostrich hen Pollie. Pollie is much harder to tame than Kicker, who is as tame as...
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...Fiela begins to forget about the census-takers and instead begins to worry about how The ostrich Kicker doesn’t seem interested in mating with Pollie. Selling tells her to just be patient—it...
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Chapter 6
...on the weather that it will be a bad day to harvest aloe. Recently, the ostrich Pollie kicked Fiela’s son Tollie, leaving only a minor injury, although Fiela has heard of...
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...their feathers, which are valuable. Just as everyone is in the middle of putting the ostriches together, a horse-cart carrying the two census-takers appears heading toward the property.
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...Benjamin some new shirts. As they prepare that evening for Benjamin to go, the two ostriches just stand around.
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Chapter 9
...without him. He remembers a day when he and Dawid went out to watch wild ostriches. They found the nest, and Benjamin tried to convince Dawid to steal a wild ostrich...
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Dawid grabbed the ostrich egg and gave it to Benjamin, but just then, Dawid shouted that the male bird...
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Chapter 10
...child is about to be slaughtered. Selling comes by to let Fiela know that the ostriches have been living together peacefully so far. Later that day, Fiela starts making a sugar-cake....
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Chapter 15
...haven’t fought, Kicker still has no interest in the hen. Fiela plans to make the ostriches a nest anyway. Meanwhile, Fiela has been having her children look through the Bible to...
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...a good night’s sleep, in the morning, Fiela hears Kicker make the sound of an ostrich getting ready to mate.
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Chapter 17
At Wolwekraal, the ostrich Kicker has red shins, meaning he is preparing to mate. Fiela rearranges the property to...
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Chapter 21
...up Benjamin, and Dawid helped her through much of that period. She now has 12 ostriches for breeding (six males, six females), but she feels that this is nothing compared to...
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Chapter 26
...Kloof. A sailor named Book offered to teach Benjamin how to row in exchange for ostrich feathers.
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Chapter 27
...in the area, and people want to push her out to make more space for ostriches.
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...Dawid’s death, she has to hire two new men to help. She looks at her ostrich fields, where she continues to pair up male and female birds, since ostriches in the...
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Chapter 28
Benjamin sets off back toward the forest with mutton for Barta and ostrich feathers from Kicker for the sailor Book. It was difficult to Benjamin to leave Wolwekraal,...
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Chapter 30
...to the letter, and he dictates almost a full page, much of it about the ostriches. Kittie adds her part to the letter, then Fiela says she has one last thing:...
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