Mythological Allusion
A time-honored literary technique involving metaphorical imagery is to call upon mythological figures to underscore what is being written about. The comparisons are not always particularly appropriate as some writers make the mistake of striving for too much, but the imagery of the setting and the thematic overlay of the action here makes the allusion a perfect metaphor:
“The lucky individual that finds a different seed, or nook, or niche, will fly up and out from beneath the Sisyphean rock of competition. It will tend to flourish and so will its descendants—that is, those that inherit the lucky character that had set it a little apart.”
The Birds and the Bees
When discussing wildlife, it is almost inevitable that similes will be constructed in order to compare one species to another as a means of illustrating behavior. The familiarity of most people with at least some aspects of the world of nature is too effective to resist:
“Cactus finches do more with cactus than Plains Indians did with buffalo. They nest in cactus; they sleep in cactus; they often copulate in cactus; they drink cactus nectar; they eat cactus flowers, cactus pollen, and cactus seeds. In return they pollinate the cactus, like bees.”
“Imps of Darkness”
Where there’s metaphor, there is “darkness.” It is almost inevitable in any work of literature more than a hundred pages in length that darkness will pop up metaphorically at least once. This particular example really goes all out, however: three instances of darkness as metaphor, but the same reference each time:
“He picks up one of the iguanas (`imps of darkness’) and throws it into the water”
“The giant tortoises are unique to the Galapagos as well. So are the marine iguanas, Darwin’s `imps of darkness.’”
“Naturalists are now documenting similar reversals of fortune elsewhere in nature as well, including populations of Darwin’s `imps of darkness’”
Darwinian Theory Evolution
In one of those quirks of language, this book is about the evolution of Darwin’s theory of evolution as it is about Darwin’s theory of evolution. The lessons learned from studying the birds referenced in the title is some major assumptions about evolution since Darwin published his groundbreaking books have had to undergo a re-evaluation, leading to the assertion by the author that:
“Whether or not we choose to watch, evolution is shaping us all. This is the view of life that is opening now, for those who stand on Darwin’s shoulders. They can see farther than Darwin ever dreamed, and much lies in the offing, or beyond the offing.”
Beaks
A good reason exists for why the beak makes it into the title alongside the name of the species. When one thinks about it, an appropriate title for the book would have been simply “The Finches of Galapagos.” That sums it up just as comprehensively. Well, almost comprehensively. As it turns out, the beak of a bird—of any species—is its most distinctive characteristic and an essential anatomical attribute in the process of natural selection. Just how distinctive is the beak that a litany of metaphors are called into service:
“Woodpeckers have chisels. Egrets have spears. Darters have swords. Herons and bitterns have tongs. Hawks, falcons, and eagles have hooks. Curlews have pincers.”
