Summary
Mr Gregg yells at the ducks, but they proceed to go into their house anyway. The ducks quack at him and they open the door. They close it behind them. The Greggs fly down to the house and Mrs Gregg bursts into tears. She says they have no place to go. The boys also burst into tears.
Philip says they will be eaten by cats and foxes. William says he wants to sleep in his own bed. Mr Gregg says that they need to build a nest. They ask how that is possible. He says he will find the material. He says that they need to do it, as they currently have nowhere to sleep. He instructs them to follow his lead.
They fly to a large tree and begin to collect sticks. He tells them to find more sticks. They ask how they will fit sticks in their mouths but he says that it is imperative. They manage to do so successfully and Mr Gregg starts using the sticks to make a nest. He tells them to keep going. He makes the nest larger and larger.
Eventually he says they have enough sticks and that they should now focus on collecting feathers, to make the interior comfortable and soft. The construction process continues. It takes a long time, but eventually it is done. Mr Gregg tells them to try out the nest. He feels proud of his accomplishment.
Mrs Gregg enjoys being high off the ground. William says the nest is comfortable and Philip also marvels at how high in the air their nest is. Mr Gregg says they will fly into the house and steal a tin of biscuits when the birds aren't paying attention. Mrs Gregg says she is worried the ducks will peck them to pieces for doing that.
Mr Gregg says they will just have to be careful. They arrive at the house but find that it is closed and locked. Mrs Gregg sees a duck cooking at her stove and gets angry about it. Mr Gregg sees a duck holding his gun and also gets similarly upset. William sees a duck lying in his bed and yells about it. Philip sees a duck playing with his model train set and is mad.
Mrs Gregg says that they have taken over the house. She says she doesn't know what to do about it. Philip says he is not prepared to survive off of worms. Williams says he will not eat slugs. Mrs Gregg says she will still make delicious meals for them, even if it involves mincing the worms and slugs up into hamburgers.
Analysis
Empathy is a major thematic element in this part of the book. The Greggs are suddenly faced with not having a home. However, instead of realizing that this is how they've made the ducks live, they immediately begin accusing the ducks of taking over what is rightfully theirs. They have literally traded places with the ducks, but have still not come to appreciate the lesson the magic finger appears to be trying to teach them. This moment underscores the limitations, in this moment, of their empathy. This reversal has not yet brought about a more nuanced point of view from the members of the Gregg family.
Environmentalism is also a key theme in the book's middle section. The Greggs undertake the complex construction of a nest. They gather sticks to build a strong base and also get feathers to make the interior more comfortable. They situate it high above the ground to make it largely impervious to predators. It is a difficult and time-consuming process, but at the end of it the Greggs feel happy with what they have managed to do, as they worked together and showed initiative. This scene highlights the challenges of this process. In doing so, the narrator quietly shows the reader how much time and energy the ducks put into making a home for themselves. It demonstrates the strength and resilience of animals.
Power is also an important theme in these pages. The Greggs respond with anger and fear when they see the ducks taking over their home: using their kitchen, playing with their toys, and, perhaps most alarmingly, examining their guns. Their knee-jerk reaction to this shows how upsetting this loss of power is to them. They cling to their comforts as a way of establishing dominance over their environment. They have little thought about the net impact of their actions. Suddenly, however, this role reversal forces them to see what it is to live in fear. They suddenly see what it means to live as a duck, even if they have not completely come to learn their lesson.
Violence is also a powerful theme in this section. The Greggs now live with the threat of violence in their lives as ducks. They are small and lack a home. They are defenseless against cats, foxes, and whatever other predators are hunting at night. They do not recognize it, of course, but they are suddenly feeling the same way that the ducks did. In fact, they can now uniquely appreciate the level of fear and anxiety they caused for the ducks on their weekly hunting trips. This impact becomes more acutely felt as the book goes on, and the Greggs are suddenly confronted with their own weapons.
These pages explore the Greggs’ experience of being transformed. As they grapple with their loss of power, the Greggs resist seeing the role that they have played in their own misery. They are affronted by the ducks taking over their home using their belongings. They are equally upset by their sudden lack of shelter. What they fail to see is how much this makes them like the ducks and the extent to which their current situation mirrors the one they created for the ducks. They are unwilling to examine their complicity in harm to the natural world.
