Responce essay on the Hundredth Dove

Do you ever think to yourself that perhaps there is a little magic sometimes in life? In the book “The Hundredth Dove” by Jane Yolen, a man named Hugh is a servant for the king. Hugh supplied game birds to the palace but you will see that not all the birds are so alike. There are two main themes in this book. One which is kind hearted, and the other which is magic. One thing very good about Hugh, is that he is a very caring person.

The first them in, “The hundredth Dove” is kind hearted. Being kind hearted Is shown when Hugh is speaking to the king and the king quotes; “In honor of my bride, the Lady Columbia, whose name means dove and whose beauty is celebrated in all the world, I wish to serve one hundred of the birds at our wedding feast.” Lady Columbia gasped and held up her hand. “Please do not serve them sire.” But the king said to the Fowler, “I have spoken. Do not fail me, Fowler.” Hugh didn’t like this idea of killing the birds at all, but he had to do it. Instead of killing the birds he caught them in a net and brought them to the kitchen. This shows how Hugh is kind hearted because he did not want to kill the doves although he did kill one of the 99 doves. These acts of kindness are shown by both Lady Columbia and Hugh in many different situations.

Although the first theme may be an important source in the story, you must not forget the second theme. The second theme in this story is magic. This is shown when Hugh is out trying to capture all of the doves. Hugh must capture 100 doves before the wedding. On the first day he gets 21, all which are grey except one, which was white. Hugh releases this dove and keeps the other 20. Everyday Hugh always captures the white dove but it always gets away, but on the fifth day, he only gets 19 grey doves and the one white dove. The dove flees the net quickly. Hugh decides he must go out hunting for this dove so he goes, out catches it, and all of a sudden, it starts speaking in what is sound to be like a woman’s voice. This was thought to be unreal. It kept asking Hugh to release him; But Hugh kept denying the dove. After asking Hugh three more times Hugh finally says, “Neither gold nor silver tempt me” then Hugh snaps the birds neck.

This was a very well written story. It had many examples of the two themes I decided to write about. There was a lot more themes in this book but I chose the two I saw most used. In this book Hugh was kind hearted and there were a few examples in this story. Hugh also witnessed a talking to dove which resembled magic. One thing very good about Hugh, is that he is a very caring person.