How to Tell the Birds from the Flowers and Other Woodcuts · Chapter
The Pitcher Plant; The Fly‑catcher explained
This chapter humorously redefines the Pitcher Plant as a baseball pitcher and the Fly-catcher as a baseball catcher, playing on the double meanings of their names to create a whimsical analogy between botany and baseball.
What happens
This chapter humorously redefines the Pitcher Plant as a baseball pitcher and the Fly-catcher as a baseball catcher, playing on the double meanings of their names to create a whimsical analogy between botany and baseball.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Falling action.
- Setup
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
The emotional and psychological peak occurs in the tension between the Ibis’s preserved, sacred death and the…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Wordplay and Homophones
The chapter relies on the double meanings of 'pitcher' (a container vs. a baseball player) and 'fly-catcher' (a plant vs. a baseball catcher) to create a humorous botanical-baseball crossover.
- Humor and Absurdity
The absurd premise of treating a pitcher plant as a baseball pitcher and a fly-catcher as a catcher generates playful, nonsensical humor.
Characters to notice
- the Birds
Implied as participants in the baseball analogy, with the Pitcher Plant and Fly-catcher standing in for bird-like players.
Key passages
“The Pitcher Plant we may define, The flower of the base‑ball nine;”
We can describe the Pitcher Plant as the blossom of a baseball team.
Establishes the central pun: the pitcher plant as a baseball pitcher.
“The “Fly”-Catcher we educate To firmly stand behind the plate, To stop, and treat with circumspection, Whatever comes in his direction.”
We teach the Fly-catcher to stand solidly behind home plate, carefully handling anything that comes its way.
Extends the baseball metaphor to the fly-catcher as a catcher.
