Birds, Forxes, Man and God

"Al always laughed at stuck houses. He hauled out his only bit of scripture to deal with houses. "The birds of the air have their nests, " he would announce as though it were a nursery rhyme, "the foxes of the ground have their holes." And he would raise one finger and jut his eyebrows forward in his teaching way, "But the son of man hath nowhere to rest his head"" (Geek Love, pg.320)

This quote in the book comes from Matthew 8:20. Al is quoting here the words of Christ. The "son of man" should actually be written "Son of Man" because Jesus is referring to Himself. In many ways, Al, perhaps without realizing it believes himself to be a god. He may not be aware of how much he is "playing God" just as he is saying the words of the verse, but is interpreting the meaning incorrectly. In this verse, Christ is explaining to a would-be follower that the road of Christ is not an easy one filled with comfort and pleasure, but is instead a hard and trying journey.

Al takes full credit for creating his children the way they are with their survival and provision ensured simply by being themselves. His use of this verse may be a foreshadowing of the disaster to come. Al's children will never have a place to rest their heads. They will never feel safe or at peace anywhere. Even within the confines of the traveling circus the rivalry and fear created within and between the siblings leaves them all without security. The betrayal and manipulation practiced by all of the siblings, especially Arty, will eventually destroy the family and all they worked for from the inside out.

As for the "outside world" Oly alone experiences, she says it best. "I hadn't understood before that anything about me needed explaining. Its all very well to read about houses, and to see the houses from the road and to tell yourself , That's where folks live. But its another thing entirely to walk inside and stand there." (Geek Love pg. 320)