Neil Gaiman's Sunbird

In Neil Gaiman’s fantastical short story “Sunbird” the author ironically conveys messages concerning real-life problems towards young adults and children of age similar to his daughter whom seems to be considered as the main audience of this story. The short story begins with the introduction of the Epicurean group of five noble people who are all rich or was rich at one point. Augustus TwoFeathers McCoy, Professor Mandalay, Virginia Boote, Jackie Newhouse, and Zebidiah T. Crawcrustle are the only members of the group of those who concern only one goal, which is to eat or try eating all the animals that are known to the public. The story progresses until the members of the Epicurean group fulfills their goal by eating the Sunbird, which was

By using a fairy tale-like genre the story has great advantages of communicating to the younger generations and easily conveys the main message. However, throughout the short story, Gaiman uses sophisticated dictions that would seem to fit those with educated levels of academics, and not children of the similar age from his daughter. The intended audience would rather seem to fit for those who can understand the educated dictions, resulting in that the adults can be considered a secondary audience that Gaiman tries to convey his message

All things considered, after knowing that the short story was specifically wrote for his daughter, the primary and secondary audience can be determined. Primary audience, being his daughter, is the individual that is listening to or reading the rhetor’s story first. However, it is possible that the adults could be considered as the secondary audience, who are the individuals that the arguments were actually intended for (The Rhetorical Situation). Although Gaiman states that the story was written for his daughter as a birthday present, it seems like the message is not only for his daughter because the primary audience can receive the message about avoiding the same mistakes that the upper generation has suffered and the secondary audience can receive the message about the danger of seeking pleasure and the danger of the lack of knowledge dealing with unknown materials. In response to the story, the message for the primary audience is about learning from the upper generation and it can be seen in the end of the story where Gaiman transitions into a first person point of view saying “I hear that the Epicureans are beginning to grumble once again. They are saying that they have eaten everything” (Gaiman). Because the upper generation failed to leave a guide about eating the