83 pages • 2 hours read
The Trumpet of the Swan
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Summary and Study Guide
Overview
E.B. White’s novel Trumpet of the Swan was published in 1970 and is the third and last of his works written for children. Considered a literary classic, this fantasy novel features an anthropomorphized Trumpeter Swan with a speech defect who learns to play a trumpet and develops friendships with humans while wooing the swan he loves. In 2001, the book was adapted into an animated film.
The Trumpet of the Swan is a bildungsroman. A voiceless swan, initially isolated from his community by his disability, successfully passes through milestones (childhood, young adulthood, marriage, and fatherhood) wherein he develops his natural talents and internalizes human and swan social norms. By the end of White’s novel, Louis has learned to capitalize on his uniqueness by transferring the success and rewards he has found with humans into recognition and integration into swan society.
Plot Summary
At the start of spring, somewhere in the western Canadian wilderness, a pair of Trumpeter Swans prepares to build their summer nesting spot on a little island on the Red Rock Lakes. After the cygnets are born, their mother senses that the cygnet named Louis has no voice. Both of his parents express concern over Louis’s future ability to find a mate without a swan mating call.
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