The Plague, Retold as a Love Story

 

Piper by Jay Asher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Piper, written by Jay Asher and Jessica Freeburg and illustrated by Jeff Stokely, is a retelling of “The Pied Piper of Hamelin.” In this retelling, the protagonist is a young woman, Magdalena, who is unable to hear, but she can read lips and speak. She is treated abominably by the community: children throw rocks at her and a drunk man assaults her on the street. Her only friend is her caretaker, Agathe, with whom she jokes, works together to keep themselves from starving, and to whom she dictates stories. Her tales begin with actual events and then twist to amusement and just punishment for the characters involved, for example the drunken husband who dies outside of his own home, frozen to a stump by his own urine.

From the beginning of Piper, Maggie is longing for romantic love, and she imagines a kiss from a companion who can appreciate and love her and will not treat her like poo for being deaf. She thinks that the stranger who wanders in with his pipe and offers to get rid of the town’s infestation of rats might be that guy.

While Maggie grows fond of the stranger, he composes the song that will lure the rats, or as he describes it to her, he “learns” their song. But luring rats is not the only thing his pipe can do--he can lure any animal, including people.

Maggie and the stranger seem drawn together in part because both are outcasts. The stranger wanders from town to town, eliminating rats, but he is seldom welcome. Maggie was first marginalized because her mother was a fallen woman, and after a failed attempt to drown her, Maggie lost her hearing. For the reader, how Maggie and the stranger deal with their marginalization is telling--while Maggie writes stories as a kind of catharsis and justice, the stranger creates a more malevolent kind of justice.

Would I teach Piper? I do teach a unit on folk tales, and “The Pied Piper of Hamelin” would qualify, as it is categorized as a legend and does not originate from the United States, which is the other requirement for a text in this unit. We do look at modern retellings and compare them with older versions of tales. However, Piper does not have the same bite as many retellings or the fantastical white washing of Disney. Where Anne Sexton’s “Cinderella” gives a critique of fairy tales and marriage in general and our desperate belief that marriage be a perfect fairy tale, Piper acts as more of a warning for outcast young women who think that they can trust another outcast. Or a more general reminder that most people are stinky. Furthermore, Maggie is just too good. There is not a single unlikeable thing about her, including her forgiving and generous heart.

I was not overly impressed with Piper and most likely would not teach it because I did not feel enough surprise in reading the book. The best part was the introduction, which gives a fascinating history of the “The Pied Piper of Hameln” including quotes from primary sources that mention the incidents in the story. The consideration of how real life becomes legend started my imagination going, but what followed did not capture the same energy, including the love story.

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