Wren-Posting
(I wrote this back in April, lost inspiration then got super busy. Shoutout to @mx-pokirby on their commentary of Wren's cataract, I really wanted to reply to it immediately but then lost the motivation to.)
Wren is great and I love him. I want to see more of him. Except Burial's delayed so all I can do is speculate on what's happening with him. So onto the post.
Immediately when I saw Wren's name, I was like, "Wow this is so different from all the names we've seen so far, especially for the Graves where it's kinda ominous on some level (even Connie can be read as a pun on "con"). It feels like Wren is meant to symbolize freedom, since birds generally are associated with that and Andrew and Ashley here seems to be relatively free from their insecurities, trauma, and expectations. I wonder what else wrens symbolize."
Turns out they're all the cultures that TCOAAL references, huh?
Anyway, now the Native American part is dubious, because there were and are hundreds of Native American tribes. They aren't all a monolith, especially with how massive present-day United States is. If Nemlei just only took it from this website, I don't blame Nemlei for not realizing that and running with it, because it really does fit how Andrew and Ashley are creatively inclined people. The curiosity and intelligence thing is actually true within the Cherokee, who believe it as a gossip and a spy and believe their feathers can reveal hidden truths. This investigative theme does fit Andrew well, who cares about scientific testing and analyzing. What was not listed is that among the Pueblos, wrens are considered birds of war. Among those peoples, they believe that seeing one can boost a warrior's courage, much like how Ashley is quite courageous and aggressive to her enemies. Some Pubelo tribes though consider it associated with madness and dangerous magic and avoid touching it, which fits quite well to a common first impression of Ashley. I can't verify the human spirit though.
The Celtic one is the most straightforward one and is a clear reference to Ashley's ties to the demon world. The transformation and rebirth is the most striking part for me, because while it does parallel to Renee, Renee's "rebirth" comes at the cost of her own children's lives. Wren represents a more positive transformation of Andrew's and Ashley's relationship, where they are reborn from being resentful parentified sibling-child relationship to a probably more equal couple who willingly chose to have children together. That is a massive step up from Shots & Such where they stay in the parentified relationship dynamic and refuse to have kids because of their own insecurities and being aware that is not a good environment to raise one. We can see that positive transformation where the apartment now has blooming plants, when Ashley states that none of her plants ever bloomed. I didn't realize this until later, but the parallel for how Wren is a positive transformation and rebirth and Renee's rebirth was sacrificial is that his name has the same letters as Andrew. He is a new person brought in the world yes, but he carries part of his father-uncle with him. That is a very likely a sweet way to honor Andrew on Ashley's part.
The overall European and Asian belief that wrens symbolize good fortune, prosperity, hard work, and perseverance are ideals that Andrew and Ashley would want for their kid and their own lives. They have been so unlucky for so long and it's really hard to keep up a good work ethic and persevere in insurmountable odds. Shots & Such shows what them at their worst can look like, they no longer care to make sure the house is clean and just focus on getting money. Wren's birth shows a home that even if small, is well maintained and lovely to live in.
Of course, there is the irony that Wren is born with a cataract, a rare condition for babies. And as much as I love what Wren's name symbolizes, this part is the most fascinating for me in how it's tied to the wider story and world of TCOAAL. Of course, there is the inherently funny irony that Andrew going "Well, our family didn't have a history of inbreeding, so the baby will probably be fine", and then the baby gets a rare genetic condition probably because of the inbreeding. But that condition is easily solvable with modern medicine. Babies born with a cataract in one eye can grow to have functional vision in that eye, weaker vision, or need to remove it continuously because genetic cataracts can be reoccurring. The problem is that treatment is locked behind money, especially when the Graves' society apparently doesn't have universal healthcare.
Wren's disability is a product of a capitalist society who refuses to make healthcare free and accessible even though it has the money and technology to give high quality healthcare for all. Renee best exemplifies that on an individual level by refusing to pay for his surgery, even though she has a fuckton of wealth as well. It's not even the cataracts that's really the problem, it's the fact that he's born in a society where wealth isn't freely given to those who really need it, it's hoarded. This is actually a very sophisticated depiction of disability, because while yes, the impairment is real, the impairment's debilitating effects varies massively depending on the conditions around the person. Wren's cataracts isn't debilitating at all if it's properly cured and taken care for. It's debilitating because the treatment to it is gatekept by money. And the implication the cataract or its effects still remains with how he's left eye is covered by his hair (either because it couldn't be cured properly or they couldn't afford lenses to help him see better) points to the larger structural inequality and injustice the Graves have to endure across the generations.
