The Purple Swamp Hen by Penelope Lively is a retelling of a classic, historic event from the point of view from an outsider who witnessed it. Even more exciting, the point of view in the story is one of a purple Swamp Hen. Because of the use of an animal point of view, there are many story elements omitted, and the story is primarily told through setting and detail. The scene changes whenever the Hen witnesses a change in character interaction, and the scene is set up through a description of details about the “homo sapiens” actions and setting. When the humans are gathering for a large family dinner, the hen describes them as being loud and creating a raucous atmosphere from one end of the table to the other. The hen describes how the humans act, and the reader than make inferences about what the “act” is that the humans are in the process of – whether it be sex, eating, or playing.

The Purple Swamp Hen is a story about the place and the time period. It’s an interesting retelling of a volcanic eruption but does not focus solely on any one character. The reader learns about the human-interactions in ancient Rome, and slightly gets input to everyone that lives around the hen. The hen understands that the wife is having an affair with her husband’s business associate, but he says it with such a dry tone because the hen does not understand what is considered acceptable within the human world. The hen is also mainly telling the story of how he flees the volcanic eruption and how he can escape from the natural disaster. In the process, he does save the slave Servillia. He speaks on how her connection is different, and he uses his animal instinct of natural disaster to warn her, and he observes her running away.