Peacocks

Peacocks are among the living exotic animals displayed at a lavish Bel Air reception, where their brilliant plumage attracts the guests but their cries and trailing tails leave Norma Jeane Baker thinking about beauty as a burden. Their appearance turns an ornamental garden spectacle into one of the evening’s few moments of genuine reflection for her.

Appearance and Behavior

The birds are described as splendid green-blue, advancing with abrupt, bobbing movements of the head. Their cries ring through the grounds; Norma Jeane Baker hears them as painfully like children screaming. The guests, by contrast, admire the Peacocks and clap to frighten them, treating their movement and noise as part of the entertainment.

The expected display does not occur: instead of spreading their magnificent tails into fans, the Peacocks drag them behind like rags. The contrast between their vivid feathers and this awkward movement catches Norma Jeane Baker’s attention. She sees the tails not simply as ornaments but as something beautiful and heavy to carry.

The Reception’s Menagerie

Peacocks appear both on the dark terrace and along a winding path beside an artificial stream, where more of them stand across the water among flamingos. They belong to the reception’s larger collection of exotic creatures: stuffed elephants flank the park entrance, stuffed vultures line the castle roofs, and a caged puma, monkeys, parrots, and a boa constrictor are also shown to the guests. The birds are therefore part of a carefully staged display in which living animals and preserved specimens share the same grounds.

Narrative Significance

The Peacocks’ beauty is inseparable from the discomfort of their presentation. The guests’ applause is meant to startle them, while Norma Jeane Baker notices the weight of the very plumage that makes them objects of admiration. Her observation briefly cuts through the reception’s noise and spectacle: lacking a suitable script for the occasion, she has struggled to find words that feel meaningful, yet the birds give her a precise image for beauty that is also a burden. The scene does not turn them into speaking symbols; their cries, movements, and dragged tails remain concrete details that prompt her reflection.