The Plastic Pink Flamingo: A Natural History

In the excerpt from Jennifer Prices' essay "The Plastic Pink Flamingo: A Natural History", Price satirizes American culture by connecting the actual bird to its plasticized, commercialized counterpart. Price uses allusions, comparisons and contrasts, and symbolism to demonstrate both her acceptance and realistic view of affluence and leisure in the United States.

Price utilizes different allusions in "The Plastic Pink Flamingo". She refers to Elvis Presley as buying a pink Cadillac to show that even successful celebrities got caught up in the trend the plastic flamingo was setting throughout the United States. Introducing Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, the gangster that conjured up instant riches from his Flaming Hotel, promotes that businesses were even able to flourish by employing the plastic pink flamingo as it symbol or representative. The American trend set by the plastic pink flamingo at that time was so consequential that everyone, including celebrities and businesses, were enchanted by it.

Throughout the excerpt she goes back and forth between the real flamingo and the plastic flamingo emphasizing the similarities and differences among them. She projects irony through one of the contrasts she makes when she says that the Americans hunted the real flamingo to extinction then later on the plastic flamingo becomes a trendy symbol. Price shows that the plastic flamingo and the pink flamingo both stand out stating that "the plastic flamingo is a hotter pink than a real flamingo, and even a real flamingo is brighter than anything else around it". Due to the unique and boldness of the plastic pink flamingo makes the American's crave it even more. Even in different countries, as enounced by Price in the passage, the flamingo is distinguished as being "special".