The Ugly Duckling, part 2

Raised by ducks, the swan is not well-received by swan society. It's hard to tell if he is really all that much different from the other swans, or if a youth spent excluded and ashamed has made him a likely outsider in any group.

Whatever the case, he quickly realizes that he won't find the acceptance and approval that has been lacking. The other swans are certainly more beautiful and graceful than the ducks, but they've turned out to be just as likely to be narrow-minded and superficial. Additionally, they've all been swans so much longer than he has, and he doesn't have their shared swan background. They're nice about it, most of the time- they don't ridicule him right to his face, like the ducks did- but even the kind ones can't help treating him like a second-class swan at times.

Meanwhile, the ducks are doing very well for themselves. Duck culture has learned to consistently (yet most often subtly) downplay anything intrinsically admirable about swans, while officially adopting a positive message of tolerance and inclusion. Some of the younger ducks have taken to looking and acting like swans, and even some of the older ones too...they don't actually use the word "swan", and they'd be mystified and slightly offended at the idea that they were trying to be anything but the best ducks they can be. Luckily, there are very few objective outsiders to point it out to them in the first place.

The ducks are a vast majority; without actually forcing their values on the world, nevertheless the world becomes increasingly hospitable for ducks and somewhat less so for others. Over time, it becomes an accepted mark of reason and practicality to recognize this: if you want to be happy and do well in this world, you have to think and act more like the ducks. You can keep your swannishness to yourself all you want- after all, no duck will ever tell you that you can't be a swan, that's just not right.

Meanwhile, the swan is suffering from a number of psychological complications. He realizes that he'd always secretly wanted to see the ducks suffer somehow for their poor treatment of him, and feels both guilty and unsatisfied. The initial pleasure of being singled out for praise was nice for a while, but once among the swans he is just another face in the crowd. As the ducks continue to deny (or fail to realize) any unique worth in him, he can't even boost his self-confidence with a quick trip back to the barnyard.

What's a swan to do? In a similar situation, another swan could become some kind of monster- the isolation and resentment eating at his reason and restraint until he becomes a serial killer or revolutionary tyrant. As it is, there are times when he can't help feeling vaguely deceived and irrationally angry. Luckily, some basic decency, or inertia, keeps him from going over the edge. The only real option is to apply himself to accepting and balancing the appropriate swan and duck attitudes, telling himself over and over again that this is where true happiness lies. All it takes is watching the others closely, choosing some acquired tastes and finding a cultural groove. That's not a compromise, right? It's just normal socialization...maturity, even.

So what if he's never really going to be much of a swan, and so what if the ducks never recognize his value. He's left pretty much to himself. He does what he can, does what he needs to do, and tries to find a little enjoyment in life every once in a while. He simply has to force himself to come to terms with the reality that there will be no big payoff, no joyous homecoming, no real redemption. He's become used to loneliness, escapist pastimes, and dogged endurance...all of which serve him well in the remaining years of his fowl life.