SOURCE: Chadbourne, Richard M. “Chateaubriand's Aviary: Birds in the Mémoires d'Outre-Tomb.” In Symbolism and Modern Literature: Studies in Honor of Wallace Fowlie, edited by Marcel Tetel and Austin Warren, pp. 65-80. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1978.

In the following essay, Chadbourne traces the presence of birds in Memoirs, noting Chateaubriand's use of the thrush as a trigger for childhood memories. Chadbourne then considers Chateaubriand's use of birds in four ways: in literary and other references, as comparisons, in literal ways, and as symbolism.

In the Génie du Christianisme birds are one of the “marvels of nature” which “prove the existence of God,” and the bird is “the true symbol of the Christian here below” (le véritable emblème du chrétien ici-bas) because “il préfère, comme le fidèle, la solitude au monde, le ciel à la terre, et sa voix bénit...