Mirrors / Reflections

Mirrors, and the reflections therein, are an important repeated image / motif throughout the narrative. Boy, Snow, and Bird each see themselves not just in mirrors, but in other forms of reflection – at times, they even see themselves in each other.

Rats

In the first chapter of the narrative, in which Boy describes her early life in New York City, rats are a constant presence: her father is a rat catcher, and keeps rats in the basement of the family home to use as bait for other rats. At one point, he uses a feral rat as an instrument of punishment on Boy.

Charlie’s Flag

Early in the narrative, Charlie Vacic (a young man her age who cares for Boy very much) gives Boy a flag as a gift. It’s important to note that only later in the narrative (Part 2, Chapter 5) that Bird’s...