Dr. Fellowes' Scissors

In the beginning of the novel Dr. Fellowes shows his surgical scissors to Bridget just shortly after Sylvie has given birth. Bridget makes a mental note to acquire either a pair of scissors just like those, or maybe a very sharp knife for future uses. The scissors, however, have a deeper, more significant meaning for the rest of the novel, and is an allusion back to the tale of the Fates, from Grecian Mythology. Told to hold the yard of life for each person in their hands, it would be their scissors that cut that string ending the life of the mortal to whom it belonged. Since the book reflects on the death and rebirth, over and over, of a particular individual, the scissors represent that cycle of birth and death.

Birds

At the beginning of the novel, the narrator describes the beating of...