Freedom

Franny's constant wandering and obsession with winged creatures throughout the novel, gradually develops the author's thematic interests in the individual's pursuit of freedom. Indeed, the entirety of the narrative is saturated with images of birds and references to flight; these repetitions create a motif which parallels Franny's perpetual movements from place to place. She is not only attempting to follow the terns south in the narrative present. She is also looking for her mother, trying to understand her father's estrangement, running from the binding love she feels for Niall, searching for an answer from Niall after his tragic death. As the author reveals each of these details, she surrounds each of them with references to migration. On the opening page of the novel, Franny says of her trip to Antarctica: "Maybe I thought I'd discover whatever cruel thing drove me to leave people and places and...