Bird

Birds are referenced throughout the text and in a variety of ways. Dennis Finch's surname, Finch, is also a type of bird, though ironically, Finch is afraid to fly; Alice is an avid birdwatcher and is studying ornithology in graduate school when she becomes pregnant with her daughter, Agnete. The physical recurring image of a bird that occurs throughout the text references back to the figurine of a bird that Alice first sees in Thomas's summer house, which he confesses to having stolen from his mother. In retaliation for Thomas's dishonesty, Alice steals the bird from him. After Thomas learns of his daughter whom he will never get to meet, the bird begins appearing throughout his paintings as a symbol of loss. Later, Finch and Stephen discover that the original bird figurine was made by famous artist Dorothy Doughty and is a statue which exists outside...