Rooks

The rooks demonstrate a parallel between animal interactions and human interactions. The novel opens with Cal watching the rooks as they torment a small animal. Cal wants to step in and put the animal out of its misery, but he also realizes it would rude for him to interfere since he is not familiar with the ways of the birds. Similarly, Cal is careful how he goes about investigating Brendan’s disappearance because he does not want to offend any of his new neighbors.

Near the end of the novel, there is an image of a rook that has built a nest in a tree away from the tree the other birds inhabit. Cal believes that the bird has been isolated because it broke one of the rules and is being taught a lesson. Similarly, Cal has been beaten and isolated because he broke one of...