Other Birds

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapter 6–Interlude 3

Chapters 10-15

Chapter 16–Interlude 7

Chapter 20–Interlude 9

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Background

Cultural Context: Birds in Myth and Folklore

Although the magical elements of Other Birds are not rooted in any one particular culture, the novel’s connection drawn between birds and other worlds or planes of existence is present in European, Asian, and South and Central American folklore. Birds have long been believed to be messengers or representations of the dead. This likely comes from their ability to be equally comfortable on land and in the sky; very few other animals are completely at home in more than one element. This ability often symbolizes crossing boundaries between our world and another. For instance, cultural traditions in the South Sea Islands and parts of Africa have used bird imagery in their funerary rites to guide the dead into the afterlife. In Irish folklore, seagulls are the manifestations of sailors lost at sea. This is very similar to the story Paloma tells about her dead brother returning in the form of a bird.

Spiritual practitioners all over the world, historically as well as today, have held the belief that birds can be used as spiritual guides to learn more about other worlds. For example, Siberian shamans and those from Indigenous American tribes hold that birds bring sacred knowledge to sensitive human beings, or that they could be restless spirits of the dead. In either case, birds command reverence and respect. Many of these cultures are also filled with myths of people transforming into birds either after a period of personal upheaval or after death (the ultimate upheaval), effectively starting anew. This parallels the way Paloma, having turned into a bird-like spirit, prepares for a new life with the dellawisps: “Some of the younger ones want to fly away to new adventures, and if this happens, I know I will go with them” (287).

Literary Context: Magical Realism

Other Birds is an example of magical realism literature. This style is often associated with 20th-century Latin American literary tradition but is embraced worldwide. It refers to literary fantasy writing in which magical elements are embedded in the otherwise realistic, normal world. Rather than being set in an imaginary secondary world, as with high or epic fantasy, magical realism takes place in settings that are either real, recognizable places or fictional places that resemble real locations. However, despite the fact that the world is the real one, characters in magical realist fiction do not respond to the supernatural events around them with surprise or awe; instead, they simply casually accept magic as part of the everyday. Some of the most famous practitioners of magical realism are Argentine short story writer Jorge Luis Borges, Chilean author Isabel Allende, Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez, Indian-born British novelist Salman Rushdie, Italian journalist and author Italo Calvino, and Italian medievalist Umberto Eco.

The novel’s Mallow Island is an example of this—although it is fictional, it is informed by real towns and is portrayed as a place that could easily exist in the world we know. Within this setting, ghosts and unconscious manifestations are part of everyday life. For example, Mac manifests corn flour as a result of trying to hold on to a loved one he has lost. He does not respond with fear or amazement; instead, he sees this magical element as part of his grieving process and easily accepts it as part of his ordinary life. This action of subconscious desire crossing over into the physical realm is a cornerstone of the magical realism genre. Sarah Addison Allen explores these genre conventions in her other works, most notably Garden Spells and its sequel First Frost. Both of these novels highlight the relationship between food and the unconscious mind through a magical lens, and the latter novel also incorporates the spirits of the dead.