Other Birds

“Zoey knew the story by heart. She used to recite it to herself over and over when she was a child, sometimes reenacting it in her bedroom.”

Throughout the novel, stories and storytelling are a way of connecting with one’s heritage and with others. Although it is referring to a lived experience, to Zoey it becomes legend. Zoey uses this story to connect with her mother. In some ways, she does end up “reenacting” her mother’s path later in the novel.

“She was fascinating to look at, like a piece of art you had to stare at a long time before it made sense.”

Zoey’s aesthetic response to Charlotte hints at the complexity that lies beneath her manufactured exterior. Charlotte’s appeal is surface-level—her manufactured identity lies on the outside and is well crafted. This observation also evokes Charlotte’s henna, linking this art form to the figurative canvas of Charlotte’s body.

“It wasn’t exactly the bohemian lifestyle that teenaged Charlotte had once dreamed of, but she’d never been able to totally overcome her need to have a place of her own so she wouldn’t have to be reliant on someone else for a roof over her head, like her mother.”

In many of Charlotte’s point-of-view chapters, she refers to “teenaged Charlotte,” whose dreams she’s trying to fulfill. It seems to be a reference to her childhood, but is eventually revealed to be a reference to a different person. Here, Charlotte’s prior self and current self are in conflict with one another—foreshadowing the revelation to come.