Importance of Birds and Flying

The bird signifies an entity whose wings can be clipped; in other words, birds are symbols for the ability for life to be caged. Englander writes, “Then, like that, came a sudden, simple shift in realities. The falconer reaching down and pulling the hood from his hawk’s head” (202). This is the author’s description of Z’s experience first seeing the jail cell in which he would reside until his death. When one attempts to fly too close to the sun, they get burned. Z is metaphorically compared to a bird, specifically a hawk, in this quote to express the futility of his situation. Z is caged by his falconer-like captors.