Who is Bird from The Fifth Sacred Thing and what is their importance? The_Fifth_Sacred_Thing English & Literature Bird | The Fifth Sacred Thing

The novel commences with Bird imprisoned in southern California. His memory of the ten years in prison and of his former life in the City are foggy, but as he begins to remember and reclaim his powers as a witch. He is able to escape, along with two others, Littlejohn and Hijohn. Eventually he returns to the City, where he struggles to adapt to society after his long traumatic imprisonment and the intense physical and mental suffering he has experienced there. The guilt surrounding the actions that led to his imprisonment where he broke into a nuclear reactor along with three others who all died during the process and the guilt associated with what he revealed under duress while tortured, make Bird's return to the City difficult. Prior to his imprisonment, Bird was a musician and a member of the Musician's Guild, but his hands have been broken by his jailors. He does start giving piano lessons to a young woman, Rosa, but he struggles to find his place in the City, having once been renowned as a musician.