Bird

Bird is the novel's central character, its protagonist. Narration describes him as both physically and vocally birdlike, his face somewhat beakish, his belly rounded like that of a bird, his voice having a croaky, crow-like sound. At twenty-five years of age, he begins the narrative with a clear vision of what he thinks he and his life should each be, and a growing sense of dismay that neither is what he wants. His experience of a four-week drunken blackout and his dreams of visiting Africa suggest, as do other aspects of his life and history, that he has difficulty facing reality and dealing with the responsibilities of his life. This aspect of his essential character comes to the forefront even more strongly when he is faced not only with the birth of his child but with that child being born with a so-called "brain hernia" (see "Objects/Places...