Feathers

Feathers appear throughout the novel in various ways and for various reasons. For example, in New York, Margaux, naked, uses feathers to cover only certain parts of her body in order to attract the attention of an older man, who happens to be an ornithologist. In an extreme attempt to gain his attention, she covers her entire body in canary feathers, only to learn that her love is not returned. As such, the feathers become a prison for Margaux, for she does not have feathers of her own, and she cannot ever grow feathers of her own, and she is unable to gain the love of the ornithologist. When Ava is born with wings, she must learn to preen her wings of loose and old feathers. In an effort to gain Nathaniel’s attention and to flirt with him, Ava leaves piles of her feathers for...