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Officer Mishin
Barnes is a parrot and the narrator of “Psittacophile.” Barnes doesn’t share much about himself, aside from insight into the kind of constant care parrots require. He notes that if people care for parrots properly, parrots attach to their people and see them as parents, partners, and mates. At first, when the owner purchases Barnes, she shows him the exact level and type of care he desires. He adores his owner and often grooms her to show her affection. It takes a while for Barnes to grow out of his toddler phase, in which he destroys and throws things—but eventually, he and his owner become best friends. Barnes has little to say about his owner’s foray into romance with Marty, a fellow expat—but through his silence, Barnes implies that he isn’t pleased with the situation. When the Israelis begin to bomb Beirut in 2006, Barnes experiences a breakdown: he begins to scream constantly, pull out his feathers, and hurt his owner. When his owner eventually leaves him in his cage hanging on the pet shop awning, he asks readers if she really had a choice.
The Parrot/Barnes Quotes in Only the Animals
The Only the Animals quotes below are all either spoken by The Parrot/Barnes or refer to The Parrot/Barnes. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Psittacophile: Soul of Parrot Quotes
What a delight to be needed so acutely! Her ex-husband had tolerated her neediness but not cultivated it in himself; her daughter had been determined to establish her independence from the moment she learned to walk. But there I was with my feathers scattering the light to create an illusion of brilliant green, my fat tongue, my perfect toes. I, Barnes, who would—if she cared for me attentively—grow to love and depend on her as my parent, partner, mate.
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The Parrot/Barnes Character Timeline in Only the Animals
The timeline below shows where the character The Parrot/Barnes appears in Only the Animals. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Psittacophile: Soul of Parrot (Died 2006, Lebanon)
The parrot says that 30 years ago, his owner asked her future ex-husband how he felt about...
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The parrot explains that his owner’s ex-husband missed the point: she wasn’t just either half. Marriage would...
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A year after 9/11, the parrot’s owner delivers the divorce papers and heads for Damascus. She wants her New York friends...
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...local pet shop stocks everything from crocodiles and monkeys to puppies, but she wants the parrot the instant she walks in. He’s sitting on the storeowner’s shoulder, and for the first...
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The storeowner doesn’t want to sell the parrot, since he’s had him since his birth years before. He was born the same year...
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...a frantic internet search, the owner learns she basically adopted a toddler. She’s delighted that Barnes needs her so much—her ex-husband only tolerated her neediness, and the owner’s daughter has been...
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Soon, the owner’s routine revolves around Barnes. She carefully curates a play area with appropriate toys and feeds him a varied diet....
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At about 7:00 p.m. every night, Barnes gets sleepy and grumpy. He whines and snuggles against his owner until she puts him...
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The owner attends a rooftop barbecue one Friday with Barnes on her shoulder. Marty has just arrived to teach at the American School. He’s about...
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The owner takes Barnes along when she and Marty go on a date to the National Museum of Beirut....
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One evening, the owner and Marty take Barnes with them to a cafe. They watch a Saudi woman eat a hamburger through her...
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A year passes—and Barnes warns that people should never take life lightly in the Middle East. One afternoon, Barnes...
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Barnes starts screeching and continues for hours without stopping. He stops eating and starts biting his...
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Barnes says his owner couldn’t have known that the ceasefire would come within a month when...
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