The Parrot/Barnes Character Analysis

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.