The Yellow Birds
Introduction + Context
Plot Summary
Detailed Summary & Analysis
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11
Themes
All Themes War, Violence, and Detachment Memory and Trauma Companionship vs. Solitude Justice, Morality, and Guilt
Quotes
Characters
All Characters John Bartle Daniel “Murph” Murphy Sergeant Sterling Bartle’s Mother Ladonna Murphy (Murph’s Mother) The Lieutenant (LT) The German Bartender Malik The Doctor The American Bartender The Colonel Captain Anderson Luke The Iraqi Man The Cartwright
Symbols
All Symbols The Yellow Ribbon Murph’s Photograph and Casualty Feeder Card
Upgrade to LitCharts A+
Instant downloads of all 1912 LitChart PDFs (including The Yellow Birds).
LitCharts Teacher Editions. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does.
Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts.
The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of every Shakespeare play.
Literature
Guides Poetry
Guides Literary
Terms Shakespeare
Translations
Ask
LitCharts AI
Ask
AI
Literature
Lit
Poetry
Lit Terms
Terms
Shakescleare Ask AI

The Yellow Birds

by

Kevin Powers
Download this LitChart! (PDF)
Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Yellow Birds makes teaching easy.

Luke Character Analysis

In stark contrast to Bartle’s depressed mind state, Luke, Bartle’ best friend since middle school, shows youthful optimism and energy, organizing expeditions to the river with friends while Bartle feels unable to socialize. Like Bartle’s other friends, Luke shows concern for him and tries to encourage him to get out of the house. He saves Bartle’s life when he calls 911 after seeing his friend fall asleep in the river.

Luke Quotes in The Yellow Birds

The The Yellow Birds quotes below are all either spoken by Luke or refer to Luke. 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:
War, Violence, and Detachment Theme Icon
).
Chapter 7 Quotes

What would I say? “Hey, how are you?” they’d say. And I’d answer, “I feel like I’m being eaten from the inside out and I can’t tell anyone what’s going on because everyone is so grateful to me all the time and I’ll feel like I’m ungrateful or something. Or like I’ll give away that I don’t deserve anyone’s gratitude and really they should all hate me for what I’ve done but everyone loves me for it and it’s driving me crazy.” Right.

Related Characters: John Bartle (speaker), Luke
Related Symbols: The Yellow Ribbon
War, Violence, and Detachment Theme Icon
Memory and Trauma Theme Icon
Companionship vs. Solitude Theme Icon
Justice, Morality, and Guilt Theme Icon
Page Number: 144
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Yellow Birds LitChart as a printable PDF.
Download
The Yellow Birds PDF

Luke Quotes in The Yellow Birds

The The Yellow Birds quotes below are all either spoken by Luke or refer to Luke. 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:
War, Violence, and Detachment Theme Icon
).
Chapter 7 Quotes

What would I say? “Hey, how are you?” they’d say. And I’d answer, “I feel like I’m being eaten from the inside out and I can’t tell anyone what’s going on because everyone is so grateful to me all the time and I’ll feel like I’m ungrateful or something. Or like I’ll give away that I don’t deserve anyone’s gratitude and really they should all hate me for what I’ve done but everyone loves me for it and it’s driving me crazy.” Right.

Related Characters: John Bartle (speaker), Luke
Related Symbols: The Yellow Ribbon
War, Violence, and Detachment Theme Icon
Memory and Trauma Theme Icon
Companionship vs. Solitude Theme Icon
Justice, Morality, and Guilt Theme Icon
Page Number: 144
Explanation and Analysis:
Home About Contact Help
Copyright © 2024 All Rights Reserved
Terms Privacy Privacy Request
The LitCharts.com logo.
Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account
You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes.

or

Already have an account? Sign in
Complete your free account to request a guide
Already have an account? Sign in
The LitCharts.com logo.
Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account.
You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles.

or

Already have an account? Sign in
Complete your free account to access notes and highlights
Already have an account? Sign in
The LitCharts.com logo.
Saving guides requires a free LitCharts account
Easily access your saved guides anytime.

or

Already have an account? Sign in
Complete your free account to save guides
Already have an account? Sign in