After his death, the narrator of “Jealous Husband Returns in Form of Parrot” by Robert Olen Butler does just that. After falling from a tree in a failed attempt to catch his wife having an affair, he finds himself to have been reincarnated in the form of a parrot and now resides within a pet shop. He is found by his former wife and her new lover while on display, and she decides to take him home with her. He now stays within a cage in the den of his former home watching what happens there now that he has passed on. In “Jealous Husband Returns in Form of Parrot,” Robert Olen Butler utilizes flashback, characterization, and motif to illustrate the destructive effects of jealousy. There is a moment in the story when the narrator relives the situation surrounding his death. His wife began to frequently mention a new guy working in her department, so he went to the man’s house hoping to catch the two together. He
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The narrator’s former wife has once again left the cage open and gone to her bedroom with a man. He has reached his limit in living at his former home constantly bombarded by negative feelings, “…I look at the trees moving just beyond the other end of the room. I look at the sky the color of the brow of a blue-front Amazon. A shadow of birds spanks across the lawn. And I spread my wings. I will fly now. Even though I know there is something between me and that place where I can be free of all of these feelings, I will fly. I will throw myself there again and again. Pretty bird. Bad bird. Good night,” (675). Flight is often associated with freedom. Seeing all of the birds in the backyard able to fly around translates as freedom to the narrator. He knows that outside he can be free from all of his emotions, but the glass is in the way. He decides it doesn’t matter and commits suicide by running into the glass. His feelings of jealousy have driven him all the way to
The narrator’s former wife has once again left the cage open and gone to her bedroom with a man. He has reached his limit in living at his former home constantly bombarded by negative feelings, “…I look at the trees moving just beyond the other end of the room. I look at the sky the color of the brow of a blue-front Amazon. A shadow of birds spanks across the lawn. And I spread my wings. I will fly now. Even though I know there is something between me and that place where I can be free of all of these feelings, I will fly. I will throw myself there again and again. Pretty bird. Bad bird. Good night,” (675). Flight is often associated with freedom. Seeing all of the birds in the backyard able to fly around translates as freedom to the narrator. He knows that outside he can be free from all of his emotions, but the glass is in the way. He decides it doesn’t matter and commits suicide by running into the glass. His feelings of jealousy have driven him all the way to