T.C. Boyle wrote “Rara Avis” about the loss of innocence from the point of view of a twelve-year-old boy. In the story, there is a bird on the roof of a furniture store in their town. Many of the town’s citizens come to gawk at the animal. The bird is used to symbolize a woman. The last sentence of the story — “I threw the first stone” (109) — implies that the bird symbolizes not only a woman, but also a prostitute. Another way the author indicates the bird’s symbol is on page 109 when the boy notices that all of the spectators still in front of the furniture store are male and all of the women and children have left. Also, throughout the story, the narrator begins to notice the people around him — his father with a woman who is not his mother and the college-aged girl with her boyfriend against the car — involved in sexually tense situations. After this, the narrator goes on to explain a time when he lies during confession:
“In the confessional the priest asked me if I practiced self-pollution. The words were so formal, unfamiliar, but I knew what he meant. So, I thought, kneeling in the dark, crushed with shame, there is a name for it. I looked at the shadowy grill, looked toward the source of the soothing voice of absolution, the voice of forgiveness and hope, and I lied. “No,” I whispered.” (108).
In this excerpt, Boyle indirectly states the boy lies about if he masturbates. This is another moment where the boy’s innocence is implied to have dissipated.
Sydney: I’m not sure why you feel the bird represents “not only a woman, but also a prostitute.”