Bird Box

Tom brings back a box with two living birds inside from one of his trips, for use as an alarm system, since the birds grow noisier when approached. In this capacity, the system works, and the birds coo when Gary arrives, as well as in the novel’s climax before Don lets a creature into the house. Eventually, Malorie comes to see the boxed birds as symbolic:

She thinks of the house as one big box. She wants out of this box. Tom and Jules, outside, are still in this box. The entire globe is shut in. The world is confined to the same cardboard box that houses the birds outside. Malorie understands that Tom is looking for a way to open the lid. He’s looking for a way out. But she wonders if there’s not a second lid above this one, then a third above that.

Boxed in, she thinks. Forever (190).

Malorie’s sense that she and the others are boxed in by a limited perspective remains relevant as she raises her children, whose frame of reference is even smaller than her own. The idea that there are levels of awareness ironically mirrors Gary’s philosophies, since he believed that some people’s intelligence makes them immune to the creatures’ effect; he believes himself to be outside of the box, so to speak.

The box metaphor also extends to readers, whose perspective so corresponds with the characters that they, too, are left asking the same questions and feeling similarly boxed in. In the end, Malorie accepts that, while immediate escape from the boxed-in world she lives in is not an option, the best choice is to persevere in seeking a better life for her and her children, regardless of whether they are able to solve the mysteries that surround them.

Important decisions affecting the wellbeing of everyone in the house are typically made by vote. Before George watches the recorded footage from the video camera, he asks the others to vote. Each time someone wants to leave or enter the house apart from daily chores, they vote. Those who lose the vote are left to respect the opinion of the majority. This continues until the housemates vote to expel Gary from the house. Don takes matters into his own hands and hides Gary in the basement. Later, Don again goes against the wishes of his housemates by pulling down the covers and opening the doors to let in a creature. Don thus introduces fascism into the home where a fledgling democracy previously held sway. This connects with Malerman’s broader discussion of The Fragility of Civilization.