The Painted Bird (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Jerzy Kosinski
- First Published: 1965
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Social morality
- Time of Work: World War II (1939-1945)
- Setting: Eastern Europe
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism
- Subjects: Children, Murder or homicide, Superstition, Europe or Europeans, 1940’s, World War II, 1930’s, Cruelty
- Locales: Europe
Characters Discussed
The young boy, an unnamed war refugee whose wanderings through Eastern Europe (from ages six to twelve) constitute whatever plot the novel can be said to contain. He has no history when his parents, fearful of Nazi reprisals, send him to the country for safekeeping. His first contact is soon lost. As the boy wanders from village to village, as slave or indentured servant to various peasant families, he witnesses scenes of increasing violence and cruelty. His own education follows from these episodes, as he tries to figure out how the world operates and what...
[The entire page is 851 words long]
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