Student Question

How and why does Harry react when Rocky says “Where’s Harry?” and “Miss him” in "Papa's Parrot"?

Expert Answers

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When the parrot starts asking, "Where's Harry?" Harry's initial reaction is surprise. He stares at the parrot, and "Chills (run) down (his) back." The parrot keeps repeating the question, and Harry says, "I'm here. I'm here, you stupid bird." From this response we can infer that Harry becomes annoyed with...

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the parrot.

The parrot then repeats, "Miss him! Miss him!" Harry is initially surprised, and then he yells at the parrot and throws peppermints at its cage. Harry then answers the bird with, "I'm here," and starts sobbing. Harry leans upon the glass counter of his father's shop and "burie(s) his face in his arms."

Harry becomes upset because he realizes that the parrot is merely repeating phrases that it has heard his father saying. Harry used to go into his father's sweet shop every day after school, but then, as he became older, he started going to the burger place instead. Harry's father became lonely and bought the parrot for company.

When Harry hears the parrot repeating, "Where's Harry?" and "Miss him!" he realizes how badly his father has missed him and how lonely his father has been in the shop without him. Harry feels desperately sorry for his father, and this sympathy is particularly pronounced because at this point in the story Harry's father is in the hospital with "tubes in his arms."

At the end of the story, after cleaning the parrot's cage and locking up his father's sweet shop, Harry decides to go and visit his father in the hospital.

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