Pigeons

There's a lot of pigeon imagery in One Came Home, and if a pigeon flies, nests, or poops anywhere within five miles of Placid, Georgie's going to tell us about it. Partly, this is because the pigeon nesting and Agatha's and Georgie's varying interests in pigeons form the backbone of the book and tells us a lot about their differences as sisters. Agatha wants to study the pigeons, to learn about nature, but Georgie focuses on her prowess as a hunter: she wants to dominate and control nature—much like she wants to control Agatha's life.

Nowhere are the two sisters more contrasted than in their reactions to the pigeons that invade Placid in March. While Agatha literally embraces the cloud of pigeons, running out into the street to stand under them, Georgie, unarmed against massive numbers of birds, is afraid. Even though she wants to stand with Agatha in her encounter with the pigeons, she's just too scared:

As if she heard my thoughts, Agatha stopped and pointed at me. "Come," she mouthed. Her free hand gestured me closer. She nodded encouragingly.

I wanted to. I did. I tried to pull my fingers from that railing, to instruct my feet to lift and step. But those images of bells and streams dissolved, and all I saw was a wind stirred by the evil winged creatures from Pandora's Box. I stayed. (2.22-23)

Georgie fears what Agatha delights in, and at the same time, she wants to be more like Agatha. In the above scene, she calls Agatha "sister, friend, guide to life, and the eighth wonder of my world" (2.21). We're thinking it's safe to say she admired her.

However, Georgie knows she's not like Agatha: She likes hunting and keeping accounts and wants to stay in Placid and inherit the general store. By the end of the novel, though, Georgie has learned to value life above all, as Agatha does, even though they still have different inclinations and goals. She says:

I do not even think an animal as abundant as the wild pigeon should be minus one. I say let all the earth be alive and overwhelmingly so. Let the sky be pumped to bursting with wings, beaks, pumping hearts, and driving muscles. Let it be noisy. Let it make a mess. Then let me find my allotted space. Let me feel how I bump up against every other living thing on this earth. Let me learn to spin. (24.69)

Georgie's not quite there yet—she's still a bit cautious and afraid of making connections—but she has the desire to learn what Agatha gets from her close connection to the natural world. And as for valuing life, she goes from wanting to shoot pigeons to thinking they should be left alone and celebrated… just the way her sister does.