Character Clues

Character Analysis

Direct Characterization

Birdy's an observer, not a talker, and he describes everything in a straightforward way. It's almost like he's writing readers a letter. He'll tell you his opinion of someone, but he won't go on and on about it. Here's one of his early descriptions of Marla:

She didn't wait for an answer. She stood and just walked away. Definitely cool. (2.73)

That's Birdy's way—to describe a person's action and, in as few words as possible, tell you what he thinks about him or her. That also tells you something about Birdy's personality. Marla often teases him for not being much of a talker, and the starkness of his speech is part of his narration style.

Birdy doesn't waste your time. Dude's direct.

Speech and Dialogue

Birdy may not waste words describing the characters around him, but there are people in his unit who love to blab. That's how we get our main impression of them: through what they say.

Like when Marla announces,

"I'd like to remind you guys that my birthday is August twelfth, so start saving your money for presents." (14.10)

Dang, that's a confident statement. Demanding that people buy you nice presents is expecting a lot in the middle of a war. But she's joking, too. Marla knows that birthdays are no one's priority, and is trying to distract her group from the danger they're about to face (they've just been order to travel to Fallujah).

Marla kids around, sometimes pushing peoples' buttons. Jonesy makes jokes and goes on and on about the blues. Captain Coles needs to be asked what he thinks before he'll give an opinion. Miller sometimes curses so much that Birdy won't write what she actually says. Those are the deets that hint at each of their characters, without Birdy having to say a thing.

Names

Ever notice how Birdy starts out by calling characters by their full names (complete with army titles) and then the names get shorter and shorter? That's not just to save ink.

By looking at the length of characters' names, you can usually tell how close they are to Birdy. For the first couple chapters, Marla Kennedy is "Kennedy" and then it shifts to just "Marla," because Marla becomes one of Birdy's closest friends in his unit.

In the same way, "Captain Miller" changes to just "Miller," while Captain Coles is usually described by his full name. He's still an authority figure for Birdy, while Miller becomes a friend.