In literature, blackbirds or crows often represent death or sorrow, and this is true in Blackbird House. In “The Edge of the World,” Coral Hadley holds out hope that her husband and sons are alive; however, when Isaac’s blackbird returns, now white, she knows that they’re dead. Only upon the creature’s arrival does she begin to mourn. The blackbird as a harbinger of sorrow is a pattern throughout the novel. For example, in “Lionheart,” when Violet’s son Lion leaves for Harvard and she acknowledges that he may never return, she spots a snow-colored blackbird overhead. The timing of this sighting correlates with Violet’s realization that she made a mistake and pushed her son away. In another instance, in “The Pear Tree,” when Billy Griffon feels uneasy upon hearing Meg Stanley cry, he “looked up and saw a big white bird in the old oak tree” (182), adding to the ominous feeling he already has. The moment foreshadows Dean’s death by suicide, and when Billy discovers the boy’s body, bird feathers litter the ground. These are only a few of examples of the white blackbird as a motif portending sorrow.

However, the novel expands on this by also tying the bird’s presence to the theme of