Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
If you found yourself wondering where the freaking titular bird was, you're not alone. The title sets us up to think that the book is about a bird, but there's nary a feathered friend in sight. Well, until you look closely that is.
Say what? Hang with us—you'll see. Koly loves the poems she finds in Mr. Mehta's book, right? Now check out how Mr. Mehta describes one of them:
"It was about a flock of birds flying day and night through the skies. Among them was one homeless bird, always flying on to somewhere else." (4.51)
Does that homeless bird remind you of anyone? Yup, it makes us think of Koly, too. While she starts out with a home, it's a long time before she actually feels at home again, and because of this, her sights are always fixed elsewhere. Life at the Mehtas' is hard, and then life in the city it, too. But Koly keeps flying, doing her best to find a place to truly land. In the end, while we know she's ready to settle down with Raji, we have the sense that she'll never truly sit tight. Koly has tasted freedom and seems ready to follow her heart toward wherever it can find joy.
The idea of Koly being related to a homeless bird helps us understand just how caged she is throughout the story as she lives by someone's else's rules and listens to someone else's demands (we're looking at you, Mrs. Mehta). By the end, she's finally set free—at home inside herself and soaring.