49 pages • 1-hour read
A Nest for Celeste: A Story About Art, Inspiration, and the Meaning of Home
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Symbols & Motifs
Nests
From the title to the resolution, nests serve as a motif for the theme of The Search for Home. Celeste’s childhood home is an idyllic place, “a nest made of grasses in a tangle of timothy hay and wildflowers” (158). The various nests that Celeste lives in over the course of the story represent her efforts to regain the safety, warmth, and comfort she experienced in this original nest. When the novel begins, the mouse lives in a dusty nook under the floorboards where she experiences bullying and loneliness. Significantly, the narrator never refers to this place as a nest, which reveals that it provides some refuge but is ultimately unfit as a home. In Chapter 6, Celeste constructs “a satisfactory nest” in the toe of a boot (66). Although short-lived, this temporary home represents an improvement in the protagonist’s circumstances because she is actively seeking a place where she feels safe rather than stagnating in the dim and inhospitable space under the house due to fear and inertia. The nest in the boot leads to Celeste meeting Audubon’s apprentice. During her time with Joseph, the mouse rests in his pocket and in a bandana that he folds into “a bowl-shaped nest for Celeste” (106). This nest comes with tangible benefits, such as food and protection from the cat, as well as the emotional benefits of Joseph’s friendship. At the end of the novel, Celeste chooses to make the dollhouse her home. The narrator describes the luxuriously furnished dollhouse as “a lovely nest for a mouse” (284). In addition, the attic affords safety and a magnificent view of the house’s grounds. This nest reflects the protagonist’s appreciation of beauty and represents the successful conclusion of her search for a home. By trying out different nests, Celeste learns about herself, gains new friendships, and ultimately finds her ideal home.
Birds
Cole uses birds as a motif for the theme of The Relationship Between Art and Nature. The motif and the theme become linked because of Mr. Audubon’s objective “to paint the portraits of every single species of bird in North America” (26). The ducks in Chapter 13 help to establish Celeste’s disenchantment with Audubon’s grand ambition: “Joseph and Mr. Audubon were pulling a dozen or so birds out of the water—the same birds with the beautiful feather patterns that she had been admiring moments before” (125). The artist deems only one of the slaughtered birds worthy of being the subject of a painting, and this wastefulness adds to the scene’s troubled tone. The ivory-billed woodpecker introduced in Chapter 14, “a large black-and-white bird with a scarlet crest of feathers on its head” (132), is an especially significant example of the motif. The woodpecker’s death prompts Joseph to question his employer’s methods of killing birds for the sake of creating lifelike portraits. Cole’s choice of bird is deliberate, and Joseph’s melancholy thoughts anticipate the species’ impending extinction in the real world: “A landscape with no woodpeckers? His life had seen lonely moments, and probably would again; but he couldn’t imagine the loneliness of being the last of his own kind on Earth” (31). The ducks and the ivory-billed woodpecker illustrate the cost of Audubon’s paintings and reveal a need for healing in the relationship between art and nature.
Two of the birds Celeste befriends also serve as motifs for the theme. When Cornelius first appears in Chapter 16, Joseph notes that the wood thrush will “make for a beautiful painting” (152). This immediately raises the story’s suspense due to the ill fate of the painters’ previous subjects. With Celeste’s help, Cornelius mends the relationship between art and nature. The thrush lives, and his song inspires the boy to produce his finest work yet. Lastly, Lafayette the osprey brings the theme to its culmination by causing Audubon himself to see the value of working with a live subject. After capturing the magnificent bird on paper, the artist says, “Merci, my friend” (272). His words suggest a greater openness to the possibility of art as something created in collaboration with nature rather than at the cost of nature. The motif of birds advances the theme of the relationship between art and nature, adds to the story’s suspense, and deepens its overall meaning.
Berries
Berries symbolize friendship. The first time that this symbol appears, Celeste shows her care for Cornelius by offering, “[C]an I bring you anything? Something special that you like to eat perhaps?” (163). This act of friendship gives the caged wood thrush “a little glimmer of hope” (166), and he requests red and green dogwood berries. Gathering the fruit for Cornelius is not simply a thoughtful gesture; it demands an arduous undertaking that puts Celeste in grave danger. She goes outside by herself for the first time in months, and the thunderstorm rips the basketful of berries she gathers away from her. Even after the storm carries her miles from home, Celeste is determined to keep her promise to her friend. She has Lafayette set her down in a dogwood tree before carrying her to Joseph’s window. Because of the lengths that Celeste goes to in order to gather them, berries are a potent symbol of friendship.The symbol reappears at the end of the novel when Celeste shares berries with her new acquaintance, Violet. The scene has a much calmer atmosphere than Chapter 18’s frenzied scene in the dogwood tree. Here, the fruit’s sweetness helps to establish the happiness of the budding friendship between the mouse and the wren. Violet notes, “[Cornelius] said you were the very best there is at finding dogwood berries” (334). Because of the fruit’s symbolic meaning, Cornelius’s words praise Celeste as an excellent friend. Berries add to the novel’s symbolism, contribute to key plot points, and develop the protagonist’s relationships with her friends.
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