The House with Chicken Legs

Marinka’s house is a symbol of home and belonging. Throughout the majority of the novel, Marinka struggles to see the house in this way. She feels perpetually angry at the house for “stand[ing] up in the middle of the night and walk[ing] away from where [they’d] been living” (1) without any warning. The house is magical and is outfitted with chicken legs, which it uses to relocate Marinka and Baba wherever the dead need them next. Marinka resents the house for its peripatetic habits because all she wants is to be settled in one definite place where she can make friends with living people. Because she is destined to be the next Guardian (or Yaga) after Baba dies, Marinka is not allowed to leave the house; she later learns that she is dead, and if she strays from the house, her body will fade away entirely. She often feels trapped by the house for these reasons, and is desperate to escape. She cannot accept that the house loves and wants to protect her.

Marinka reestablishes her connection with the house after the house fire. Marinka realizes that bonding with the house is the best way to live harmoniously together.