#3 ICB pp. 254-279

p. 266 Perry states, "'She lifted me....  I was free, I was flying, I was better than any of them.'"  The bird is symbolic of a savior to Perry.  Just as the bird used to save him  and to avenge him from the nuns who abused him for wetting the bed, now the bird will save him from the sheriff.  It's interesting that he says "'I was better than any of them.'"  Who are all the thems in Perry's life--who are the people he felt beneath, whose expectations he didn't meet?  Probably his dad, the nuns...who else?