The Painted Bird

Discuss the symbolism of term ‘painted bird.’ Who is a painted bird, and why? Does the meaning change throughout the book? How does the painted bird illustrate the core message of the novel?

Most of The Painted Bird is written in the first-person. What is the effect of this point of view? Why did Kosiński choose a child as his protagonist? Why does the reader never learn if the boy is actually a Gypsy or a Jew? Why does the reader never learn his name?

The boy takes great care to describe animals, both in the wilderness and in the villages. How does the animal world reflect the human world? What messages can readers take from the various comparisons between humans and animals?