“She could see now that every stall was empty and dark—in fact, the green of the racecourse was the brightest color around, so bright that, for a moment, she didn’t dare head out there. But Paras was a very curious filly.”

Throughout the novel, Smiley repeats the phrase that Paras is a curious filly. By doing so, she makes curiosity the primary element of Paras’s personality and emphasizes its significance in the novel. This passage also shows how Smiley creates imagery that metaphorically takes Paras out of the darkness (her old life) and into the light (the new adventure she is about to embark on).

“What is ownership these days?”

The author introduces Raoul as an intellectual bird who considers himself above others, established by having him discuss philosophy. Through Raoul, the novel raises philosophical questions that pertain to its allegorical and magical realist purpose. Raoul’s character arc will reveal a vanity beneath intellectualism; he does care about ownership, such as owning his nest’s position. To finish his narrative, Raoul must become humble, which happens after his crash flight to the racetrack.

“What is a nest but a temporary assemblage of bits and pieces—of trash, if you will—collected and molded into a comfortable, yet always ephemeral, dwelling?”

Raoul’s commentary on his nest is a parallel for discussing finding a home or a place to belong. When Raoul does not have one, he believes they are temporary and rebuildable. Only once he builds a more permanent bond with his friends and finds a home that he wants to keep does he begin building a nest with the intent to stay.