The Astonishing Color of After

“My mother is a bird. This isn’t some William Faulkner stream-of-consciousness metaphorical crap. My mother. Is literally. A bird.” 

These first sentences establish the premise that Leigh’s mother is a bird. The short sentences create a blunt rhythm that highlights the factual nature of Leigh’s assertion, while the division of the phrase “my mother is literally a bird” into three separate sentences indicates Leigh’s own incredulity at the marvelous fact.

“Axel’s hands stretched around my back and unlocked me. I was melting, he had released my windup key, and I was kissing back hard, and our lips were everywhere and my body was florescent orange—no, royal purple—no. My body was every color in the world, alight.” 

This passage, describing Leigh’s kiss with Axel, demonstrates her tendency to experience strong emotions in color. Here the feeling of “every color in the world” indicates that Leigh is in a state of exhilaration. This cements the importance of color in the novel while simultaneously revealing its importance to Leigh as an artist.

“My eyes took in her size: nothing like the petite frame my mother had while human. She reminded me of a red-crowned crane, but with a long, feathery tail. Up close I could see that every feather was a different shade of red, sharp and gleaming.” 

Dory’s appearance as a bird sharply contrasts with her human appearance. As a human, Dory was petite and delicate, but as a bird, she is enormous and magnificent, signaling that she has reached an expanded if supernatural state of being. In Chinese culture, the red crane she resembles is a figure symbolizing wisdom and nobility.