Character Analysis: The Ghost Bird

Mark Haddon, the man that created this quote, said, “ Reading is a conversation. All books talk. But a good book listens as well.” This connects to the theme of the story The Ghost bird because Mr. Tanner is saying how he sees a rare bird and no one but one little girl named Hannah believes in him. In the story The Ghost Bird by Roland Smith, There is a little girl named Hannah who is neighbors with an old guy named Mr. Tanner. One day Mr. Tanner claims to have seen a rare bird that was said to be extinct. No one in the town believes him except for the little girl Hannah. Hannah sticks by his side and eventually comes to figure out that it helps her in a good way. The author uses the setting and conflict to convey the theme of believing can lead to good turnouts.

The author uses setting, the time and place of the story, to help show the theme of the story.

Hannah, the story's main character said, “At least 50 cars were parked in front of Mr. Tanner's house, including a news van and 2 police cars” (Smith 25). This quote is significant because it is showing how Mr. Tanner’s house is the place to go to see the bird that everyone says is extinct. No one believes in him so they go to his house to see if he is actually being serious or if it was just a lie. That is also why there is news vans and police cars too, because if they do see the bird it is going to go viral on the news. This connects to the theme of believing can lead to good turnouts because if a person does not believe in someone, they are never going to get anywhere in life, but if they do believe, good things can happen. In conclusion, the author uses Mr. Tanner’s house to help show the theme of the

story.
In addition, the author uses conflict, the main problem in the story, to help show the theme of the story. For instance, the narrator says, “Mr. Tanner turned around angrily when she came into the room, but his features softened when he saw who it was” (Smith 27).This shows conflict because Mr. Tanner was angry that a bunch of random people were showing up at his house to see a bird, he was mad because no one believed in him that it was the real bird except for Hannah. That is why his features softened up when he saw her because he knew that she actually believed in him. To conclude, the author uses Mr. Tanner being angry to help show the theme of the story.
In summary, setting and conflict are literary elements that convey the theme of believing can lead to good turnouts. Trust is like paper, once it’s crumbled it can’t be perfect again. Hannah trusting Mr. Tanner is like not crumbling up a piece of paper so their trust stays perfect.