It would appear that within the beginning of the book, Kate Chopin may be using birds to foreshadow grief for a character. Before an event that may end badly or cause grief for a character took place a type of bird was mentioned. This can be seen at least twice within the beginning of the book. “A green and yellow parrot, which hung in a cage outside the door, kept repeating over and over: ‘Allez vous-en! Allez vous-en! Sapristi! That’s all right!” (Chopin 1). This happens not long before Mr. Pontellier sees his wife with Robert Lebrun and gets jealous of them. To the point of which he left for a hotel to stay at and did not return until late at night after dinner. After Mr. Pontellier’s return, we see again the grief of a character being foreshadowed. “There was no sound abroad except the hooting of an old owl in the top of a water-oak,” (Chopin 8). Right after the paragraph this line is a part of Mrs. Pontellier begins to cry possibly over the recent pressure in her life that can be drawn back to her married life. Both of these times a specific bird was mentioned and both times something generally bad happened to a character emotionally. It seems that Chopin is saying something about the environments we are subjected to or subject ourselves to.