The Cemetery of Untold Stories

In literature, birds are often used as implicit messengers between humans and the divine. This association fits Filomena, who is considered to be “un alma de Dios” (138) or “a soul of God.” Her daily devotion to the saints, her cleaning of the church, and her frequent philosophical conversations with Padre Regino reflect the habits of someone who is in frequent communication with the spiritual world. The avian imagery and associations with Filomena are further emphasized when she resists Brava’s suggestion to get a cat and asks Alma for a birdbath. Filomena cares for the birds, and her awareness of birdsong helps her to distinguish those sounds from that of the quiet, “birdlike voice” (76) of Bienvenida.

The bird symbolism also ties into Greek mythology, for Alma asks Filomena if she knows that “her name comes from an old story about a girl turned into a bird after her brother-in-law [Tereus] cut off her tongue so she couldn’t tell he had raped her?” (209). This is a reference to the myth of Philomel, who was turned into a nightingale. Filomena is stunned to learn that her mythological namesake had a similar experience to hers.