The Painted Bird

“Man would be portrayed in his most vulnerable state, as a child, and society in its most deadly form, in a state of war. I hoped the confrontation between the defenseless individual and overpowering society, between the child and war, would represent the essential anti-human condition.” 

In “Afterward,” Kosiński describes how his family’s experiences during World War II inspired him to write The Painted Bird. This passage establishes the allegorical nature of the novel—how its characters and events have larger meanings. It reveals that the novel is not only about a boy treated cruelly in villages but also how mankind is at the mercy of a cruel, tormented world. Kosiński’s describing the state of society as “anti-human” sets up the boy’s struggle to survive as he is beaten down, in both literal and figurative terms. 

“Such eyes, known as Gypsy or witches’ eyes, could bring crippling illness, plague, or death. That is why she forbade me to look directly into her eyes or even those of the household animals.” 

Marta is the first peasant with whom the boy lives. Her wariness of the boy’s dark complexion foreshadows the discrimination the boy will experience throughout the rest of the novel. It also offers the first glimpse into the superstitions to which the peasants adhere. People in the villages believe the boy’s differences—they are fair-haired, with fair complexions—demonstrate that he is possessed by evil powers. Furthermore, they know that to house a Gypsy or a Jew is forbidden by the Germans, and they fear repercussions if the boy is found among them. These sentiments are echoed in Chapter 2 by