Bird Box

Tom is Malorie’s close friend and mentor, as well as a leader at the house in Riverbridge. A schoolteacher by trade, Tom is curious about the world and the Problem in particular, and he is the first to question new arrivals at the house to find out what they know. He is also unselfish, quickly vacating his bedroom for Malorie after she arrives. Haunted by the death of his daughter, Robin, Tom frequently finds comfort in her memory during difficult moments. Tom’s memory goes on to play a similar role in Malorie’s life following his death, as she recalls his encouraging voice.

Tom is static throughout the novel. His clearest progression involves his ever-expanding attempts to improve the quality of life in the house, whether by carefully planned trips outside to retrieve materials or by constructing gadgets. Tom’s character offers an example of progressive leadership.

The Boy and the Girl are two children whom Malorie raises and takes with her on her journey to the haven downstream. Since the two children are under strict orders not to speak unless necessary, and to always obey Malorie, their distinct personalities are not developed. Both, however, prove capable allies and assistants to Malorie, who trains them in necessary survival skills suited to the world in which they are raised. Though they are advanced for their age in some ways, they also suffer from a dramatically limited perspective of the world, as when the Girl wonders whether the man on the riverboat is the same man who she heard singing on a cassette, since they are the only men whose voices she ever heard to that point.

By the end of the novel, the children are just beginning to realize how much larger the world is as they find themselves, for the first time, in an unfamiliar place. The names that Malorie gives to them link them to the previous generation, demonstrating that though Tom and Olympia died, their influence continues. Together, the children embody both the high toll the Problem has taken on society in so limiting the experiences of children, along with the hope for a better future.

Don is one of the housemates at the safe house in Riverbridge. Skeptical and cynical by nature, he opposes efforts to enter the outside world, however well planned. He also opposes the admission of additional residents, which speeds up the depletion of resources. In fact, Malorie observes that Don “has long espoused a greater fear of man than creatures” (167). For that reason, Don proves particularly susceptible to Gary’s theories. Despite his poor choices, Don remains sympathetic in Malorie’s eyes; she sees him as “stricken worst by the new world. He’s lost in it. There is something emptier than hopelessness in his eyes” (227). Don serves as a foil character to the hopeful Tom. In the end, Don’s submission to Gary’s will demonstrates the conditions under which destructive ideologies can take root and flourish.

Felix, Jules, Cheryl, and Olympia also stay at the house in Riverbridge. Together, they make up the community that is itself a microcosm of civilization. Through shared work and experience, they bond with Malorie and each other. Each plays a small but important role in the functioning of the house. Jules looks after the dogs, while Felix takes an early lead in trying to contact other survivors. Cheryl takes a special liking to the birds and takes on the responsibility for feeding them daily. Olympia and Malorie bond over their parallel pregnancies, though Malorie does not feel, as Olympia does, that becoming pregnant made her life “complete” (168). Taken together, these housemates represent the benefits of specialization and the need for cooperation and tolerance in democratic society.

A latecomer to the safe house in Riverbridge, Gary is, alongside the creatures, a main antagonist. As she gets to know Gary, Malorie is struck by his “grandiose, artificial” manner of presenting himself. Gary’s entire persona is based on a lie, and his deceits prove costly, as they allow him to win Don as a follower and use him to wreak havoc. Gary is unique among the characters in that he looks at the creatures but survives; Malorie suspects that he may have had a mental health condition before he ever saw the creatures, lessening their power over him. Gary comes to believe that, since the effect of the creatures is purely mental, a person who is properly prepared can survive an encounter with them. Despite causing others to look at the creatures, Gary never finds any support for his theory apart from his own experience, leaving a trail of dead people in his wake.

Despite his lack of concern for others’ lives, he doesn’t directly attack Malorie when he has the chance, nor does he return to bother her later. Rather than a directly malevolent entity, Gary serves as an example of the danger of insidious theories and philosophies that undermine the safety and wellbeing of others.