Themes and message

The main themes of “Tea with the Birds” by Joanne Harris are isolation and loneliness in contemporary society. These themes are enhanced through motifs like confinement (illustrated by the birds in cages) and cultural differences (the narrator and Mr Tamaoki are not British). The story’s message is that human beings are meant to socialise, but our modern society often isolates us and makes us less inclined to interact with others or to develop a community spirit.

Isolation and loneliness

These two themes are closely connected and they are explored with the help of the two characters—the narrator and Mr Tamaoki—and through the social setting.

The narrator lives in a society in which “people spend their lives without ever raising their eyes from the ground” (l. 1). On her street, people prefer to keep to themselves and live isolated lives in their houses, like birds in a cage, and the only form of social interaction seems to be gossiping.

Because she is different from the people in her neighbourhood, the narrator feels rejected and alienated. She is critical of her neighbours’ attitude, but she fails to see that much of her isolation and loneliness is self-imposed. When a neighbour asks ...