A Nest for Celeste: A Story About Art, Inspiration, and the Meaning of Home

“‘Just keep to the shadows. Keep track of where the food is falling. And watch out for the cat.’ Celeste obeyed the two rats. She knew if she didn’t, the shoving and biting and insults and bullying would only increase. She skittered down the dark passage.”

Celeste is exceptionally timid at the beginning of the story, largely due to the rats’ bullying. Illianna and Trixie’s cruelty connects to the themes of The Search for Home and The Importance of Friendship by making it clear that Celeste lacks a safe place to call home and friends who respect her. Additionally, the rats’ demand that she go to the dining room while humans are present gives the mouse her first glimpse of Joseph and Mr. Audubon.

“It is my intent to paint the portraits of every single species of bird in North America. And to paint the birds in their natural surroundings, and as lifelike as possible.”

Mr. Audubon’s goal reflects his ambitious personality and befits his great artistic ability. His aim to paint all of North America’s birds sets the plot into motion because it brings him and his young apprentice to Oakley Plantation. Ironically, Audubon kills birds to make their portraits “as lifelike as possible.” This tension is at the heart of the theme of The Relationship Between Art and Nature.

“With a sickening realization, Celeste saw that now there was no turning back: The cat was blocking the opening to her home. She felt small and exposed, the hallway around her huge and looming and foreign. Her throat constricted and she choked, thinking of her quiet, dark nook below the floorboards, of her warm matchbox and scrap of oily rag. Even the belittling comments and piercing squeaks of Illianna and Trixie seemed almost comforting now.”

The story’s suspense intensifies as the cat cuts off Celeste’s only way back to her nook under the floorboards. This is a major development for the plot and the theme of home because it forces Celeste to seek shelter elsewhere and leads her to meet Joseph.

“Cautiously exploring the room, she found several dried leaves that had fallen to the floor from the plants on the desk. She stuffed them into the toe of the boot. To these she added chewed bits of paper from several sheets she had nibbled through. Her prize find was an old woolen sock; she dragged the whole thing across the room with her teeth, then nibbled and unraveled it until she had made a satisfactory nest. She liked her new home. ‘Well, I guess ‘cozy’ is a word for it,’ Celeste told herself. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.”

Throughout the novel, nests serve as a motif for the theme of The Search for Home. In this passage, Celeste creates a makeshift nest in Joseph’s boot. While this home is only temporary, it gives the protagonist a much-needed sense of safety after her encounters with the cat, and her choice of hiding place leads her to befriend the boot’s owner.

“You’re good company, you know that, Little One? I’ve been away from home so long I’ve just about forgotten what home is, but I know I miss it. Having you around is real nice.”

Joseph’s longing for home and his need for companionship ties into two of the novel’s major themes and makes him a kindred spirit to the lonely protagonist. At this point, Joseph has been traveling with Audubon for two years, and he longs for his home in Cincinnati. Joseph and Celeste’s friendship plays a vital role in the novel and helps the mouse gain courage and confidence.

“‘Don’t ever show your face again, Little One!’ he admonished. ‘At least, not at the dining table!’ He put Celeste back in her small cage. Her pulse was pounding. The world was an unpredictable place. Her little nook beneath the dining-room floorboards had been dark and musty, but it had been safe. She had never felt so strongly the need for a shelter, for a refuge, for home.”

After Celeste peeks out of Joseph’s shirt pocket during dinner, Mr. Pirrie attacks her with a ladle, and the cat nearly eats her. This incident shows that the protagonist’s perils and her Search for Home are not over because she befriended Joseph. Her yearning for “a shelter, for a refuge, for home” foreshadows that her perfect nest is something that she must find for herself.

“Celeste burrowed back down into the pocket. She had seen enough. There was no more excitement and thrill to the outing on the river. It seemed that all of Audubon’s paintings started out this way. The birds were beautiful, alive, and then they were shot from the sky.”

Celeste’s growing disillusionment with Audubon’s project advances the theme of The Relationship Between Art and Nature. The mouse’s reaction to the ducks’ deaths foreshadows her efforts to help the ivory-billed woodpecker and to ensure Cornelius’s and Lafayette’s survival.

“One of the men washed out the wound and then tore off strips from an old saddle blanket, making bandages from it. ‘You know, Joseph, I could have swore you were the biggest wild turkey I ever did see!’ he joked, and everyone laughed. They started back to the plantation. And although she was safely tucked in Joseph’s pocket, Celeste thought only of going home, someplace safe, wherever that was.”

When a hunter accidentally shoots Joseph, Celeste feels lost and homesick. She relies on the boy for safety, which makes her idea of home extremely fragile. In addition, the boy’s injury presents another point against Audubon’s method of shooting birds so he can paint them.

“‘This doesn’t seem right…’ ‘What doesn’t?’ ‘I don’t know…the way we’re doing this, the paintings.’ ‘What about them?’ Celeste noticed Joseph’s face getting red, and he was flustered as he spoke. ‘You are looking to capture its life on paper, but by killing it first? By pinning it to a board?’”

The ivory-billed woodpecker’s death marks a turning point in the theme of The Relationship Between Art and Nature. Joseph, who is still recovering from a bullet wound, finds the courage to question Audubon’s methods. Although the artist angrily rejects the boy’s concerns in this scene, Audubon later decides to work with a live subject.

“I was waiting to die, really…I was so weak. I heard a rustling, and a groundhog lumbered up. I was too hurt and tired to say or do anything; but the groundhog—his name was Ellis—he carried me on his back, and brought me here to the house. He lived in a tunnel under the stone foundation. He gathered fresh grasses and things to nibble on until I got better. I learned how to live in the big house from two rats; they showed me how to find food. Without my family, there didn’t seem to be any reason to live in the fields again, so I decided to stay here for a while. That was many months ago…I never left.”

Cornelius’s questions prompt Celeste to reflect on how she came to live at Oakley Plantation. Her tragic backstory develops The Search for Home by explaining how she lost her first nest and her family when the hayfield in which they lived was harvested. Cornelius helps her to face her painful past, demonstrating The Importance of Friendship.

“She suddenly realized how alone and vulnerable she was without the protection of Joseph’s shirt pocket. The forest of plants, the sounds, even the red clay soil under her toes seemed foreign to her. Each of her senses prickled with excitement.”

Celeste demonstrates great courage by looking for dogwood berries for Cornelius even though she feels “alone and vulnerable.” Cole uses imagery to capture the protagonist’s exhilarating experience of being outside by herself for the first time in months. Berries serve as a symbol of friendship in the story.

“A large piece of bark struck her; and she clutched at it, throwing her body over it, clinging desperately. Heavy rain slashed and slammed into her face; and she choked and coughed on water and mud. The road leading to the plantation had become a small but raging creek; and by the lightning flashes Celeste was terrified to see that she was being carried away from the lights of the house and out into the darkness.”

In one of the novel’s most suspenseful scenes, a heavily foreshadowed storm sweeps Celeste away from the house. Amidst the confusion and chaos, the mouse shows resourcefulness by using a piece of bark as a raft. The thunderstorm seems like a disaster because it places the protagonist in grave danger and leaves her lost and alone, but it allows her to meet Lafayette, who plays an important role in the novel’s resolution.

“She interrupted him. ‘Um, Lafayette,’ she said. ‘Could you meet me right here at this very spot tomorrow, say right about sunup?’ ‘Why, sure, sweet potata. I can be here any time you say. But what for?’ ‘I want you to help me get home.’ ‘Now, how do you figure I can do that? You gonna hang on to my claws? Ride on my back? That’s a little dangerous, don’t you think?’ ‘I’ve got a plan, and I think it will work.’”

The themes of The Importance of Friendship and The Search for Home converge as Celeste’s newest friend, Lafayette, agrees to help her find her way home. This dialogue hints that Celeste’s weaving skills will be essential to her mysterious plan.

“Then she started weaving a large basket, bigger than any she had made before, using strong blades of grass and weaving them tightly and with extrastrong knots. She took the rope and wove it into the basket, interlacing it over and through as she created a large gondola, big enough to hold a mouse, with a rope handle.”

From the beginning of the novel, Celeste shows resourcefulness and skill by weaving baskets. These traits take on added significance as she makes a basket “bigger than any she had made before” so Lafayette can carry her home.

“‘Did you actually make this?’ He picked up the basket gently with his beak, turning it around and admiring it from all sides. Celeste blushed. No one had ever admired her work before. She hardly knew how to react.”

Lafayette’s praise of Celeste’s gondola boosts her confidence in herself. The osprey is the first character to recognize her basket weaving as an art form. This means a great deal to Celeste due to her admiration for the story’s human artists. Near the end of the novel, Lafayette and the gondola help Celeste regain the peace and safety of her home when her bully Trixie accidentally falls from the basket into the river.

“‘I’m glad I’ve gotten you back before the sun was up too high or else someone would start shooting at me,’ the osprey called down. ‘More and more guns shooting into the air these days…It’s gotten so a bird isn’t safe in his own backyard anymore!’”

During the flight to Oakley Plantation, Lafayette alludes to the way that Audubon’s presence has led to increased bird hunting in the region. The osprey’s dialogue foreshadows his injury and capture, which play an important role in developing The Relationship Between Art and Nature.

“He gathered up Celeste and cradled her next to his cheek, stroking her and giving her tiny kisses on her ears. ‘I have missed you so much! You’re a brave little critter to come home to me!’ Celeste burrowed between his palms and wriggled rapturously, relishing the warmth and safety of his gentle hands.”

Celeste and Joseph’s joyful reunion demonstrates The Importance of Friendship. In addition, Celete’s excitement to be back in “the warmth and safety of his gentle hands” reaffirms that the boy is still her definition of home at this point in the story.

“The song, a mixture of sweetness and melancholy, swirled through the room like a cool breeze. Joseph immediately took up drawing materials again and then sat in a chair in front of the cage. This time as he worked there was no eraser needed; graceful lines of dogwood leaves flowed from his eyes and down into his hand, then out onto the paper.”

Thanks to Celeste’s ingenuity, Cornelius inspires Joseph. The boy doesn’t usually draw live birds, let alone ones that sing. The wood thrush’s melody allows him to draw and paint with a grace and confidence that contrast starkly with his usual frustration and self-criticism. This develops the relationship between nature and art by showing how the beauty of the former fuels the latter. The author himself is a visual artist, which adds a depth of realism to his description of how it feels to be inspired.

“Cornelius stretched one wing, then the other. His eyes were bright. He spread his tail feathers, testing them. He was ready to go. He needed to go; instinct was telling him so. ‘Good-bye,’ he said softly. ‘And thank you. You’re a good friend.’”

Celeste demonstrates The Importance of Friendship when she sets Cornelius free. This action restores balance to nature because he’s able to join the migration of the other thrushes. Despite the demands of his instincts, Cornelius thinks of his friend while he is away, as seen when he sends Violet to keep Celeste company in his absence.

“‘I’ve found home,’ she said to herself. ‘There is nowhere else I’d rather be.’ She smiled and fell asleep. And indeed, it was a lovely nest for a mouse.”

Celeste’s Search for Home concludes with the discovery of the dollhouse, which serves as “a lovely nest for a mouse.” Her dialogue affirms that she at last has a place where she feels perfectly happy and safe. She finds the attic because the cat chased her, showing the resourceful protagonist’s ability to bring good out of adversity.

“She stifled a gurgled cry, as suddenly her nest seemed unsafe, uncertain, and unhappy. ‘Yes, it’s me,’ continued Trixie. ‘Don’t look so surprised. Aren’t you happy to see me?’ ‘Trixie! Yes…yes, of course!’ Celeste felt her voice stumble. ‘It’s just so unexpected!’”

After Celeste finds the dollhouse, her happy ending is postponed by the “unexpected” arrival of one of her bullies. Trixie’s intrusion reduces Celeste’s ideal home into an “unsafe, uncertain, and unhappy” place and sends her back into the miserable, fearful headspace she was at the start of the novel.

“She plummeted down, grabbing at air, disappearing into the river mist like a rock tossed into a muddy pond.”

Trixie is undone by her own impatience and greed. She demands that Lafayette take her for a flight, and she breaks the gondola with her peevish tugging. The simile likening the rat to “a rock tossed into a muddy pond” emphasizes that she will not be found. Trixie’s downfall sets Celeste free from Trixie’s bullying and restores her sense of safety in her home.

“Audubon frowned at Joseph. ‘It’s a mouse. Tighten those satchel straps. We’re ready to go. Monsieur Pirrie, we bid you adieu.’ In a heartbeat Celeste realized what was happening; Joseph was leaving, and he wasn’t coming back.”

Joseph’s sudden departure prompts Celeste to reflect on The Importance of Friendship. Despite the pain she feels at their parting, she remains grateful that she grew close to the kind, artistic boy. Although Joseph is understandably reluctant to leave his tiny friend in close proximity to a cat, his exit from the narrative shows that the protagonist is ready to create a safe home for herself without him.