Summary Of Catherine, Called Birdy By Karen Cushman

Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman was about a girl in medieval England named Catherine. Catherine is a young girl in her mid-teens, the normal age for girls to get married in her era. But Catherine doesn’t want to get married. She wants to be a monk, a writer, a painter, a saint, a crusader, a street performer, anything but the wife to a man who bought her from her father. Catherine manages to send over three suitors running, but when an old, rich drunk comes to take her away to his castle, Catherine finds herself in a tough spot. This inspiring book is about a young girl who has to make many hard decisions that will shape how she will live for the rest of her life.

One of Catherine’s choices was to run away with a group of Jews that
were fleeing the country after staying at her family’s castle for a while. When she saw and heard an old lady tell the stories of Moses, her curiosity spiked. Catherine watches the Jews and realizes that they aren’t nasty people with fangs or sharp claws, so she decided to attempt to run away from her suitors and just become a wanderer by going with the Jews in the morning. She leaves, and tells the old lady Jew about her adventures and what will happen to her. The old lady Jew tells her to be Catherine, not her Uncle George, or her friend Perkin. midday, in a nearby city, she lets a bunch of roosters loose and they almost kill each other. Riddled with guilt, Catherine leaves for home. Catherine made a good choice (even though she went home in shame), as she learned a lot, and even though she didn’t realize it until later, she learned that she has to be herself and not anyone else.

Another big choice Catherine made that impacted her life greatly was when she used silver from her suitor to save a bear that was going to be killed. Now, normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but when men wanted to marry a woman, they would send her gifts, and if she used them or accepted them, she would be accepting him as her husband. Catherine, by using silver she got from Shaggy Beard, her worst suitor, accepted his gift, ergo, him. This was one of her most thought out and complex choices in the book. This choice is nor good nor bad. The bad side to Catherine’s choice is that she is now tied to Shaggy Beard, but on the flip side, she has made nice with her least favourite brother, Robert, and the bear gets to live freely in the forest by her castle. She is also more selfless to other people.

Catherine’s choices change many things in her life, but eventually lead her to a happy life. In the end, Catherine’s choices come back to help her, especially saving the bear. Catherine was a smart girl, and had to endure many problems, like her crush getting married to her best friend, or almost getting married to a foul man, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Shaggy Beard died at a bar fight on his way to the wedding so she end up marrying Stephen, his son, who loves many things Catherine does. How would you feel if you were going to have to marry a filthy man for money? Would you do what Catherine did?