The bruised bird is clearly injured, just as a weaker person and can not soar using powerful wings, rather it is “bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth.” The weakling tried to fly at the height of the strong bird, but does not have the ability to do so as it does not have the strength to maintain flight, thus making it flutter and fall instead of soaring. Mademoiselle Reisz adds this contrast to illustrate how seeking to go against society can end in one of two ways: success or failure. Mademoiselle Reisz questions which bird Edna is by feeling Edna’s shoulder blades to see if her “wings were strong”. If Edna succeeds in her quest to gain independence and rebel against the role of a woman in the 19th century, she will be considered the strong bird. Edna can also fail in her pursuit and fall aimlessly back towards the earth almost guaranteed for destruction as the weakling.Ultimately, Mademoiselle Reisz employs a metaphor to question Enda’s power to go against tradition and illustrate that to do so strength is