Taking Flight

The most accepted analysis of Nabakov's short story is that in ensnares the reader in a futile hunt to understand each of the "signs and symbols" appearing in his story. In doing this, the reader essentially has a milder and more temporary version of referential mania. I disagree. 

I think there are themes that run through this story that have more meaning than the superficial plot. I focused in on the bird/flying theme and of death...

-son's attempted suicide, ‘tear a hole in this world and escape’, thwarted by someone who thought he was "learning to fly"

 -unfledged bird dying on the ground

-son used to draw birds with human hands and feet

 -the father states ‘I can’t sleep because I am dying’

I think that the idea of flying is the idea of escaping both yourself and the confines of society. Another escape from both of these is death. The fledgling bird is just like the son, trying to escape the confines of its nest only to plummet to the ground.