Flannery O’Connor wrote in her 1961 essay “The King of the Birds,” “In short, I am the only person on the place who is willing to underwrite, with something more than tolerance, the presence of peafowl. In return, I am blessed with their rapid multiplication.” Over the course of her life, O’Connor raised myriad peacocks. She is often depicted aside them, and the peacock feather has come to stand as a symbol of her literary works.