Theme Of Symbolism In No Great Mischief

No Great Mischief Quotes

• “her head cutting a V through the water and her anxious eyes upon the departing family she considered as her own” (23).

• “like the goose who points the V, and he temporarily wavered and lost his courage” (25).

• “When the Canada geese fly north in spring, there is a leader who points the way, a leader at the apex of the V as the formation moves across the land” (260).

In the novel No Great Mischief there is excellent symbolism displayed. One example of symbolism is the V formations popping up throughout the entire novel, which to me represents aiming for your goals. The V forms by everyone working together, and the apex of the V pointing at the destination or goal. On page 23 a dog that worked with the family for years tries to swim after the family as they are in a boat trying to leave for refuge. At first everyone is yelling threats and exhortations at the dog telling it to go back but one of the characters; Calum Ruadh starts yelling out words of encouragement because he noticed how the dog wouldn’t give up. The book mentions how the dog’s head makes a V shape in the water while it swims towards them to reach her goal, the family. The same idea would go along with the Canadian geese mentioned on page 260 and how together they fly north during spring and the apex of the V again points to their destination. The V almost plays the part of an arrow to achievement. As well as on page 25 when Calum had cried when they reached the shore because he lost his wife, home, spoke a different language and he had to take care of the people around him. In the quote it’s mentioned how he looks up the sky and they referred to the geese in V formation. I believe when he looks up he points at where he hopes to go,...

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...atherine and was known ever afterwards as Catriona na mara, Catherine of the sea” (24).

The sea in the novel is another part of the symbolism. It represents a god like form. In chapter 7 the narrator’s parents die because the ice on the water cracked and they fell through as mentioned earlier. This is a sign of how the sea can bring death and play the role of god in other words. In the beginning of the book (24) we are also introduced to the birth of Catherine while everyone is on the ship that takes the characters to North America, this showing that the sea can also bring life and existence to us. For the most part the sea in the novel brought death like when the dog got shot after she crossed the water but for that one circumstance life was created. For the most part there also seems to be ice structures or platforms in the water when a character is going to die.