50 pages • 1-hour read
Dragonsong
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Symbols & Motifs
Music
Throughout the novel, music serves as a motif of Empowerment Through Self-Expression. Composing and performing music is integral to Menolly’s goals and to her understanding of who she is. The uniqueness of Menolly’s musical ability is immediately apparent in the fact that the teenager is the only member of the Sea Hold with perfect pitch and the skills to play multiple instruments. During her years in the restrictive society of Half-Circle, music is the “one thing that had made her life bearable” (44). Her parents’ systematic attempts to thwart their daughter’s dream of becoming a professional musician have a disastrous impact on her self-esteem and overall well-being. For example, she feels “desolation” when Yanus takes her gitar away, and she nearly loses her arm when Mavi lets her wounded hand worsen in an attempt to end her playing. By barring Menolly from making music, her parents seek to rob her of her power and force her to conform to their restrictive expectations that she docilely complete arduous daily tasks with no regard for her own expression or fulfillment.
Over time, the protagonist reclaims her love of music and starts singing and playing instruments again with the help of the fire lizards, and music and self-expression are also vital to the story’s happy ending. For example, Masterharper Robinton praises Menolly’s compositions as “two of the loveliest melodies [he’s] heard” (182), and she proves that she is the long-lost apprentice the Harpers have searched for by singing one of her own songs. By accepting Robinton’s invitation to become an apprentice at Harperhall, Menolly ensures that she will never have to return to her limiting, demeaning life at Half-Circle Sea Hold and can instead pursue her own vision for her life. The protagonist’s pursuit of her passion for music therefore reflects women’s struggle to enter traditionally male fields, demonstrating the empowering effects of self-expression.
Fire Lizards
McCaffrey frequently employs fire lizards as a motif of The Role of Mentorship and Community in Personal Development. The creatures “look like dragons” (24) but are much smaller, and just like dragons, they have a hierarchy based upon the colors of their scales, as seen in Menolly’s flock, which consists of a golden queen, “two bronzes, three browns, a blue and two greens” (96). The author develops the link between fire lizards and the theme of community by showing how Menolly’s life and mindset change enormously thanks to her encounters with them. The teenager is lonely and unappreciated at Half-Circle Sea Hold, but her little winged friends offer her companionship and affection. As the narrative states, “[T]he company and wonder of the fire lizards gave her all the diversion she needed. And they loved her music” (90). Menolly demonstrates strength and courage by rescuing the fire lizard eggs from the tide, and she grows in independence and resourcefulness by taking care of her hatchlings, disproving the holders’ mischaracterization of her as lazy. Additionally, the fire lizards’ appreciation for her music alleviates the self-doubt that Yanus and Mavi instill in her. These positive changes prepare Menolly to rejoin human society and find community at Benden Weyr and, ultimately, at Harperhall.
The dragonriders’ great ambitions for fire lizards also reinforce the creatures’ thematic link to community. Lessa and her weyrpeople hope that fire lizards will revitalize the stagnant Holds. As T’gellan explains, “[T]hey give those narrow-minded, hidebound, insensitive Lord Holders just that necessary glimpse of what it is to ride a dragon. That is going to make life…and progress…easier for us in the Weyrs” (120). If this plan succeeds, the fire lizards will help humans look beyond their immediate surroundings and strengthen all of Pern as a united community. Ultimately, the presence of the fire lizards contributes significantly to the novella’s structure, the protagonist’s development, and the overall theme of community.
Eggs
Eggs symbolize hope and new beginnings. The people of Pern associate dragon eggs with hope because dragons protect the planet from the deadly Thread, and the story notably reaches its climax on the day that a “gleaming clutch of dragon eggs” (162) hatches at Benden Weyr. On top of the usual excitement that accompanies a Hatching, this particular occasion is a time of great anticipation for the weyrpeople, some of whom think that a new dragon could help Brekke to heal her emotional wounds after the death of her golden queen. Although Brekke doesn’t bond with a new dragon, she still recovers at the Hatching, and this moment strengthens the symbolic link between eggs and hope. Near the end of the novel, fire lizard eggs are presented as a source of hope for Pern’s future because they may hold the key to convincing the staid holders to embrace progress. The narrator provides detailed descriptions of the precautions that humans take to protect the fire lizard eggs, such as the “furry bags [Menolly sews] to carry eggs safely between” (177). Just as characters like Menolly have to work to make their hopes come true, the eggs must be protected and tended carefully.
Eggs also represent new beginnings. They contain new lives in a literal sense, and they usher in fresh starts for the humans who interact with them. For example, rescuing the fire lizards’ eggs is the inciting incident that sets the stage for Menolly’s new life. At the end of the novella, the protagonist’s opportunity to become a Harper-in-training arrives when Masterharper Robinton comes to Benden Weyr to watch the dragon eggs hatch and to collect the fire lizard eggs that Lessa bestows on him. Eggs therefore figure prominently at key moments of change, cementing their importance as symbols of hope and new beginnings.
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