62 pages • 2-hour read
Shield of Sparrows
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Symbols & Motifs
Cliff Jumping
Cliff jumping serves as a motif related to The Importance of Freedom to Personal Growth. In the first chapter of the novel, Odessa stands on a cliffside staring longingly out at the sea and “want[ing] to jump […] want[ing] to dive into that ocean blue […] want[ing] to be unshackled from everyone’s expectations for just one godsforsaken moment” (10). Though her younger brother, Arthy, is Quentis’s heir and her sister, Mae, is the daughter meant to fulfill the Shield of Sparrows, Odessa feels trapped by her role nonetheless. That her stepmother orders her to be dressed in drab shades of gray and to dye her vibrant red-orange hair a dull brown evokes the pressure she feels to blend in, even as inwardly, she yearns to stand out. The cliffside is her sanctuary, as it is “the one place where the air [isn’t] thick with judgment and guards [aren’t] stationed at every corner, ready to report [her] mistakes to Margot” (13). The cliff represents freedom to her, making it all the more significant that this is where Ransom first spots her. Witnessing Odessa cliff jump is the moment when Ransom decides she will become his wife, thereby setting her free of the prison that is her life in Quentis.
When Odessa first comes to Treow, she still believes herself caged. Though every request she makes is granted, she doesn’t dare ask for too much, such as permission to travel to Ashmore. When she makes the decision to go to Ashmore without permission, she mentions the cliff again: “There was a girl inside me who’d once found the courage to jump off a cliffside. That girl had been stifled and smothered. Hidden except for those stolen moments of bravery. It was time to let her stretch her wings and fly” (291). This thought spurs Odessa into action. She sneaks out of Ashmore and, in doing so, makes vital discoveries about the Guardian, Turah, and Lyssa, proving to her father—and, more importantly, to herself—that she is capable. Cliff jumping thus becomes a metaphor for Odessa’s growing sense of agency in her new life in Turah.
Color
Color symbolizes Odessa’s personal growth throughout the novel. In Quentis, Odessa must wear gray and dye her hair brown. When Odessa dresses to greet the Turans, she notes, “In any other color, this would have been a beautiful dress. In gray, I practically blended in with the stone floor. Maybe that was the idea” (25). The forgettable dress mirrors Odessa’s situation: She is forgotten about, underestimated, and undervalued by everyone around her. As early as Chapter 1, Odessa thinks to herself, “Someday, when I didn’t have Margot dictating my wardrobe or Father’s scrutiny at every meal, I wanted to wear red. Or green. Or black. Or yellow. Any color but gray” (13). This exemplifies her desire for growth and foreshadows the character arc that will occur over the course of the novel.
Hints of color thus begin to emerge as soon as Ransom chooses her for his wife. Odessa wears a crown for her wedding ceremony, “the only thing on [her] that wasn’t gray” (29). This foreshadows the growth she’ll find in Turah: Though she isn’t considered a capable potential ruler in Quentis, she is always considered worthy of being a future queen in Turah. Even the color gray takes on new significance. When she arrives on Turah’s shores, Odessa regards the beach that is full of gray rocks. Though it isn’t “warm and welcoming,” it’s “beautiful. Rugged. Intimidating” (156). Like the beach, Odessa has a hidden strength and individuality that only Turah will be able to coax out of her. As she spends more time in the country, her inner color begins to bleed through to those around her, and the novel signals this change with the colorful clothes she begins wearing and her decision to abandon the brown hair dye in favor of showing her red curls.
The Red-Orange Necklace
The mysterious necklace that Odessa discovered 13 years ago symbolizes the secrets surrounding her identity and her ancestry. In Chapter 6, Odessa remembers the day she found the necklace:
I’d tucked myself into this corner, hiding behind gray dresses as I waited for her to find me. The board had shifted beneath my foot, and I’d found this hiding spot. I didn’t know who’d had this room before my birth, but maybe another princess had used these rooms when she’d lived in this castle. Maybe a long-forgotten grandmother. I liked to think someone who shared my blood had used this compartment. That she’d been the one to pry the board loose the first time and tuck her keepsakes inside. That the necklace I’d found thirteen years ago had been worn around her neck (67).
This recollection draws on color symbolism to hint that there is more to Odessa’s character than is first revealed. In particular, the red-orange coloring of the necklace and its wing pendant foreshadow the reveal at the very end of the novel—that Odessa resembles the human form of the crux. Relatedly, her speculation that another princess or forgotten grandmother used her rooms foreshadows a potential maternal ancestry of which Odessa is not aware. The necklace thus serves as a reminder that Odessa has a mysterious mother whom she knows nothing about, as well as a potential connection to the monsters that lay siege to their continent every few decades.
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