Doves

Doves conventionally symbolize of purity and innocence, and their death by fire at the beginning of the novel thus symbolizes the end of innocence in the village. Brooker Higgs' need to find a scapegoat for the fire sets off a chain of events that sends the village into chaos and eventually destruction. However, toward the end of the novel, Crace invokes the symbol to suggest that Walter Thirsk might have a chance for a fresh start when, as he looks out over the empty village, he says his arms are "folded at my back like wings" (223).

The Bird's Skeleton

The skeleton that Christopher Derby spots in the woods, when the villagers are there searching for the newcomers, symbolizes a scapegoat. Derby immediately declares that it is the skeleton of one of Master Kent's doves, and that the newcomers in the woods, therefore, must be responsible for...