What do you think Owl represents in the book?
So thankful for Owl! He helped Emilie through thick and thin. Owl was Emilie’s spirit animal, to watch over her, help her cope with so many injustices and guided her when indecision prevailed. A Spirit Animal was her blessing because of the Sight.
I agree Owl is Emile’s spirit animal and I am glad it was there for her. I think we all need someone to “look up” for guidance and protection. I also like the fact Owl is not a constant presence in the story.
I just looked at the first page and i am wondering what Emile meant by “plunging away from Owl.”
I think it symbolizes the connection between the natural world and the unseen, reflecting Emilie’s gift of Sight. I like what others say that it is Emilie’s spirit animal.
Honestly, I had mixed impressions about Owl and am not sure I understand her relationship. She begins the book and then for a long while seems absent, then seems to appear again only as the harbinger of death to Emilie. At times when Emilie is being abused, I was waiting for Owl who made no appearance to help her. But later she did appear to share moments of importance sometimes joyful, sometimes very tragic.
At the start of the book Emilie was “one” with Owl and separates from it. I read an Owl is a sign of intuition over logic. Emile had both, but didn’t always used the right one - as in being with Keller!
Owl represented the spirit world and Emilie’s strange gift. I wish she’d have been able to foretell things other than when someone was dying or had died. It was somewhat of a burden for her as she had to keep it hidden or others looked at her with mistrust. I do think Owl was a comfort to her whenever he appeared. It let her know that she wasn’t alone and, in a sense, she was watched over.
I agree it is her spirit animal.
I think that Emilie and the Owl are the same being. They are separated when she enters human form. I think it represents consciousness and the unconscious or connection with her spiritual side. From The Book of Symbols Reflections on Archetypal Images by Taschen “…owls have become both symbols of acute awareness-the invisible seer in the dark-and of the stunning power of death: mortal terror of the stealthy visitor in the night.” (p254) “But as often, the powers of death are also the powers of transformation, and the owl is symbolically bound to the renewal life that is mythically implicit in death.” (p254)
And Owl helped Emilie choose her horse, Star, but couldn’t be bothered to help her find a decent husband?!
As I read the book, I was unsure of what Owl was, but I like Ruth’s opinion that Owl is a spirit animal. I was glad that Owl was around to comfort and guide Emilie.
Well, love is blind they say.