50 pages • 1 hour read
George R. R. MartinA Feast for Crows
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2005A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Animals, Sigils, and Totems
As the lords of Westeros trail behind Tywin’s funeral procession, Jaime notices “boars, badgers, and beetles, a green arrow and red ox” (254). The different dynasties of the realm, he sees, are indicated by a variety of fauna painted on their banners. And the “great,” traditionally most powerful houses are represented by wolves, lions, stags, dragons, and kraken. Yet these animal symbols do not serve a merely decorative function in A Feast for Crows. Rather, characters in the novel often believe they embody attributes of these creatures and identify strongly with their sigil. For example, Cersei says after Tywin’s death that “no one frightened her. She was the daughter of the Rock, a lion” (54). Likewise, Arya, when confronted with adversity in Braavos says, “I am a wolf, and will not be afraid” (107). Both appeal to the imagined strength of these apex predators to give them courage and to distinguish them from others.
At the same time, animals often symbolize the loss of identity in the novel. Reflecting on the atrocities at Saltpans, Jaime says, “This is a time for beasts […] for lions and wolves and angry dogs, for ravens and carrion crows” (512). War in Westeros, and the sectarian house loyalties underpinning it, have progressively stripped characters of their humanity and turned them into the very animals they fetishize. It has rendered them all on a deeper level as mere “beasts,” indistinguishable from one another. They are engaged in mindless and violent conflict, and because of this they will end up as food for crows.
Magic and Prophecy
Troubled by the childhood prophecy that she will be usurped by another and killed, Cersei asks Pycelle whether the citadel teaches that futures can be foretold. He answers that it is possible, alluding to spells in “old books.” However, he says the real question is “should our morrows be foretold?” (613)—to which he answers “no,” adding that “some doors are best left closed” (613). Unfortunately, this was not the reassurance Cersei wanted. If Pycelle is right, the dark prophecy about her future may well come true. But she also made a grievous mistake in asking for it in the first place. This is something she realizes on a subconscious level when in her dream she watches her past self. She says, “you little fools, never wake a sleeping sorceress” (609), as Cersei and her friends disturb the fortune teller. She realizes the folly of attempting to know something one was not meant to, and the damage this has had on her adult life.
As maester Marwyn says to Sam, “prophecy is like a treacherous woman” (774). It has a powerful attraction and excitement to it at first, but it will then consume and rob individuals of the agency to make their own futures. Yet this is precisely what Marwyn and others encourage on a societal level. They accept and spread the prophecy that a queen from overseas, Daenerys Targaryen, will return to save Westeros, and that she will do so with dragons. At the novel’s end, Marwyn sets out to find and advise Daenerys. He thus seems to make the same mistake as Cersei, of waking that which was meant to lie resting.
Acting, Singing, and Performance
When a priestess comes to tell Cersei that Margaery has been arrested by the High Sparrow on charges of adultery, she feigns outrage. She declares, in front of the court, “Tell me who is spreading such calumnies about my good-daughter! I do not believe a word of this” (729). This is despite the fact that Cersei planned the arrest. Thus, acting and performance are used in A Feast for Crows to disguise intentions and manipulate others. This is seen also in the case of Lord Baelish, who is perpetually acting and who encourages Sansa to do likewise.
However, while those in power are happy to use performance for their own deceptive ends, they are inevitably less pleased when it is used to reveal truth. This is seen in the case of a puppet show that becomes popular among commoners in King’s Landing. The show depicts a kingdom “ruled by a pride of haughty lions” (396). These lions “grow greedy and arrogant […] until they begin to devour their own subjects” (396), before a dragon hatches from an egg and devours them in turn. This is clearly a parable for Lannister misrule in Westeros and their anticipated deposing by a Targaryen restoration. Cersei’s response is predictably severe. Anyone found to have attended a puppet show is fined half of their wealth, and the puppeteers are executed. Similarly, Arya kills Dareon on the grounds that “the singer should be on the Wall” (580) or recruiting for the Night’s Watch, just as Wat is tortured. It is not merely that art in Westeros cannot be subversive. Rather, these murders suggest that any art not serving an instrumental, political purpose is also viewed as suspect and thus expendable.
Related Titles
By George R. R. Martin
