Antagonist
The Crow
References:
Studies:
Symbolism of Crows Across Cultures:
Celtic and Germanic:
- War and Death
- Creation and Knowledge
Greek and Roman:
- Divine Messenger and Prophecy (the crow rivaled the owl)
Native American:
- Creator
- Hero
- Trickster
In Art:
- death darkness and desolation
- melancholy
- passage of time
- ineffable sadness of the world
- Edgar Allen Poe - "eternal mournful memory"
Chinese:
- Solar bird
- insight and vigilance
Japanese:
- filial gratitude and familial love
- divine messenger
- harbinger of good omens
- bearer of light and life
In my story, I wanted the crows to have multiple meanings. At first it seems like the crows are dark omens, bringing only death to the family and tricking them to grow a fruit only for their own gain. This incorporates the darker themes of crows told in old poetry; however, the twist will come when we see in the end that the crows brought the family out of poverty and reunited them again. The afterlife is a better place where there is no more suffering and they can be together forever. This incorporates the Japanese symbolism of crows representing familial love and bearers of light and life.
Alongside the cultural symbolism, I also wanted to include different meanings for the amount of crows. I based it off of an old rhyme about crows and magpies, but created my own version of it.
Original Lyrics:
Two for mirth,
Three for a wedding,
And four for death
Modern Lyrics:
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret,
Never to be told,
Eight for a wish,
Nine for a kiss
Ten for a bird
You must not miss.
My version for the story:
1 crow: death
2 crows: joy
3 crows: significant event
4 crows: celebration
I wanted the crow to look like a normal crow but have an ominous feel to it
Turnaround:
