42 pages • 1 hour read
The Buried Giant
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Symbols & Motifs
The “Dark Widows”
The “dark widows,” as Gawain calls them, represent the loss of important memories of a loved one. They also represent the inability to accept the death of a loved one. For these reasons, the widows roam, tormented, in the novel. Because they do not have the fullness of memory, they cannot accept the passing on of a loved one—they need them nearby to remember them and their love.
The Candle
Beatrice mourns the loss of the candle she and Axl once used to light up their chamber in their village. She stubbornly refuses to give up the one offered to her by a young girl. In her village, the leaders take the candles from the elderly. Candles, then, represent memory itself. The youth in her village do not understand the value of such of thing, particularly to someone so old. Beatrice fears that without a candle there is no hope of retrieving the memory of their son, or the memory of her love for both him and Axl. The final scene in the novel, too, with the large fire burning around her, suggests that the light is finally given back to her, and she can move on in peace with her memories returned.
The Goat
The poisonous goat that Axl and Beatrice bring up the mountain to kill Querig serves as a counterpoint to Edwin in the novel, who is also tied up with a rope. Each of them, Edwin and the goat, bring about the murder of Querig, though neither of them understands how or why. The goat, then, represents the unknowing role the innocent sometimes play in missions of others.
The Mysterious Island
The island is an image of the afterlife. Only those truly in love are allowed to unite there. The boatman and the journey across the water are an allusion to Charon, who ferries the dead across the River Styx in Greek mythology.
The Mist
The mist is what most blame for the loss of memory, but it remains a hollow motive for many of the characters in the novel. The mist represents the slow and unknowing loss of memory, loss of self, and loss of love. Like a drug, some people in the novel cling to it as a way of maintaining an empty happiness.
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By Kazuo Ishiguro
