The Leopard

The novel takes its name from the leopard that features on the Salina family’s coat of arms. As one of the foremost noble families in Sicily, the Salina name is famous throughout the island. The symbol of the leopard adorns the buildings and estates of the Salina family in an iconographic display of their wealth, power, and importance. In the broadest sense, the family sigil is a symbol of status. The choice of leopard implies a subtler symbolism, however, a symbolism that Prince Fabrizio acknowledges in his private thoughts. The leopard may represent the family on the coat of arms, but the Prince likes to compare himself to a leopard. To Fabrizio, the leopard is a powerful and graceful predator—a creature to be feared and respected, capable of great violence with a swipe of its mighty paw. For the large, imposing prince, this symbolism has meaning in his personal interactions. He may rarely resort to violence, but his mental comparisons with the leopard imply that he believes himself—like the big cat—to be a powerful and graceful enemy to anyone foolish enough to rouse his anger. Fabrizio imagines himself to be full of the graceful strength of his ancestors, a strength that is passed down in his status, his genetics, and his physical form and that is represented in the family’s coat of arms.