Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
The Eyes Always Have It
Is there a young-adult book that doesn't focus on eyes as a symbol of a person's inner beauty and mystery? We've read about Edward Cullen's color-changing eyes, Lena Duchennes sparkling green orbs, and now Sam's yellow eyes which are “beautiful and sad” (25.49).
Sam and the other wolves' eyes have an additional layer of meaning, though, because they're the only human feature a person gets to keep after shifting to a wolf. Without this trait, Grace would never have recognized Sam in his wolf form. Knowing this fact, it makes Isabel's father's taxidermy practice seem all the abhorrent. Sam notes about a stuffed wolf on the wall that “the eyes had long since been gouged out in favor of a pair of glass ones” (22.20). That wolf has had all the life taken from it, and now is nothing but a trophy.