55 pages • 1 hour read
Stephanie GarberLegendary
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2018A 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
The Aracle Card
Tella carries the Aracle card with her wherever she goes. Since childhood, when she drew the card from her mother’s Deck of Destiny and saw how “the edges were covered in ornate swirls of molten gold, and the center was like a mirror,” Tella has carried a Fate in her hands (4). The card challenges Tella’s ability to distinguish between reality and illusion by portraying the futures it wants her to see. Because the Aracle card that Tella carries is the true Aracle, containing an actual Fate, its prophecies are impossible to avoid. Like Nigel the fortune-teller, the imprisoned Fate can manipulate others, encouraging them to work toward specific futures that it wants to create.
Garber uses the Aracle card to represent the self-fulfilling nature of fate. As Tella learns more about the influence of the Fates on her life, she questions the prophecies of the Aracle. As the narrative states, “For years Tella had trusted the Aracle without question. But if the real Aracle was trapped inside this card, wouldn’t it show Tella whatever it needed to so that she would help it escape?” (319). The mirror imagery combines with Tella’s revelation that the Fate may be manipulating what she sees, and this dynamic implies that individual perception and desire influence desired outcomes and actions. Garber uses the Aracle as a warning about the dangers of blindly following others’ advice without considering their end goal.
Cages and Prisons
Cages and prisons appear several times throughout the novel. Tella first observes cages when she attends Idyllwild Castle. She tells Dante, “I’m just not fond of cages [...] and this places looks like one giant dungeon” (111). Garber regularly uses strong imagery related to cages to symbolize the ways in which Tella feels trapped by events and people. Whenever cages appear, they foreshadow the approach of key characters who will try to trap Tella in their schemes or impose their desires on her.
Cages also act as a motif for The Tension Between Free Will and Fate. Although Tella acts aloof, one of her greatest fears is being trapped in cages or prisons or being threatened by death. Symbolically, what Tella fears is the removal of her free will. She thrives on her independence, yet despite her penchant for adventure, she becomes ensnared by fate when she reveals her future using her mother’s Deck of Destiny. As the narrative progresses, Tella fights to break free of a variety of literal and metaphorical cages, including refusing to die when the Fates accost her and when she feels Death’s cold grip. Her ultimate goal is to maintain her free will. Whenever she enters cages, such as when Jacks escorts her to the caged dance floor at the ball, such acts symbolize moments when she loses her free will, whether intentionally or involuntarily.
The Opal Ring
The opal ring, a cherished item from her mother’s jewelry box, holds a special place in Tella’s heart. Although she is of its true significance, she values the ring because her mother treasured it. For Paradise, the ring is a strong reminder of her past actions and her determination to seal the Fates away forever. The ring, which has been tarnished by an unpaid debt, becomes pure again after Dante uncovers its true purpose and makes another unknown sacrifice for Tella.
In each situation when the ring appears, it symbolizes a moment when sacrifices must occur. Paradise’s original sacrifices become Dante’s when he takes on the burden of the ring’s symbolic significance. When Dante makes an unknown sacrifice so that Tella can enter the vault in Temple of the Stars, this choice foreshadows the sacrifice he will make to free her from the prison she willingly places herself in—the card that imprisons her mother. Although Garber does not explain Dante’s reasons for protecting Tella, as he does not believe himself a hero, the opal ring’s temporary purity reflects Dante’s temporary pure intentions. In this moment, he acts selflessly and embodies Paradise’s sacrifice to protect the world, though he later sacrifices the welfare of the world to safeguard Tella from the consequences of her choice to take her mother’s place in the imprisoning card.
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By Stephanie Garber
