Poppy

Ragweed acquired his earring in the first chronological installment of the series, Ragweed. In that novel, it was a symbol of exploration, adventure, and Ragweed’s personal change into a new kind of mouse. In this novel, the earring is a symbol of everything Ragweed stands for: open-mindedness, a questioning nature, and boldness. After Mr. Ocax eats Ragweed, Poppy retrieves his earring and wears it on her ear. It becomes a symbol of courage for her, giving her strength in times of doubt. 

In Chapters 1 and 2, Ragweed’s earring makes him stand out from the rest of the mice. No other mouse wears “human” accessories like he does, and it immediately imbues him with unconventionality, befitting his role in the mouse clan. It complements his free-thinking ways and questioning of authority, most importantly Mr. Ocax’s. This establishes the earring as a symbol of these important traits, traits which drive Poppy to important discoveries and inform her development as a hero in the novel. 

Poppy affixes Ragweed’s earring to her ear before setting off on her adventure, and it recurs at significant moments as a reminder of strength for her. In Chapter 9, when Poppy doubts herself and thinks of returning home, “a breeze fluttered Ragweed’s earring. The tickle it brought reminded Poppy of the reasons for her mission” (69). Similarly, it protects Poppy from Mr. Ocax at the climax of the novel in Chapter 18, when the disturbance in the air from Mr. Ocax’s sudden flight tickles Poppy’s ear against the earring, warning her of the owl’s descent (130). Its role of protection, both from Poppy’s internal self-doubts and the antagonistic forces of Mr. Ocax, mark the earring as a symbol of courage, transforming it into a kind of talisman that supports Poppy during her heroic development in the novel. 

At the end of the novel, Poppy affixes Ragweed’s earring to the hazelnut tree sapling on Bannock Hill, where it shines brightly above them as they dance. The hazelnut tree—itself a symbol of freedom of the sort Ragweed believed in—supports the symbolism of the earring. Just as the earring symbolizes free-thinking and courage and acts as a kind of guardian for Poppy’s journey, at the end of the novel it watches over the mouse clan and symbolizes the freedom they have achieved.

When Ereth parts ways with Poppy in Chapter 15, he leaves behind a tail quill, which Poppy takes up and brandishes “like a sword” (114). Ereth’s departure, which leaves Poppy alone at New House, signals Poppy’s approach to the climax and confrontation with Mr. Ocax.

The symbol of the quill as a “sword” suggests that Poppy is about to come into her own as a hero. At this point in the novel, Poppy is still struggling with her fear and timidity, while Ereth is quite secure in his knowledge of Mr. Ocax’s true fears and encourages Poppy to see past it. His quills (and Ereth himself) become a symbol of this ultimate growth—growth away from fear and seeing through it as a tool of control. When Poppy picks up the quill in Chapter 15, it foreshadows this growth for her; when she uses it to defeat Mr. Ocax in Chapter 18, the quill becomes the symbol of her heroism and courage as she uses it to triumph over the antagonist.

The feather Poppy collects from Mr. Ocax’s corpse in Chapter 19 following their battle is a symbol of her victory. It is like the archetypal “elixir” of the conventional hero’s journey: a physical representation of the hero’s achievement of the object of her quest. Poppy returns to her family in Chapter 19 with the feather “held aloft for all to see” (145) to show the mice that Mr. Ocax has been defeated, transforming the tail feather into a symbol of the completed objective of Poppy’s hero quest.