The Songbird and the Heart of Stone

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Parts 6-7

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Hunger

Throughout the novel, Carissa Broadbent references hunger often to symbolize the desires Mische suppresses out of loyalty to Atroxus. Ever since she was turned, Mische has been “Not living. Not dying. Starving for both” (185). While she claims this in a literal way—for vampires don’t truly live, nor do they die, and most who were born human yearn for their humanity forever afterward—it also has a wider meaning. Since she was turned, Mische’s life has been in stasis regarding her faith. Her abilities, bestowed by the sun god Atroxus, are at complete odds with her new vulnerabilities as a vampire. Sunlight kills vampires, and yet sunlight is the magic that has always given her purpose. Mische hungers for change, and while she at first hopes that such change includes being forgiven and reclaimed by Atroxus, she soon hungers for other things as her journey with Asar to the Underworld continues.

As Mische spends more time with Asar, an intimate connection forms between them—prompting genuine romantic feelings. As this attraction grows, Mische thinks “hungry” thoughts about him. This hunger symbolizes her desire to act on her feelings for Asar—an affront to Atroxus. This hunger manifests literally in the scene in Chapter 32, where Mische and Asar must feed from each other to regain strength. Mische views this as “the closest [she’d] ventured to breaking [her] vows” and notes that her “stomach was full, but [she] still felt so hungry. So sinfully selfish” (363).

Firefinch/Phoenix

Phoenixes, or firefinches, serve as motifs for The Dangers of Unquestioning Loyalty throughout the novel. When Mische first approaches Atroxus’s altar as a child of eight, she offers a gold feather from a firefinch. Atroxus claims: “Like the girl herself, the feather was not remarkable. It was small, a dull gold, bent and half-bare from weeks of the little girl’s absentminded grasp” (10). Through Atroxus comparing the feather to Mische, Broadbent makes the connection between Mische’s beloved birds and her own characterization that continues across the entire novel.

When Mische first sees the firefinches upon arriving at Atroxus’s Citadel, she finds comfort in watching them fly around the forest outside. However, they are viewed as an infestation and hunted down. This comes to foreshadow the losses she will suffer as a result of her time at the Citadel—the deaths of Eomin and Saescha, her own turning, and the loss of Atroxus’s favor.

Mische’s phoenix tattoo, which symbolizes her belonging to the Order of the Destined Dawn, begins “bright as the dawn it symbolized, glowing with Atroxus’s blessing” (37), but since becoming a vampire, every time Mische uses his magic, more of the tattoo is marred beneath the accumulating burn scars. The destroyed tattoo beneath the burn scars caused by accessing Atroxus’s magic implies the danger in remaining loyal to him.

Throughout the novel, Mische often sees firefinches in gold cages. These moments mirror the day she was outfitted in a gold dress and swore vows to Atroxus, solidifying her loyalty to and faith in him. These vows have become more like a gilded cage to her in recent years than they’d initially seemed.

Luce

Luce is the wolf-like dog that accompanies Asar and Mische through the Descent. She is a childhood pet of Asar’s until his brother Malach killed her. Asar eventually resurrected Luce once he became skilled in necromancy. The name “Luce” means “light,” connecting the dog symbolically to Mische, whose blessed power from Atroxus manifests as light and fire. Since becoming a vampire, however, even in moments when she cannot reach this power, Mische’s optimism and faith in the hearts of others acts as another source of light entirely.

Throughout the novel, Mische knows Asar is in danger when she hears Luce’s desperate barking or witnesses her frantic pacing. It is through Luce that Asar’s emotional state and well-being manifest even in moments when he himself isn’t around. When Mische first meets Luce, she thinks: “As a child, I’d prided myself on my ability to make dogs love me immediately. […] Maybe it was a sign of dog-starved desperation that I thought this one still looked a bit cute, skull face and all” (52). This admission, in addition to the connection Broadbent makes between Luce and Asar, hints that Luce (and Asar by extension) will come to love Mische.

When Mische is struck by Elias, Luce snarls, and Asar lashes out with his magic. Their twin reactions further suggest how similar they are and how they both feel toward Mische. In the flashback to Ophelia’s death, Mische witnesses Ophelia in Asar’s lap, “blue eyes staring unseeing to the ceiling. Just like Luce all those years ago, they didn’t leave much blood in her, either” (265). This suggests Asar’s fear of losing those he loves: What began with the loss of Luce continued with the loss of Ophelia, and might end with the loss of Mische.