What is the effect of grief on the boys?

The Boys are the twin sons of Dad and Mum. They are young when their mother dies, but their exact age is not given. Throughout the course of the novella, they age and reflect back on their life with their dad and how he responded to losing their mother. The Boys narrate as one unit, but do I've perspective from one or the other. However, they are never individually identified. Originally they want their mother back, but as they age, they understand and grapple with their grief and how to cope with their father's grief as well.

The boys and Dad are all in a state of shock at the beginning of the novella. It is clear that they are coping with the sudden death in different ways but are connected through their interactions with Crow. Because the arrival of Crow is not likely a comforting image, it matches the unsettledness they all feel following the accident.

The way in which they cope with grief evolves throughout the story. It is clear that they are moving through the five stages of grief. Dad does not want to know how his wife died and avoids answering his sons when they ask, indicating denial. He yells obscenities as a way to express anger and is represented as a king lying to his sons about their mother to represent bargaining. He feels depression as he works on his book, and finally reaches acceptance when he and the boys spread her ashes.

As a symbol of grief, Crow symbolizes the slow and uncomfortable nature of the grieving process. While Dad seems to trust in Crow, he also seems aware that this is not normal behavior. Ultimately he does not want Crow to leave because Crow has been a comfort to him in some capacity. The boys understand that while Crow may have helped with their grief, it was not normal. The boys appear to have different opinions of Crow, with one shooting crows with an air rifle, to the other reassuring his wife that it was not weird for them to grow up with Crow. Because of the transient nature of birds, Crow becomes a symbol of how mourning will not last forever. While they all continue to grieve for the loss of Mum, they are able to move on with their lives and keep her memory as well.