What do lambs represent in the novel, Lapvona?

Lambs symbolize innocence and childhood in Lapvona. They are also closely tied to the vegetarian nature of Jude and Marek’s relationship, as the pair refuse to eat the lambs themselves and are terribly saddened to have to sacrifice them at the market. The affection that Jude shows the lambs he tends to in the opening section of the novel is symbolic of his fatherhood, and of his fragile love for Marek. The death of the lambs as a result of the drought, and concomitant with Marek’s departure to the manor, represents a loss of innocence and a segue into adulthood.