Importance of the maimed hyena daemon.

Gerard Bonneville's maimed hyena daemon symbolizes Gerard's own internal damage. On the surface, Gerard seems like a nice enough man at first, chatting nicely with patrons at the Trout Inn and winking happily at Malcolm. However, his hyena daemon, like for all people, is partly a manifestation of his own soul. Thus the state of his daemon and the hyena's despicable actions reflect how deranged Gerard himself is, as the reader later learns.