Importance of light

Light is used as a symbol of clarity and a symbol of guidance that delivers the characters in the novel from confusion into a clear and transparent environment. When characters in the novel come into contact with light it is often when the light disperses the darkness and something becomes available to them. Light is also the light of God and salvation and it is constantly mentioned in reference to Will who always seeks to guide his flock to the light. At the same time, light has a paradoxical appearance because it is often when things are discovered that brings unease. For example, in the prologue the unnamed man drowns in the darkness of the Essex waters but his body is discovered in the light thus starting the whole Essex serpent myth. Light exposes the things people do not want to see. Similarly, Joanna and her friends do their pagan rituals by moonlight at Leviathan, and when Cracknell and Cora are in the church he tells her that the serpent works by daylight as well as moonlight.