The Leopard

The leopard is the insignia of the Prince and his family, appearing in both fact (as paintings, monograms, carvings in walls and over doors) and in narration (as the animal to which the Prince, and at times Tancredi, is metaphorically likened). Interestingly, the narrative offers no explanation as to why the leopard was adopted by the Salina family as their emblem. It might be that the symbolic value can be found by referring to the proverbial question of whether the leopard can change its spots (see "Themes - The Inevitable Process of Change").

The Stars

The stars are, for the Prince, a symbol of that which doesn't change, of the predictable and consistent. As such they are, for both him and for the reader, a constant by which the process of transformation undergone by the Prince, the people around him, and the world in which they...