Celestial Orbs

Throughout the novel, O’Donnell employs celestial orbs as a motif to support his thematic consideration of creativity. When Eustace is speaking with John and Abel Crouch, about their plans to keep Mr. Crow and Clara safe, he tells them “to keep the sun and the moon fixed in [their] thoughts” (110). The author parallels Mr. Crowe and Clara, the muses, to the celestial bodies, that light the sky throughout the day and night, in order to assert that creativity illuminates and guides human life. In the same manner that the sun and the moon cast light on the earth, enable growth, and the movements of the tides, creativity casts proverbial light on the struggles of man and helps individuals to grow, develop, and defy their immediate realities.

After the dinner party, in Chapter 12, the extinguishing of the candles in the sun and moon candlesticks symbolizes...