Motif: Black
The color black plays a prominent role in the story; it is a motif symbolizing darkness, death, and black magic. Skellig wears a black suit, which blends in with the darkness that surrounds him in the garage, indicating that Skellig does not want to be found. It also indicates that he has dark powers that deal with death. Dr. MacNabola wears a black coat at the hospital, which is something the reader would not expect from a doctor (however, he mocks his patients, so a white coat representing purity and innocence would be inappropriate). However, blackness is not always to be feared. The garage and the abandoned house are dark, but in the latter, Skellig is nurtured back to health and the owls feed their young. Darkness provides cover and safety.
Symbol: Arthritis
Michael gets to know arthritis when Skellig tells him that most of him is Arthur Itis, which means that Skellig is almost completely taken by the disease. Michael then talks to a patient and a doctor at the hospital. He learns that arthritis is a painful condition that causes the joints to stiffen. Mina tells him that the immobilization of the joints also causes the mind to become hard as bone, a process known as ossification. Skellig's arthritis is, therefore, a symbol for him having given up on life. His mind has also hardened, as he does not want to talk to Michael in the beginning. Only after Michael and Mina have given him cod-liver oil capsules for the joints, aspirin for the pain, and love for the heart does he recover slowly and start talking more.
Symbol: Owls
The owls symbolize caring and nurturing, as they feed Skellig in Mina's abandoned house and consider him one of their own. Michael imitates the owls' hooting and teaches Mina how to use her hands to hoot as well. Mina and Michael, therefore, share a special connection with the owls, with Skellig, and with each other. Like the owls, they both care for each other and for Skellig. Moreover, the owls symbolize secrets and mystery, and, again, their behavior is similar to the children's actions. Like Mina and Michael looking after Skellig at night when nobody sees them going to the abandoned house, the owls are active at night to feed their young. Finally, owls also symbolize wisdom, which is appropriate given Michael's coming of age through the novel's pages.
Symbol: Birds
Mina is drawn to birds. She constantly observes them carefully, draws them, and models them. The birds are a symbol of freedom, which shows that she desires nothing more than the freedom of her mind. Michael, on the other hand, only looks at the birds more closely when Mina asks him about the color of a blackbird, which shows that until then, Michael did not feel the desire to let his thoughts flow freely. The birds are also a symbol of evolution. Mina shows Michael a picture of the Archaeopteryx, the earliest fossil of a bird, and explains how the body and bone structure have changed to enable birds to fly freely.
Symbol: Pomegranate
The pomegranate is commonly regarded as a symbol of life and fertility. When Michael is at Mina's house, waiting for his dad to tell him whether his sister has survived the surgery, Mina's mother cuts up a pomegranate. Michael gets to know the story of Persephone, who has to stay in the underworld after eating pomegranate seeds but eventually returns to Earth, bringing spring and (by extension) life. This foreshadows the positive outcome of the surgery: Eventually, Michael's sister lives.
