Exile

While Silveny’s care represents a motif in the story, Silveny herself symbolizes hope. Her discovery means that a precious species can be preserved, which for the elves is important not in the abstract but for their world’s stability. Silveny’s reception by the Council at the beginning of the novel and the elvin community at the end affirms her importance. The elves understand that the timeline to extinction has been reset, which fills them with hope for a better future.

The first clue that Sophie receives from the Black Swan is the compass charm, which she finds on the tree planted when she was presumed dead during her kidnapping. This ties her first clue to one of the later ones, to “face her fears”: The tree connects to Sophie’s kidnapping, which happened in a cave, where she finds the final clue to “follow the pretty bird across the sky.” The bird is the Black Swan.

All the pieces are connected, and they lead to the Black Swan. The compass symbolizes that Sophie must stay focused on going in the right direction. She won’t get all the answers she wants when she wants them, but if she follows the right path, she’ll get where she needs to go at the proper moment.