56 pages • 1 hour read
Maggie StiefvaterThe Raven Boys
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2012A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Ley Line
The ley line is central to the conflicts and relationships in The Raven Boys. On its own, the ley line represents the magic of the story world and its link to Welsh mythology and Glendower. Many of the book’s most magical occurrences take place somewhere on the ley line, including Blue seeing Gansey’s spirit, and the magical forest with the rotting vision tree draws from the ley line’s power to alter time and the seasons. The forest also lets those within its borders change it just by thinking, which Gansey does when he thinks about a particular kind of fish that suddenly appears in the forest’s stream. Altogether, these occurrences offer a glimpse into what ley lines are capable of and what kind of power they could give the one who wakes them. The ley line feeds into The Delicate Balance of Power and the types of corruption that influence people to seek power over forces they aren’t meant to possess.
The ley line means something different to each character. For Whelk and Adam, the ley line is a chance to better their situation, though Whelk does so out of angry desperation, and Adam does so out of a jealous desire to be more than he is. To Gansey, the ley line is a way to justify his existence, as he feels he owes his life to it after he was spared from death by just happening to be on the ley line when Noah died. The ley line tethers Noah’s spirit to reality, acting as a literal lifeline, and to Blue, the ley line represents the wonder of magic she doesn’t know she has. She believes she doesn’t care about magic because she grew up surrounded by those who use it, but when the opportunity arises for her to see magic for herself, she takes it, showing the difference between understanding something and experiencing it.
Ravens
Ravens symbolize different things throughout The Raven Boys. The Aglionby mascot is the raven, which foreshadows the boys’ link to Glendower and the ley line. From this initial link, ravens become a central tenet of how the boys experience magic. Ronan pulls Chainsaw, his baby raven, from his dreams. It’s never made clear why Ronan brought a raven to life, but the reason matters less than Chainsaw’s effect on Ronan. The bird smooths Ronan’s sharpness and shows the dueling parts of Ronan’s personality—angry brawler and gentle caretaker. These two pieces are two sides of the same coin, symbolizing Ronan’s protective nature. Chainsaw symbolizes how there is more than one way to do something and how Ronan is just as effective at keeping the bird safe with gentleness as he is when he fights Adam’s father to protect Adam.
In Chapter 23, when the group flies over the ley line, they see an outline of a raven built into the structure of the land. On the ground, they realize the magical wood of the ley line is within the raven’s outline, and this links ravens to magic. Gansey continuously says ravens were associated with Glendower; however, there is no evidence in Welsh myth to support this connection. Rather, the god Bran in Welsh myth has a link to ravens, and Maggie Stiefvater shifted this link to Glendower to maintain raven symbolism in the novel.
Aglionby Academy
Aglionby Academy is one of the main settings of the book, but its significance in the story has more to do with what it represents to the characters and less to do with what happens while the boys are on campus. The name Aglionby comes from a town in Cumberland, England, and it is a combination of the French words “aglion” (meaning eaglet) and “by” (a residence), meaning the name itself refers to an eagle’s nest. Eagles are known as the king of the birds, and the name Aglionby for the school refers to the status of the students who attend. Though not royalty, most of the boys come from rich families and stand to inherit great power, making them rulers of a sort. The school is where they gather together to be nurtured to their full potential, much like baby birds are in a nest.
Aglionby Academy means something different to Gansey, Ronan, and Adam. For Gansey, the school is both a certainty and a choice. As the son of wealthy parents, it is expected that Gansey will attend a high-level private school to give him an edge to get into an Ivy League college and maintain the power his family commands. After attending several schools, Gansey settled on Aglionby because his research indicated it was close to a ley line and Glendower. While Gansey chose Aglionby, he chose it from an array of similar schools that his parents deemed acceptable, meaning the choice was only partly his. For Ronan, Aglionby is a nuisance. Ronan only attends the school out of a need to graduate from high school so he can access his trust money. Aside from Latin, he finds little value in his classes, and he frequently gets in trouble, factors that nearly lead to his expulsion. To Adam, the academy is a chance. Unlike the other boys who attend Aglionby, Adam is not wealthy and gained entry based on merit alone. Graduating from Aglionby will allow Adam to attend a good college and leave his abusive situation behind, and he is dedicated to staying at the top of his class to prove he is worth the school’s time. For these three, as well as Blue and Noah, Aglionby is the thing that links them, representing the bonds that school can create between students and those in the community.
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By Maggie Stiefvater
