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The Red Room
Charles Kingshaw is terrified of crows: at one point, he’s attacked by a large crow, and later, Edmund Hooper leaves a large stuffed crow in his bed, frightening him to the point where he can barely move. Traditionally, crows are associated with the English countryside, so Charles’s fear of crows could symbolize his anxiety at having to abandon his old home and live at Warings. More generally, birds symbolize the constant sense of fear and anxiety that Charles feels during his time at Warings.
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Crows Symbol Timeline in I’m the King of the Castle
The timeline below shows where the symbol Crows appears in I’m the King of the Castle. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
Charles walks through the field while, high over his head, crows circle. The crows are large, and Charles can see that their mouths are bright red....
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...“You were scared. You were running away.” He mocks Charles for being frightened of a crow, and Charles bites his wrist. Edmund recoils, but then becomes calm again. He smiles and...
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...glances at the clock, and suddenly sees something on his bed. It’s an old, stuffed crow. Charles forces himself not to scream. He knows Edmund wants him to be afraid. He...
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Edmund returns the crow to the attic. He knows that Charles must have woken up and seen the crow...
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Chapter 4
...him lately. In spite of himself, he respects Charles for not screaming at the stuffed crow.
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Chapter 5
...he walks through the fields. He remembers walking here before and being menaced by the crow. But he continues walking.
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Chapter 13
...a huge, winged creature swoops down on him. He turns and sees a pack of crows, puppets, and ambulance men chasing him. He wakes up in the middle of the night,...
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