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Symbols
Imagery of angels and devils appears frequently in the novel, and many characters are associated with one or the other creature—though these associations often contradict their actual behavior. With their scales, claws, and leathery faces, Laín Coubert and Jacinta’s apparition Zacarías have the appearance and accessories of demonic creatures. However, while Zacarías predicts unpleasant truths and Coubert is disposed to violent revenge, neither are particularly evil. In fact, Jacinta comes to view Zacarías as a guardian spirit, and Coubert is revealed to be part of Julián Carax’s very human persona. Fumero, unequivocally the novel’s evilest character, is often aligned with death but never with the Devil.
Daniel and Carax frequently describe their respective love objects, Clara and Penélope, as angelic figures. Both are ethereal women who always appear dressed in white, but neither of them provides the spiritual support and guidance expected of angels. While Daniel idolizes Clara, she turns out to be a worldly woman, taking lovers and ultimately sinking into a bitter and very human middle age. On the other hand, Penélope is almost too angelic; she’s an unobtainable and distant spirit who warps Carax’s life long after her own death, while to Nuria she’s a cold and distressing image of otherworldly perfection. The Aldaya mansion is also filled with sinister references to angels. Its seemingly innocuous nickname, “The Angel of Mist,” is actually quite ominous considering the many tragedies and deaths that occur in the house. A door carved with angels obscures the cellar where Penélope’s body is hidden, and a statue of an “avenging angel” in the garden eventually spears Fumero and kills him.
Characters often believe in angels or attribute everyday misfortune to the Devil, and Zafón gently pokes fun at this religiosity, at one point describing a radio game show that asks ridiculous multiple-choice questions about the Devil’s appearance. It’s worth remembering that the Franco regime was highly religious, so any stabs at religion are an implicit attack on government conservatism. On another level, the idea of angels and devils interceding in ordinary life is so appealing because it’s evidence that events follow a divine, predetermined order. By juxtaposing angelic and demonic descriptions with actual character, Zafón undermines this idea and suggests that such an order cannot really exist, and humans are responsible for their own actions.
Angels and Devils Quotes in The Shadow of the Wind
The The Shadow of the Wind quotes below all refer to the symbol of Angels and Devils. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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City of Shadows: Chapter 16
Quotes
Sophie refused to reveal the identity of the child’s father…Antoni Fortuny decided that it must be the devil, for that child was the child of sin, and sin had only one father: the One. Convinced in this manner that it had sneaked into his home and also between his wife’s thighs, the hatter took to hanging crucifixes everywhere…
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The Shadow of the Wind: Chapter 4
Quotes
It was Laín Coubert, just as I’d learned to fear him reading the pages of a book, so many years ago…I saw how the hand of the angel pierced [Fumero’s] chest, spearing him, how the accursed soul was driven out like black vapor, falling like frozen tears over the mirror of water.
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Angels and Devils Symbol Timeline in The Shadow of the Wind
The timeline below shows where the symbol Angels and Devils appears in The Shadow of the Wind. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Days of Ashes: Chapter 2
...finds the collector seated next to a woman dressed in white who looks like an angel. Barceló begins to examine the book, telling Daniel that The Shadow of the Wind is...
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Days of Ashes: Chapter 5
...night and smoking a cigarette. In the novel, this man turns out to be the devil.
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An Empty Plate: Chapter 10
...at a generous price. Daniel notes that this is the name Carax gives to the devil in The Shadow of the Wind. The greedy son asked for more money, but instead...
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City of Shadows: Chapter 15
...that Carax used to tell her daughter he had a secret sister who lived with Satan at the bottom of a lake. The door to Carax’s room is locked, but Daniel...
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City of Shadows: Chapter 16
...father no matter how much he hit her. Fortuny decided the father must be the devil, because “sin had only one father,” Satan. To combat the supposed presence of the devil...
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City of Shadows: Chapter 24
...which is housed in a large Gothic building with a garden decorated with statues of angels. Although it’s decrepit today, San Gabriel’s used to be Barcelona’s most elite boys’ school before...
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City of Shadows: Chapter 27
...gate is open, and Daniel walks through the garden, noticing a statue of an avenging angel dumped unceremoniously in the empty fountain. Bea is waiting for him in the front hall...
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...how she was able to obtain the key. In fact, the house is nicknamed “The Angel of Mist” and was the Aldayas’ summer house, while their main house was in the...
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City of Shadows: Chapter 28
...they sit by the fire, Bea tells Daniel the history she has learned about The Angel of Mist. The house was built at the turn of the century for an eccentric...
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...he had seen in New York. He designed an extravagant garden with statues full of angels. He hired a team of architects, sent them to New York to study the designs...
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In 1922, Mr. Aldaya decided to sell The Angel of Mist, but was unable because of its bad reputation. After bankruptcy, the mansion passed...
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City of Shadows: Chapter 31
...nightmares due to a dangerous fever. A recurring figure in her dreams was Zacarías, an angel who smelled like sulfur. Zacarías accurately predicts deaths in her family, that Jacinta will never...
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...Mr. Aldaya was so angry that the servants said he was “possessed by all the devils in hell.” He summarily fired Jacinta, forcing her to leave the house where she had...
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City of Shadows: Chapter 34
In the afternoon, Daniel returns to The Angel of Mist as planned and arrives before Bea. But it’s very cold and soon he...
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...get dressed and hurry downstairs, but Daniel notices that a previously closed door, carved with angels, is ajar. He descends the staircase behind the door and finds a crypt containing Penélope’s...
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City of Shadows: Chapter 37
...show called With a Little Help from the Lord that asks multiple-choice questions about the devil.
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Nuria Monfort: Chapter 7
...he doesn’t appear, they start searching the places they think he will look, like The Angel of Mist and San Gabriel’s, where Father Fernando says that Fumero has come around threatening...
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Nuria Monfort: Chapter 8
In fact, Miquel returns to The Angel of Mist, having received a call from one of the neighboring caretakers that a man...
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Nuria Monfort: Chapter 10
...the end of the hall and knocks it down with great effort, revealing the carved angels on the original door. He goes into the cellar, and finally sees Penélope’s marble tomb...
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The Shadow of the Wind: Chapter 4
...[Carax’s] place,” attacks Fumero and throws him into the fountain, where the hand of the angel statue impales him through the chest.
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