Fable

The Lark serves as a symbol illustrating the perils of attachment and the need for belonging. Fable spends the first 14 years of her life aboard her parents’ ship, which she cherishes as “the only home [she’d] ever known” (152). The Lark’s wreck demonstrates the perils of attachment in this dangerous maritime world because the protagonist loses her home, her family, and her entire way of life as she knows it in one storm. During her years on Jeval, Fable’s only source of belonging is her memories of the ship, and her frequent mentions of the Lark in her narration emphasize her isolation.

The Lark also operates as a symbol of familial legacy. Saint gives the sunken ship and the fortune in its cargo hold to his daughter as her inheritance: “There was enough coin and gems there to do whatever I wanted. After four years of scraping every single day, I would want for nothing” (194). Further developing the theme, Fable has to utilize skills she inherits from both of her parents to retrieve the treasure, such as her mother’s training as a dredger and gem sage and her father’s ability to navigate Tempest Snare.