No Great Mischief

As a recurring image, the moon is present in many of the most important scenes in the novel. So much so, in fact, that it is given a special Gaelic name: Lochran àigh nam bochd, “the lamp of the poor.” This phrase appears repeatedly throughout the novel and is also featured in several songs which the characters sing. The moon is a unifying and constant presence in the lives of the characters, its presence and its memory serving to remind them of the constant nature of family.

The first time the moon is mentioned, along with its Gaelic nickname, is when Alex is remembering his brothers’ life out in the cabin, all alone but for one another. They live a strange, ramshackle existence, which their lack of parents defines. But the moon, when it is at its brightest, provides them with sport and satiates their hunger. They use the light of the moon to sit in their bedroom and hunt deer with a rifle. The “lamp of the poor” shines down on them, providing them with sustenance in the form of both entertainment and food. Without their mother and father, the boys are still being watched over and cared for, giving the moon an almost supernatural quality.