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.
Themes
Appearances Aren’t Always What They Seem
Much of The Raven Boys focuses on showing how appearances don’t always tell the true story about someone. What is seen on the surface can be very different from the reality of a person’s life. Through the four boys and Blue’s realizing they aren’t so different from her, the novel explores how what we see isn’t always what we get.
The raven boys demonstrate how appearing put-together doesn’t equate to a perfect life. Specifically, Gansey and Adam outwardly seem to have everything under control, but in reality, both struggle with knowing what’s best. Gansey comes from the quintessential Aglionby home—his father is a politician, and his family is rich beyond measure. However, ever since he nearly died from the hornet attack years ago, Gansey has felt like his wealth means nothing unless he does something meaningful with it. As a result, he feels adrift and wonders if searching for Glendower is worthwhile or just something he does to deal with the guilt he carries for not realizing how much his privilege afforded him until he nearly died. Gansey tries to understand what it’s like to be without such privilege but struggles to do so, and as a result, he comes off as the stereotypically arrogant Aglionby boy when he is anything but.
By contrast, Adam’s presence at Aglionby makes him look like a rags-to-riches story come true, but in reality, his ability to attend the school comes down to hard work and a dogged determination not to accept the lot life has dealt him thus far. The truth of Adam’s situation doesn’t match the image of an Aglionby student, but even more, Adam’s image of himself doesn’t match the person he thinks he is. While Adam appears to work hard because he doesn’t accept his father’s abuse, he also doesn’t leave his abusive situation, calling into question whether he truly believes he’s doing everything possible to free himself. For Adam and Gansey, the polished veneers they show the world represent how strife can hide just beneath the surface.
The Aglionby boys also symbolize how more accurate outward appearances still don’t mean we know what’s going on behind the scenes. Where Gansey and Adam strive to look polished, Ronan and Noah let more of their true selves shine in their appearances. Ronan has always been a bad boy, but ever since his father’s death, he has taken this to an extreme by letting his surly demeanor rise to match his shaven head and tattoos. Ronan hides behind anger and a distrustful nature so he doesn’t show the self-loathing and fear that rule his mind. His outward appearance matches the bad-boy nature of his Aglionby personality, but it opposes the gentle part of him that can care for and be calmed by a baby raven. Ronan’s appearance closely matches who he is but still hides much. Noah hides his ghostly nature to a point, covering up his sudden disappearances and the fact he doesn’t eat with excuses. Toward the novel’s end, Noah claims his dead self is much like who he was in life, meaning that the appearance he shows the group isn’t far from the truth. Thus, Noah’s excuses are a shroud for the parts of himself that don’t match what his outward appearance shows. Together, Ronan and Noah represent how appearances are not an all-or-nothing thing—they may show our true selves at some times but not others.
Though outward appearances aren’t always accurate, we often use them to determine whether or not someone is like us. Blue begins the book disliking all Aglionby boys because her admittedly limited experience has taught her that they are arrogant and annoying, with no exceptions. In Chapter 16, when Gansey, Adam, and Ronan show up for the reading, Gansey and Adam have a silent conversation using only looks, which surprises Blue because, while she’s seen such a thing between her mother, Persephone, and Calla, “she hadn’t thought anyone else really capable of it” (150). This is the first moment where Blue realizes that Aglionby boys are individuals and are not completely different from her and her family. The boys’ appearances are deceiving, but Blue quickly realizes that attending Aglionby does not mean someone has a perfect life and is, thus, made arrogant from such a life. As the story progresses, she comes to understand that the boys sometimes reflect the Aglionby reputation, much like how Ronan and Noah’s outward appearances sometimes match who they are, but more often, they are just teenagers doing their best to navigate the world, just like her. Blue’s character arc teaches us that appearances are not a marker of who someone is.
Finding Where We Belong
The characters of The Raven Boys struggle to find where they fit, which is made more difficult by their similar struggles to find who they are. When put together, belonging becomes a unique challenge. Through Blue’s coming to terms with being different and where that difference leads her and uniting with the boys, the novel explores the journey toward belonging.
Blue’s character arc symbolizes how being born somewhere doesn’t mean that’s where we belong. In Chapter 14, when Blue’s family sits down to do a reading, the other women sit together, and “Blue was, as always, just a little apart” (127). As the only ungifted person in a family of clairvoyants, Blue has always felt separate and, in some ways, alone. Though she knows her family loves her, their love can’t make up for Blue missing out on something they all share. At the beginning of the book, Blue tries to convince herself she doesn’t care about prophecies (especially the one about her kiss) or magic, but once she sees Gansey’s ghost at the church, she realizes just how much she wants to be part of everything her family does. Since she can’t become clairvoyant and experience what they do, she stops trying to do so and instead seeks belonging among the Aglionby boys, with whom she shares a wonder and a desire to know more. Blue feels more like she belongs with the boys than she did with her family.
For Blue and the boys, their differences keep them from easily finding where they fit in the world. Until Blue realizes she can seek magic in a different way than her family, she is trapped in the belief that not being clairvoyant limits her. Similarly, Gansey, Adam, and Ronan each feel separated from their families and cannot find themselves until they find each other. Gansey used to live absorbed in his privilege, but his near-death experience separated him from that carefree lifestyle and made him feel like he needed to use his privilege to make a meaningful contribution to the world. As a result, he no longer feels comfortable surrounded by his family’s opulent lifestyle, so he’s spent his teen years traveling and trying to find where he belongs, finally settling at Aglionby and the friends he makes there.
Similarly, Ronan used to let his wealth make him wasteful and uncaring, but since his father’s death and the realization he can dream things into reality, Ronan has felt the crushing weight of secrecy and responsibility. He does not overcome these things by the end of the book, but his character growth and acceptance of Blue show that finding the right people can help a person start a journey toward belonging and acceptance. Like Ronan, Adam doesn’t find true belonging by the end of the book. He purposefully keeps himself separate from the rest of the group because he wants to find belonging on his own terms and not be forced into it by Gansey’s ability to buy and collect whatever he wants. As a result, Adam ends the book feeling adrift. Together, the boys represent the importance of letting ourselves belong somewhere.
Finding where we belong allows us to be our true selves. This is most keenly seen through Blue, who changes the most after she lets go of her old ideas about belonging. Rather than trying to force herself to be something and someone she’s not, she stops trying to be who her family wants her to be and allows herself to be an individual within the boys’ group. In doing so, she mends the relationship with her family, tattered by years of Blue’s resenting them for her differences. The boys don’t fall into place as Blue does by the end of the book, but the changes they exhibit show they are becoming more true versions of who they are. Gansey tries to force belonging, though he doesn’t realize it. He wants Adam to leave his abusive home life because he cares about Adam and because it would complete his collection of friends. When Adam does move into Gansey’s apartment following the confrontation with his father, it isn’t a situation Gansey wants, and he starts to understand that he doesn’t need to force people to accept him when Adam again moves out while remaining a friend. Neither Ronan nor Adam find their true selves by the end of the book. Ronan reveals his connection to the supernatural, showing he trusts the group more than he did before and opening him up to belonging. Similarly, Adam’s sacrifice in the pentagram shows that, despite the issues he’s had with the group in the past, he is willing to do anything to protect them, a step toward belonging. Together, Blue and the boys demonstrate that belonging is a state of mind rather than a simple matter of finding the right place or people.
The Delicate Balance of Power
Throughout The Raven Boys, the characters grapple with how different types of power have holds on their lives. Whether supernatural or otherwise, power influences them to make choices and take actions they may not otherwise take. Through Adam’s situation, Blue’s boosting ability, and Neeve’s and Whelk’s relationships to the ley line, the novel explores how power shapes us.
Power can be an oppressive force. For his entire life, Adam has struggled to get out from under his abusive father. Attending Aglionby Academy has allowed Adam to gain a measure of freedom, and once he tastes the power that freedom gives him, he doesn’t want to give it up. However, as freeing as power is, that freedom also comes with the price of working to maintain it, which is an all-or-nothing situation for Adam. In Chapter 15, when Gansey says he could pay Adam’s way if he left home, Adam refuses because he wants to be his own person, and “if I let you cover for me, then I’m yours” (139). In his current situation, Adam is oppressed by the power his father holds over him, and he refuses to give into Gansey’s offer because he’ll then be oppressed by whatever power Gansey would hold over him—meaning he’d just be trading one kind of oppression for another. In this way, the power of freedom also oppresses Adam because he is so desperate to keep it that he’ll do anything, including subjecting himself to harm. Adam’s character arc shows that, no matter the situation, some force has power over us.
More power is not always better. Though Blue lacks clairvoyant abilities, her boosting ability allows her to strengthen any magic in use around her. While she holds no power on her own, her gift allows her to help others in a way they can’t help themselves, showing how Blue’s lack of power actually makes her powerful. Her boosting ability also contributes to how she feels separate from her family and eventually finds her place among the boys. With her family, she is seen as the booster—only called to be part of what’s happening when her unique skill is required. With the boys, her boosting ability is useful and complements her knowledge of the supernatural, and together, these things make her a powerful force, both as a booster and a critical member of the group. However, whether for her family or the boys, her boost can overwhelm magic in use, causing it to have unforeseen, potentially harmful effects. These examples show how more power can be useful when controlled but how letting power run rampant can do more harm than good.
Power also corrupts, and this corruption eats away at those who are affected. Whelk and Neeve seek the ley line’s power for their own personal gain. Whelk initially contacted Neeve to enlist her aid in waking the ley line, as he was unwilling to try again after the previous failure when he sacrificed Noah. Whelk wants the ley line’s power so he can have his privileged life back. He believes power begets power, not realizing that mucking with forces like the ley line may have undesired effects. He is too corrupted by the power he desperately wants back to consider what the ley line can do. Neeve also seeks the ley line’s power, though her reasons are never made clear. The arrangement of magical items in Neeve’s room and the ritual Blue interrupts in Chapter 18 hint that Neeve seeks the strength of a dark entity to gain more power and supplement what she already holds. Neeve’s character arc represents what happens when the power someone has no longer feels like it’s enough and the lengths a person will go to gain the power they believe they deserve. Together, Whelk and Neeve show the different ways power corrupts by making unattainable goals feel in reach.
Power gives us the ability to have more control over our lives and our worlds, but if we don’t maintain reasonable expectations of what we can do, it is easy for power to corrupt us into thinking more will fix everything. Adam and Blue see the consequences of too much power and work to find balance, but Neeve and Whelk don’t care about the negative effects of too much power, which leads to their downfalls.
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