Animal Symbolism In The Revenant

Animal symbolism is very prominent in The Revenant by Michael Punke. It is shown in the novel by portraying aspects of human characteristics through animals. Without explicitly indicating these representations, the animals illuminate specific aspects of certain characters’ psychological states and reveal more about the plot. Animal symbolism, therefore, works to further enhance our understanding of the tribulations that the characters have to go through and how they mentally process the situations that they face. The first example of this lies within the grizzly attack. While the vividness of the scene serves to engage the audience in one of the most important plot points of the story, it also serves as a foretelling of the upcoming struggle

At the beginning of the scene, Punke describes the pack of wolves moving “with a precision and unity of purpose that struck Glass as almost military” (Punke 100). This signifies that the pack is a symbol of the men in the Mountain Fur Trading Company that he was abandoned by. After the wolves ran after different buffalo, they came to a realization, “Most of the outliers broke for the main herd, realizing instinctively they their safety lay in numbers” (Punke 100). This relates back to the scene when Fitzgerald challenges William Anderson by belittling the grave of his brother. When he boldly makes a point to the other men that he thinks he is superior and does not value the motives of the company, Captain Henry points out to him that, whether or not he respects and wants to follow the captain, the only way to be successful is to work together. Henry makes a point later that he would do whatever it takes to tend to his men’s needs. This seems to be in accordance to his morals of honor as strength in numbers was very present in his reasoning and decision making. He felt obligated to do everything he could for his men, especially Glass because he believed they had a deep