62 pages • 2 hours read
Sarah J. MaasHouse of Earth and Blood
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Hierarchies
Although the novel never explicitly mentions the parallel, the social structure of Midgard resembles the Roman Empire. The use of Latin terms and the prevalence of slavery both evoke a repressive civilization intent on maintaining the status quo. Hierarchies serve to stratify the population and keep people in their assigned roles for life. The top stratum is occupied by the Asteri, semi-divine beings who rule from a distance but have the power to annihilate anyone who steps out of line. Because they are essentially eternal, their very existence seems to reify the permanence of their regime, which has already lasted for 15,000 years.
The Vanir cannot claim the same immortality at the Asteri, but they try to enforce a lesser right to rule through their magical power and their bloodlines. The hierarchy of magic is demonstrated by the ritual of the Drop. Those who survive the ordeal are rated for their magical powers. Individuals who show the greatest abilities receive the greatest respect from their peers. The Autumn King is envious that his son inherited the Starborn gift when he did not. He is even more concerned when Bryce’s magic registers higher than his own after her Drop. The magical hierarchy has political implications. Those with the greatest magic tend to hold the highest social positions in Midgard society.
Aside from magical stratification, bloodlines also count since the Vanir are not fully immortal. Bryce experiences the prejudice directed at half-breeds. She is treated as a second-class citizen because her mother was human, and humans are considered little more than animals or slaves to the Vanir. When she exhibits the magical powers of a full-blooded Fae, this disrupts the accepted notions about power and privilege.
Alphaholes
The individuals most inclined to assert the hierarchies of Midgard are those who derive the greatest benefit from stratification. These are the alpha males, and they come from many walks of Vanir society. Bryce is particularly annoyed by these men because they seek to control her life. She feels herself surrounded by them and collectively refers to the lot as alphaholes. She wryly describes them as such:
‘Alphahole. Possessive and aggressive.’ She waved a hand at his bare torso. ‘You know—you males who rip your shirt off at the slightest provocation, who know how to kill people in twenty different ways, who have females falling over themselves to be with you; and when you finally bang one, you go full-on mating-frenzy with her, refusing to let another male look at or talk to her, deciding what and when she needs to eat, what she should wear, when she sees her friends’ (288).
Although Bryce is addressing these comments to Hunt, alphaholes abound in the book: her clients at the gallery, the men she briefly encounters sexually, the vampire who buys an artifact from her, her ex-boyfriend, her brother, her father, and Micah. Bryce’s rage at domineering males is mainly directed at her controlling biological father. She shows none of this animosity toward her stepfather, Randall. He is, not coincidentally, human, while most of the other alphaholes in Bryce’s life are Vanir.
Bryce’s showdown with Micah is symbolic of her need to assert her independence from this particular type of male. Micah himself embodies all the qualities that Bryce despises most. In killing him, she is killing a being who has been deemed all-powerful against the puny abilities of a half-human Fae female. When Bryce topples the archangel, she strikes a blow against the hierarchy he represents and the other alphaholes of his gender and social class.
Tattoos
In general, tattoos are considered to have symbolic significance in human cultures around the world. They are frequently regarded as magical talismans, even by people who don’t believe in magic. In the world of Midgard, they have literal magical power, and they drive the plot forward. The story begins with Bryce complaining about the pain from a tattoo that Danika insisted she get. At this point in the story, no one but Danika knows that the ink contains the essence of Luna’s Horn.
Danika has a similar tattoo inscribed on her own back, but it contains no magic. It represents the love she feels for her Starborn friend. When asked about the arcane wording, Danika says the lettering means, “Through love, all is possible.” This aphorism is literally proven true when Bryce’s love for Hunt and Crescent City allows her to absorb enough magic to defeat Hel itself.
In Bryce’s case, her tattoo renders her more powerful. In Hunt’s case, his tattoos diminish him. The dark halo inked around his forehead keeps him magically enslaved to the archangels for all eternity. All the other fallen angels who rebelled have similar halo tattoos that will prevent them from rising up or disobeying their masters. What is inked into the skin, however, can also be erased. The erasure of tattoos has magical significance as well. When Hypaxia removes Hunt’s halo, she unleashes him against Sandriel so that he can kill the archangel. Later in the story, the Asteri magically remove Hunt’s wrist tattoo that marks him as a slave, thus granting him freedom and citizenship.
Bryce’s tattoo is problematic for the Asteri. Her use of it saved their domain, but her free use of it in the future to open other portals might spell disaster. This is why they caution her never to use its magic again. It is highly unlikely, in subsequent books in the series, that she will heed their command.
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By Sarah J. Maas
