Womanhood
The novel displays different assumptions about womanhood. On the one hand, there is the weak mother, so weak she dies from the sadness of having birthed a woman. Next to her, her daughter Aerin is basically a goddess. She is powerful and magical, and she succeeds in her life, becoming a leader and saving her community in their moment of need. She is blessed with everything that a man in her shoes might have, so that there is nothing lost by her being a woman; her mother was wrong.
Attention and glory
Aerin is the opposite of a drama queen. A drama queen wants attention, but Aerin wants less attention. As a redhead, she always has people staring at her. Her complexion is light, and her hair is bright red, so that in her community where people have dark features, she stands out like a beacon. This is a symbol that her life will be glorious, and that she will have lots of eyes on her. In fact, the reader sees this play out again and again. Aerin is not a person who can hide. She is like a city on a hill.
Magic and dragons
When the reader discovers alongside Aerin that there are dragons in the land, that imagery invokes a promise to the reader that magic will be used in the story. The use of magic helps Aerin to win in her battle against evil, and magic becomes a depiction of the universe's natural willingness to assist the hero in distress. The order of nature is the underlying principle to which magic adheres in this book. Aerin is an agent or arbiter of natural forces for good.
The hero's journey
Aerin's life is shaped by the abstract imagery of the hero's journey. This archetypal plot takes a hero out of their town, like Aerin is taken out of her town, and thrusts them into the wild. In the wild, Aerin must grow to survive, then succeed in the chaos around her. She is challenged to grow and to become, until finally she reaches her maximum potential and conquers the forces of evil. When she comes back to town, she brings something the town needs: herself, as a powerful, competent leader.
