43 pages • 1 hour read
Anthony HorowitzStormbreaker
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2000A 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
Peppermint
Mrs. Jones’s habit of sucking on peppermint lozenges is a motif reflecting The Moral Complexity of Espionage. Alex notices this habit when he first meets her. However, it is not until she prepares him to see Sayle that he thinks about the meaning of the peppermints. Alex wonders if she loves peppermints because her job requires her to put agents in danger: “[P]erhaps it was easier for her if her breath was sweet” (84). Mrs. Jones’s work forces her to make difficult, sometimes questionable, decisions that likely take a psychological toll. Enjoyable habits, even one as small as sucking on peppermints, might alleviate her guilt. Alex’s guess at Mrs. Jones’s reason for loving peppermints reflects their strained relationship. Though Mrs. Jones appears more empathetic than Blunt, Alex sees her attempts to act maternally as possibly manipulative. This strain continues throughout the series, though Alex learns more about her life and realizes that she truly cares about him.
The Judgment Day Painting
The Judgment Day painting is a symbol of Sayle’s plan to murder England’s schoolchildren. It first appears when Alex enters Sayle’s house and sees “a swirling mass of doomed souls and demons” (90). This artwork is the first one Alex sees in the house and the one to which he pays the most attention. It foreshadows Sayle’s plan to murder children he judges to be worthy of damnation. Alex sees the painting again after he learns the truth. He makes an explicit connection between the painting and Sayle’s plan, thinking to himself that thousands will resemble the figures writhing in agony in the painting if Sayle succeeds. Sayle holds a grudge against the prime minister and his friends for their racist and xenophobic bullying. He also feels that England deceived him into believing it would give him a life of happiness. For this reason, Sayle seeks to bring judgment upon England’s schoolchildren, who are guilty by association with England and the prime minister. He decides to doom them to a painful, horrific death. In addition, Sayle seeks to torment the prime minister and England’s adults by killing their children, damaging the country irrevocably.
The Jellyfish
Sayle’s jellyfish is a symbol representing both Sayle’s external image as a quiet, misunderstood man and his cruel, hostile, and violent internal self. When Alex first sees the jellyfish in Sayle’s office, Sayle tells him that it reminds him of himself and that, like him, the jellyfish is an “outsider” (93). Sayle then explains, “It drifts on its own, ignored by the other fish. It is silent and yet it demands respect” (93). This comparison Sayle makes between himself and the jellyfish foreshadows the revelation that he was bullied as a child. Sayle felt like an “outsider” due to his dark skin and accent, made worse by his bullies’ racism and xenophobia. He kept his bitterness and rage hidden. Though he earned people’s respect in England, he held onto his rage. The jellyfish reappears later when Alex is dropped into its tank. Like Sayle, the jellyfish tries to attack him and intends to kill him. The jellyfish, in its second appearance, symbolizes Sayle’s true nature: deadly and hostile toward anyone who gets too close to him.
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By Anthony Horowitz
