She constantly observes them carefully, draws them, and models them. Finally, owls also symbolize wisdom, which is appropriate given Michael's coming of age through the novel's pages. Like Mina and Michael looking after Skellig at night when nobody sees them going to the abandoned house, the owls are active at night to feed their young. Moreover, the owls symbolize secrets and mystery, and, again, their behavior is similar to the children's actions. Like the owls, they both care for each other and for Skellig. Mina and Michael, therefore, share a special connection with the owls, with Skellig, and with each other. Michael imitates the owls' hooting and teaches Mina how to use her hands to hoot as well. The owls symbolize caring and nurturing, as they feed Skellig in Mina's abandoned house and consider him one of their own.

Only after Michael and Mina have given him cod-liver oil capsules for the joints, aspirin for the pain, and love for the heart does he recover slowly and start talking more. His mind has also hardened, as he does not want to talk to Michael in the beginning. Skellig's arthritis is, therefore, a symbol for him having given up on life. Mina tells him that the immobilization of the joints also causes the mind to become hard as bone, a process known as ossification. He learns that arthritis is a painful condition that causes the joints to stiffen. Michael then talks to a patient and a doctor at the hospital. Michael gets to know arthritis when Skellig tells him that most of him is Arthur Itis, which means that Skellig is almost completely taken by the disease. The garage and the abandoned house are dark, but in the latter, Skellig is nurtured back to health and the owls feed their young. However, blackness is not always to be feared. MacNabola wears a black coat at the hospital, which is something the reader would not expect from a doctor (however, he mocks his patients, so a white coat representing purity and innocence would be inappropriate). It also indicates that he has dark powers that deal with death. Skellig wears a black suit, which blends in with the darkness that surrounds him in the garage, indicating that Skellig does not want to be found. The color black plays a prominent role in the story it is a motif symbolizing darkness, death, and black magic.

The book of skelligs