42 pages 1 hour read

Holly Black

The Stolen Heir

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2023

A 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

Games

The use of games in The Stolen Heir symbolizes Oak’s penchant for treating situations and relationships as amusing or inconsequential. Raised by Madoc, who loves strategy and once used Oak as a pawn in his game for power and eternal war, he inherits many of Madoc’s qualities. When a young Oak visited Wren eight years ago, during Madoc’s alliance with Lady Nore against Elfhame, he found her tied to a post and asked if she’d like to play a game. Despite Wren’s desperation to escape, Oak remains jovial and plays recreational games for stakes. His stakes are low (Wren singing a song), while her stakes are high (Oak freeing Wren). Oak will continue to saunter through life, feeling as though nothing can truly hurt him. He rushes into trouble, not allowing Tiernan to fight for him or take on the debt of the Thistlewitch. This tendency is also reflected in Wren’s cherished fox figurine, a game piece from the fox-like Oak himself.

When Wren joins Oak’s journey to face Lady Nore, he treats her with his effervescent charm and she feels “as though this is a different kind of game, one where [she] [does] not understand the rules” (106).

Related Titles

By Holly Black

Study Guide

logo

Book of Night

Holly Black

Book of Night

Holly Black

Plot Summary

logo

The Darkest Part of The Forest

Holly Black

The Darkest Part of The Forest

Holly Black

Study Guide

logo

The Field Guide

Tony DiTerlizzi, Holly Black

The Field Guide

Tony DiTerlizzi, Holly Black

Study Guide

logo

The Iron Trial

Holly Black, Cassandra Clare

The Iron Trial

Holly Black, Cassandra Clare

Study Guide

logo

The Queen of Nothing

Holly Black

The Queen of Nothing

Holly Black

Study Guide

logo

The Wicked King

Holly Black

The Wicked King

Holly Black