The Crow

The Crow

One of the most obvious symbolisms is the crow
 in the field in Chapter 3.

Crows are very intimidating and fearsome animals. They can be very big and very violent.

The crow in I'm The King Of The Castle symbolises Hooper. Hooper is always above Kingshaw; when Hooper is in his room, he is literally above Kingshaw, "'... I shall come to the window and watch you...'" p47, Hooper always tries to watch Kingshaw wherever he goes. The fact that Hooper states that he will watch Kingshaw again shows how Hill is trying to make clear to the reader, that Hooper thinks he must keep an eye on Kingshaw to see if he would do anything that Hooper could use against him. The crow does the same by constantly flying over Kingshaw and often diving down to make sure Kingshaw would fall so the crow could attack or potentially eat him.

The crow is also above Kingshaw, not only physically, but also emotionally. The crow is just an animal and people should be superior to animals, the animals should be afraid of the people. But Kingshaw lets the crow get the best of him and he can't show the crow that he's not afraid and scare it off, but he just lets it torture him and he cannot hide his fear. The crow is also always above Kingshaw physically, even when it dives down violently. In this way, Hooper resembles the crow. "... he could see a figure, looking down at him from one of the top windows of the house." p42 , Kingshaw has two threatening figures. He knows that the figure is Hooper and he can sense that Hooper would use this scene of fear against him.

The crow in IKOTC symbolises Hooper superior and oppressing nature. Kingshaw is terrified of both threats and he is not strong-willed enough to stand up against them.