Death at the Sign of the Rook: A Jackson Brodie Book

The narrative uses the symbolism of animals and nature to explore the characters’ humanitarianism or lack thereof. Fran’s profound compassion for all living creatures is demonstrated in the sanctuary she creates for waifs and strays (98), regardless of whether they are animals or humans. Her care for Holly, the “small, sad-eyed spaniel” (170), epitomizes how Fran attempts to compensate for the world’s cruelties. Ben adopts a similar empathy for other creatures, informed by witnessing the horrors of man’s inhumanity to man while fighting in Afghanistan. While tending to the beehives, he feels “that his emotions seemed to be dependent on the bees’ welfare, if not their actual happiness” (170). The bees represent the ideal harmonious community in the novel, positively contributing to the ecosystem by pollinating flowers and producing honey without harming other creatures. Ben’s peaceful vision of the bees as he believes he is dying underlines his affinity with the natural world.

Attitudes toward animals and nature also reflect the characters’ perspectives on dominion and ownership. When Reverend Simon Cate sees the leather-bound books in the library of Burton Makepeace House, he thinks of “[a]nimal skins, […], stripped from the bodies of innocent creatures” (272). Simon’s immediate reflection on the animals who suffered to create the impressive library highlights his empathy for all living things. This perspective of nature also extends to his belief that humans should be guardians rather than landowners. His views starkly contrast with those of the Miltons, whose historical power is built on owning and dominating all they survey. The aristocratic family’s reputation for being “trigger-happy” illustrates their sense of entitlement to the land and the lives of everything on it.

The motif of Burton Makepeace House highlights the novel’s exploration of Change in British Society. The formerly grand country house’s dilapidated state echoes the British aristocracy’s decline. This figurative connection is emphasized by Lady Milton’s fear that the roof “would cave in eventually and crush them all in their beds. ‘The Fall of the House of Milton’” (156). This prediction of catastrophe is a literary allusion to “The Fall of the House of Usher.” In Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, the members of the upper-class Usher family are killed one by one by a mysterious disease, symbolizing the decay of the aristocracy. The connection Atkinson draws between the house’s deterioration and the Miltons’ eventual extinction is underlined by the description of the entrance hall. Rather than conveying grandeur and prestige, it possesses “the bleak quality of a mausoleum” (221).

The stately home’s inevitable trajectory toward commercialism is outlined as it progresses from limited opening to the public to “[o]pen all year round, gift shop, a huge café, [and] a play area” (30). Piers Milton’s reference to the house as “Burden Makepeace” and ongoing projects to monetize the property illustrate how its ownership has become a liability instead of a privilege. By emphasizing the difficulty of maintaining large historic properties in modern times, the novel suggests that the lifestyle of bygone aristocracy is no longer practical or possible.