Crow in Last Things

T. commented the other day that she was not sure about Crow as, for her the image of a crow carried so much meaning with it. Using Crow seemed like a too easy shorthand. A lot of comments on authonomy refer to Crow's presence throughout the story. For me Crow is an ambiguous figure, not only representing a quiet menace and the connection to Crow by Ted Hughes, whose images of 'the black shape of Crow falling across the page' have such a fascination for me, but also how Crow can stand for 'an enduring bond' between male and female in the myths and legends of crows. So for me he stands not only for death of the body, but also a soul bereft of his partner, adrift in the world.