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A Raven Monologue

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Renegad3Rogu3 18 Jan, 2018 @ 9:44pm
Here is my take on everything, Please tell me yours!
Here's my thoughts (or more like my novel) on this game

So first off the song.
Christabel Annora - Selfishness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGk6zOuD6wY

this isn't the full quality song, like what we hear in the game, I couldnt find an official version of that, so this is the one I used
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUm8zcYjomg

Here are the lyrics I was able to come up with based off the shot of the written lyrics in her video and by listening to it

Aint going
Aint growing
They're not getting it again
They are way to far from loving
They're just (s)crewing and they
Aint going
Ain't growing
They break people's heart again
They can't do nothing but take it
Unfortunately they cant
Go
Unfortunately they cant
Go
Unfortunately they cant
Go
They can't go
They can't go
From the right side tore the heart

Keep in mind, her first language is not english, so some words were harder to pick up on. “Screwing” I got from the written paper in her music video. The rest of it I did by ear, so im sure its not perfect. Im not 100% on the last line either.

So from the lyrics alone, we get an understanding of people who refuse to go anywhere or grow as a person. They are stuck in place… like a rock. Also interesting to note it talking about how “they can’t do nothing but take it”. That line can be linked to how the Raven can do nothing but take the items. And maybe by him going and growing, he was breaking hearts of the people of his hometown who were content with staying in one place. The last line is interesting (IF I have it right) because throughout the game, we are going to the right. The raven is going to the right, and possibly breaking hearts. By the time he comes home, going toward the left, everyone is already stone.

Ok, so now for the game description.

First off, the poem in the description reads:

Dearest Sir Raven,
Do you still wander around without end?
Crafting colors under the still and silent
Not knowing I'm waiting here alone without a friend

Dearest Sir Raven,
When you are around, would you mind to stop by?
Just a hello, just a moment
To let me savor the memories before our goodbye

Dearest Sir Raven,
Let us go home
To the place devoid of reality frame
Where I shall watch over us even without a logical form


So the first part I interpret as the Raven, who never stops wandering. He finds beauty in things others don’t. He’s anxious to see new things. His world is silent as he can not speak, and their world is still because they do not go anywhere. When you are in the same place, all the time, things start to all seem monotoned. But when you look for the beauty, it brings color. Then the speaker of the poem says they are alone without a friend. The person who is writing this poem, who I think is likely the girl at the beginning of the game, is obviously lonely and misses the raven. Could each part of the poem be a letter from her to the raven?

We see this in the second part of the poem, talking about how she wishes the raven would stop by to savor the memories before a goodbye. She obviously wishes to see the raven more, even if it's just a quick chat about times from their past. The goodbye is very interesting too. What kind of goodbye is it? We get the sense that the raven is a wanderer, so she should be used to goodbyes. Or if they are letters being written to the raven, talking about saying goodbye does not seem like a good sign. The tone of the poem makes it seem like a permanent goodbye.

The last part of the poem seems to confirm this. It talks about let's go home and forget about reality while the speaker of the poem watches over them. Watches over them seems an awful lot like someone watching from the beyond. Especially since she says she will watch over them “without a logical form”. Could that mean without a body? A body is a logical form to exist in. Being a spirit, is not a logical form.

Another interesting part of the description is this

“A Raven Monologue is a short experimental silent story about a raven that does not know how to croak and his relationship with the people in the town.”

Why use the word croak? Yes, the protagonist is a Raven, but croak has another meaning, death. Ravens in general are associated with death/dying. Can the Raven not die? Is the raven wandering the world while meanwhile, all these people are staying stationary. Never going, never exploring, never growing, until they die?

The Rocks in the game are interesting. I have talked a lot about how people aren’t going anywhere or growing. Rocks do not move, they do not change easily. But also, there is something else. If we are to assume the girl with the pinwheel dies, she turns into a rock afterwards. Tombstones are made of rock. Rocks have been used as grave markers for centuries. We see the girl has turned into a rock with a flower on top at the end. This seems a lot like a grave with a flower on it.

The pinwheel is obviously significant too. It is the last frame before everything starts turning to rock. It heavily impacts the raven. Could the pinwheel symbolize childhood memories? Maybe that relates to the speaker of the poem, who wants to think back on memories. Does the pinwheel symbolize the circle of life? Never ending, never beginning, just keeps going and going on the winds of time. Or maybe it evokes feelings in the Raven that he wishes to express, but he can't? What is the symbolism in the pinwheel turning into a rock?

Also, we see the Raven collecting items through his journey. Could he be collecting them for the girl with the pinwheel? It starts out with a rock. Does that symbolize him trying to get her to wander with him? Make the rock go and grow?

So pulling all these pieces together, here is my analysis.

We have a mute Raven, who, despite is involuntary silence, is a wanderer and one who finds beauty in lots of things. There are people throughout his journeys though that are content to live their lives staying in one place. He is close to the girl we see in the beginning, and she gives him a gift to see him off on his journey. On his journey, he wants to collect items and learn about the world, intending to tell the girl when he gets back. She writes him letters on his journey, talking about how much she misses him. Eventually, she finds out she's dying of some illness, and wants him to come home to see her. He finds a girl with a pinwheel on a swing, likely after recieving news of his friends illness. The Raven wants to tell the pinwheel girl all about what he’s seen, maybe because she reminds him of his friend back home. Then she gives him the pinwheel, and it makes him think of the childhood friend from home and the memories they shared.

He goes home, but on his journey back, he finds out about her worsening illness, and eventual death, and all the things he found so interesting, mean nothing to him now. The world loses color. When he returns home, all that's left of her is her grave, with the same flower on it as she gave him before he left.

She is now outside his home, watching over him in her “illogical form”, just as she promised.


So I know everyone’s interpretation is different, which is the beauty of art, so I’d be interested to hear what anyone else has to say about what I said, or what they took from this. I feel like im missing a lot of details of the journey home, like what the people turning to stone mean, and why he is showing them the same items he recieveed from them before. Also, what does the rock forever being in the cage mean, along with the pinwheel turning to rock.

Anyway, share your thoughts!
< >
Showing 1-15 of 27 comments
bellastrange2018 19 Jan, 2018 @ 6:53pm 
I agree! Especially with the illness part. That struck me odd until I got to the girl on the swing. The "raven" (In my opion) might be a doctor (Maybe of the occult, maybe not) bbecause of the mask he wearss, giving him the appearnce of a bird. Those masks were commonly used by doctors during the Black Death plague. I think this story takes plave in either France or Italy by the "villa" vibes i had going on.


Anyway when those doctors came around visiting people it wasnt a good sign. The people then knew they were very likely to die. But why were these masks shaped like birds, with their long beaks?? To hold flowers and sweet smelling things to help ease some of the horrible pain of the Black Death, but mainly so that doctors wouldnt have to smell the rotting bodies.


So he goes and starts collecting things. The first girl brings him a flower in full bloom, in it's peak moment in life. She herself also seems to be in the peak of hers. Then the raven moves on, with his rock and the flower in the cage to the city square. He is approached by a man who looks to be in mid-life. He gives the raven some branches(??? maybe basil? idk but the art is GREAT) and the raven moves along. He meets an elderly man, with probably no more than five years left in his life and gives him a bare stick. The raven adds it to the collection.

Then we move on to the child.

He isnt in the city anymore, but wandering the forest. He meets a girl who by all other means seems to be there by herself. She has nothing to give him that symbolizes life. But she does have her pinwheel, that can show the Raven the effects of the wind, which is free, governed by nothing and has no care in the world. That being said, the wind has seen some messed up stuff, from war and pestulance to the destruction of cities, kingdoms and nations. It has no "life", but it has seen plenty.

When the Raven tries to hand the pinwheel back, I think we start to see things as they actually are. Like you said, OP, rocks have been used for gravestones for a very long time. Thats not to say that the child is buried in the swing--which a child feels as if they are flying on the wind, and in the minuet they can forget their troubles and feel as free as they so wish-- but as to what the Raven remembers them to be. The girl was freespirited, which led her to an early grave. The old man died of longevity. The middle aged man (I should guess) probably died of heart problems, while the girl at the window had her life snatched away from her while she was still in her prime. I dont think that the raven intends to leave, rather, he is coming home to a place where all he loves and knows has perished.
#1
Facey 19 Jan, 2018 @ 9:15pm 
Wow, this story is so finely multilayered... Both of your comments, together with the other thread "Who wrote this poem", make up for a perspective I am not sure I can explain, due to the multiple angles every object and scene can be deciphered via, but I will try!

First - the metaphor with the rock being a tombstone was beautifull! My own take was initially that, throughout life, we start of as binding of attoms, astral dust, rock, earth and so forth untill we get organic matter.

We are all, initially, rock (metaphor for attoms). Then, when we are "incarnated"/born, we begin taking and adding from those around us what we find, like and love. We add those aspects/hobies/interests/perspectives and we trade them with the people we meet to enlargen our own perspective.

Every now and then - this perspective gets blown up - overhyped, built up out of proportion, so some one that takes interest in this perspective and understand us comes along, hears us out and offers their perspective to us, allowing us the review the insignificance and evanescence of everything, hence the flower/seeds/tree get's "cut down" and something new is added, enlarging our perspective, helping us look past our EGO CAGE - the definition of what we are.

There is this perspective that some philosophies have that the ego is what other people perceive and layer upon us. This fits quite well with the raven's cage. Initially - he is nothing but everything - star dust, rock. He then starts "picking" things, adding to his ego cage, making them more important than the meaningless rock.

Furthermore, the initial rock the raven sees is the human nature to undervalue our own potential. Because certain thoughts are our own and we've grinded them so many times - they are nothing but rocks to us. The monologue is due to other people always talking about tangible things - flowers, seeds etc. whilst deep down inside, the most important part is the subjective rock.

It is nice to notice that with the first 3 personas - the Raven takes what others bolster about, whilst from the girl - he does so only once she offers him the pinwheel, the most important untangible metaphor about life - it keeps going. The wheel. With it, the Raven gains truesight and everyone, even their deepest desires and interests, the flower, the seed, the branch - are nothing but rocks. Building blocks of the wheel. Subjective items for an objective world. Hence, once the Raven sees, every one else is simply a rock with nothing further to enrich.

Now, for me, this entire story is also a story of life - from birth to death. The woman in the begining is, in fact, the mother - offering her blossom. The second persona, the middle aged man, is the father - offering the seed. The third person, the elderly woman, represents the family, hence the withered tree - every one has died but the branches are there so that you can - with effort - follow them and go back to your roots.

Then comes the girl - possibly the soul itself, free, boundless, hence she resides outside the city. She is the wind, she is between the trees (branch metaphor with ALIVE - DEAD leaves) - there are boundless possibilities, yet soul is presented with the beauty of a particular familly and gives her freedome as a soul so that she can be incarnated - as a rock (star dust) - to this familly, so that she can feel, experience, love and essentially, take from them.

If one takes a close look - all elements are present - Earth (trees), Air (pinwheel), Watter (blue dress) and the Fire itself is brought via the alchemist - raven - using the philosopher stone to incarnate the soul, thus inevitably - killing her. Since life is followed by death. This is a bit out there, but if you take the perspective of time out - it begins making sense.

It is best to note that the girl does not speak, since she has no ego to bolster about, because she is not born yet. Whilst the Raven (for the sake hear - Death) takes only from those that have already lived and are speaking - he only takes the pinwheel when the girl presents it to him, sacrificing her eternall freedome, wind, spirit, for a chance to be a rock - start dust - a child amongst the familly.

As for the Mr. Raven - for me, he is the magician, the doctor, the alchemist. The one destined to suffer, since he is unable to lie, to hide, to not see. Even when he builds an ego, even when every one around him tries to pamper him - he always has to see through the evanescence of things, to allow himself to be hurt again, and again, and again (the way the game loops), even tho he is already familiar with the sad truth of dead.

Just like a doctor, like a raven, he has to look at all the bad parts of life - death. Yet, somehow, the raven bird manages to find an eye to see the beauty even there - yes, he enjoyes the flower, he enjoys the seed, the branch, the pinwheel - but realizes that, ultimately, we come from rocks and to rocks we shall return.

He is both sad and happy. Sad, because he knows that every one will go. Happy, because he knows deep down every one is the same piece of rock. Happy, because sooner or later - we will all be that rock again.

Meanwhile, he has joy, health and structure to bring, as a true doctor. As an observer. As a raven.


P.S. There are probably tons of tons of tons multyple ways and metaphors that you can add/relate them with! This is the beauty of the game and the more we add - the more we learn, the more we see.

Last edited by Facey; 19 Jan, 2018 @ 9:47pm
#2
Renegad3Rogu3 19 Jan, 2018 @ 9:47pm 
Originally posted by bellastrange2018:
I agree! Especially with the illness part. That struck me odd until I got to the girl on the swing. The "raven" (In my opion) might be a doctor (Maybe of the occult, maybe not) bbecause of the mask he wearss, giving him the appearnce of a bird. Those masks were commonly used by doctors during the Black Death plague. I think this story takes plave in either France or Italy by the "villa" vibes i had going on.


Anyway when those doctors came around visiting people it wasnt a good sign. The people then knew they were very likely to die. But why were these masks shaped like birds, with their long beaks?? To hold flowers and sweet smelling things to help ease some of the horrible pain of the Black Death, but mainly so that doctors wouldnt have to smell the rotting bodies.


So he goes and starts collecting things. The first girl brings him a flower in full bloom, in it's peak moment in life. She herself also seems to be in the peak of hers. Then the raven moves on, with his rock and the flower in the cage to the city square. He is approached by a man who looks to be in mid-life. He gives the raven some branches(??? maybe basil? idk but the art is GREAT) and the raven moves along. He meets an elderly man, with probably no more than five years left in his life and gives him a bare stick. The raven adds it to the collection.

Then we move on to the child.

He isnt in the city anymore, but wandering the forest. He meets a girl who by all other means seems to be there by herself. She has nothing to give him that symbolizes life. But she does have her pinwheel, that can show the Raven the effects of the wind, which is free, governed by nothing and has no care in the world. That being said, the wind has seen some messed up stuff, from war and pestulance to the destruction of cities, kingdoms and nations. It has no "life", but it has seen plenty.

When the Raven tries to hand the pinwheel back, I think we start to see things as they actually are. Like you said, OP, rocks have been used for gravestones for a very long time. Thats not to say that the child is buried in the swing--which a child feels as if they are flying on the wind, and in the minuet they can forget their troubles and feel as free as they so wish-- but as to what the Raven remembers them to be. The girl was freespirited, which led her to an early grave. The old man died of longevity. The middle aged man (I should guess) probably died of heart problems, while the girl at the window had her life snatched away from her while she was still in her prime. I dont think that the raven intends to leave, rather, he is coming home to a place where all he loves and knows has perished.

I love how we can all come to different conclusions and take the same piece so differently. It really is amazing! I see a lot of people referencong the plague and that makes a lot of sense. Especially with the mask and you mention the flowers and stuff. Also makes sense for the outfits, place, etc. Thanks for sharing your view!
#3
Renegad3Rogu3 19 Jan, 2018 @ 9:50pm 
Originally posted by Facey:
Wow, this story is so finely multilayered... Both of your comments, together with the other thread "Who wrote this poem", make up for a perspective I am not sure I can explain, due to the multiple angles every object and scene can be deciphered via, but I will try!

First - the metaphor with the rock being a tombstone was beautifull! My own take was initially that, throughout life, we start of as binding of attoms, astral dust, rock, earth and so forth untill we get organic matter.

We are all, initially, rock (metaphor for attoms). Then, when we are "incarnated"/born, we begin taking and adding from those around us what we find, like and love. We add those aspects/hobies/interests/perspectives and we trade them with the people we meet to enlargen our own perspective.

Every now and then - this perspective gets blown up - overhyped, built up out of proportion, so some one that takes interest in this perspective and understand us comes along, hears us out and offers their perspective to us, allowing us the review the insignificance and evanescence of everything, hence the flower/seeds/tree get's "cut down" and something new is added, enlarging our perspective, helping us look past our EGO CAGE - the definition of what we are.

There is this perspective that some philosophies have that the ego is what other people perceive and layer upon us. This fits quite well with the raven's cage. Initially - he is nothing but everything - star dust, rock. He then starts "picking" things, adding to his ego cage, making them more important than the meaningless rock.

Furthermore, the initial rock the raven sees is the human nature to undervalue our own potential. Because certain thoughts are our own and we've grinded them so many times - they are nothing but rocks to us. The monologue is due to other people always talking about tangible things - flowers, seeds etc. whilst deep down inside, the most important part is the subjective rock.

It is nice to notice that with the first 3 personas - the Raven takes what others bolster about, whilst from the girl - he does so only once she offers him the pinwheel, the most important untangible metaphor about life - it keeps going. The wheel. With it, the Raven gains truesight and everyone, even their deepest desires and interests, the flower, the seed, the branch - are nothing but rocks. Building blocks of the wheel. Subjective items for an objective world. Hence, once the Raven sees, every one else is simply a rock with nothing further to enrich.

Now, for me, this entire story is also a story of life - from birth to death. The woman in the begining is, in fact, the mother - offering her blossom. The second persona, the middle aged man, is the father - offering the seed. The third person, the elderly woman, represents the family, hence the withered tree - every one has died but the branches are there so that you can - with effort - follow them and go back to your roots.

Then comes the girl - possibly the soul itself, free, boundless, hence she resides outside the city. She is the wind, she is between the trees (branch metaphor with ALIVE - DEAD leaves) - there are boundless possibilities, yet soul is presented with the beauty of a particular familly and gives her freedome as a soul so that she can be incarnated - as a rock (star dust) - to this familly, so that she can feel, experience, love and essentially, take from them.

If one takes a close look - all elements are present - Earth (trees), Air (pinwheel), Watter (blue dress) and the Fire itself is brought via the alchemist - raven - using the philosopher stone to incarnate the soul, thus inevitably - killing her. Since life is followed by death. This is a bit out there, but if you take the perspective of time out - it begins making sense.

It is best to note that the girl does not speak, since she has no ego to bolster about, because she is not born yet. Whilst the Raven (for the sake hear - Death) takes only from those that have already lived and are speaking - he only takes the pinwheel when the girl presents it to him, sacrificing her eternall freedome, wind, spirit, for a chance to be a rock - start dust - a child amongst the familly.

As for the Mr. Raven - for me, he is the magician, the doctor, the alchemist. The one destined to suffer, since he is unable to lie, to hide, to not see. Even when he builds an ego, even when every one around him tries to pamper him - he always has to see through the evanescence of things, to allow himself to be hurt again, and again, and again (the way the game loops), even tho he is already familiar with the sad truth of dead.

Just like a doctor, like a raven, he has to look at all the bad parts of life - death. Yet, somehow, the raven bird manages to find an eye to see the beauty even there - yes, he enjoyes the flower, he enjoys the seed, the branch, the pinwheel - but realizes that, ultimately, we come from rocks and to rocks we shall return.

He is both sad and happy. Sad, because he knows that every one will go. Happy, because he knows deep down every one is the same piece of rock. Happy, because sooner or later - we will all be that rock again.

Meanwhile, he has joy, health and structure to bring, as a true doctor. As an observer. As a raven.


P.S. There are probably tons of tons of tons multyple ways and metaphors that you can add/relate them with! This is the beauty of the game and the more we add - the more we learn, the more we see.


Wow this made me think. This is an entirely different view from anything I've read yet, and I love it. That final realization really hits you. Thanks for sharing, so cool to see different people's take!
#4
Facey 19 Jan, 2018 @ 9:52pm 
Absolutely!
Amazing thing is - no one could ever be wrong and the more we share - the more perspectives we bring to each other - growing together via the emotion that ran through us, via the designers and artists of the game!
Beautiful!
#5
Deep_wolf 21 Jan, 2018 @ 3:10am 
People these days, oh man! You too obnoxious about the game. Author didn't tried to say anything, it's not even a game, it's a slideshow with music. You go to right, get to the goal, then comeback - all dead, just like in any normal game.
#6
Facey 21 Jan, 2018 @ 5:06am 
Life is the same way. Highly unlikely for a "God" to have wanted to say anything, but you do give meaning to events in your life, do you not?
You just ego tripping with your comment just as much, if not more than, us by having an opinion, 'cause your comment is just as much the same.
#7
bellastrange2018 21 Jan, 2018 @ 1:30pm 
Originally posted by Deep_wolf:
People these days, oh man! You too obnoxious about the game. Author didn't tried to say anything, it's not even a game, it's a slideshow with music. You go to right, get to the goal, then comeback - all dead, just like in any normal game.


While you're right, we use games, even the simplest of ones, to try to escape the endless noise and drone and misery of day to day life. We find validation in figuring out these vauge puzzles. If it werent a game worth your time, why did you come on this thread?
#8
sibbo 23 Jan, 2018 @ 2:09pm 
i think that the raven took all of their ♥♥♥♥, right out of the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ speech bubbles man
and i was like man why u taking that
and he walked and i was like thats a happy walk man he likes his shiut he stole
then he stole moer ♥♥♥♥
and then the pinwheel WASNT A SPEECH BUBBLE
ANSD HE SDTARED AT IT FOR LIKE 5 MINUTES
THEN I REALIZED YOU GO BACK
AND THEN SHE WAS A R O C K

AND I WAS LIKE
RAVEN
YOIU'VE TURNED HER INTO A ROCK
YOU TAKE THEIR ♥♥♥♥
AND TURN THEM INTO ROCKS
AND THEN EVERYONE WAS A ROCK
AND HE WAS ALONE
SO HE ATE THE ♥♥♥♥
AND THEN
WENT OUT AGAIN
TO RE-ROB THEM
EVEN THO THEY WERE STILL ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#9
< blank > 23 Jan, 2018 @ 2:10pm 
Originally posted by blood god:
i think that the raven took all of their ♥♥♥♥, right out of the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ speech bubbles man
and i was like man why u taking that
and he walked and i was like thats a happy walk man he likes his shiut he stole
then he stole moer ♥♥♥♥
and then the pinwheel WASNT A SPEECH BUBBLE
ANSD HE SDTARED AT IT FOR LIKE 5 MINUTES
THEN I REALIZED YOU GO BACK
AND THEN SHE WAS A R O C K

AND I WAS LIKE
RAVEN
YOIU'VE TURNED HER INTO A ROCK
YOU TAKE THEIR ♥♥♥♥
AND TURN THEM INTO ROCKS
AND THEN EVERYONE WAS A ROCK
AND HE WAS ALONE
SO HE ATE THE ♥♥♥♥
AND THEN
WENT OUT AGAIN
TO RE-ROB THEM
EVEN THO THEY WERE STILL ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i agree the raven has been taught a lesson in the end for stealing everything and turning them into rocks. The raven is a stinky witch who needs to be burnt
#10
alijaya 24 Jan, 2018 @ 3:14pm 
Hello... I haven't read all the comments, so may be my interpretation / analysis would be the same with the others.

So, when I do some analysis... I would look at the pattern, and how it breaks and creates a contrast.

So the first pattern I notice is: the first three person, gives the things in a bubble speech, but the last person, gives the pinwheel as an object. And the pinwheel doesn't go into the cage, where the others things are in the cage.

My take here... There's something about the pinwheel, it breaks the pattern of the story, and the story ends there (or is it?). You can't go forward, when you stuck at one point, the thing you can do is... click everywhere on the screen. Or quit and go back. And you find surprise, when you go back, it doesn't mean you reset all you do, it becomes a progress.

The second pattern that I notice is... all the people becomes a stone. And we see a stone for the first item in the cage. And only the pinwheel that becomes a stone, the others items, we could still see it.

I am not sure, but I think the cage is kinda like a memory. When you talk, the intangible thing like words or ideas, rest in your mind. That's why the raven can only talk about something that he has been told. In the other hand, the physical object becomes stone. So I think the stone represent death, and the raven has already a thought of the death itself because he has stone in his cage in the first place (either he is a death reaper, or suicidal thought). The pinwheel is the only object that turns into stone. It mays sign that the physical object can deteriorate, can die. And the raven didn't get the last memory of the last girl. And somehow he is puzzled when he is given the pinwheel (physical object, not words), and he can't move forward.

The third thing is the content of the cage. When we go in reverse, we thought that content will be still put until the end. But no, in the end, he opens the cage, and all the three disappears, except the stone. And some little detail, that breaks the pattern, but I can't really understand why or is it a game bug :v... When in the reverse direction, when the raven meets the second person, the branch from the cage disappear, while the next and the before scene, it's still there.

I think the cage protect the memory, but at the last moment, he decides to let go... and the last that remains is still the stone, the death.

The last thing is... when I replay it, I expect that it will repeat the same thing. But no, it's permanent. There's no villager anymore.

May be it's about permanent of death?

Ok to sum up... I agree that this thing has multiple interpretation, but for me... I like the idea that the raven is the death reaper or some kind of an angel (it reminds me of the German film though, titled "Wings of Desire"). He observes the people, and gets the memory of them. But because he is immortal, he can just watch the people die, the objects destroyed, and at last the memories of them destroyed too.
#11
B E O B E B O 31 Jan, 2018 @ 7:52pm 
All of these views are amazing. The story in itself is beautifully put from the poem, the song, the artistry and the overall flow. This being my first game, I had to play it a few times to really get a hold on it all and the concept. The part that struck me as sad was during the second play through I noticed how after the girl on the swing turns to stone and his return home, he stats to slouch after passing all the people again who have turned. All the people who were there are gone, and yet he still provides his offereing. When he is finally home, he has all their parting gifts in his cage. When you click the left arrow again, he passes his hand by his cage, which if I may go off some of the top comments, is what I am also assuming is his passing over time. Those people who stayed stagnant are gone and he is once again left in his lonesome.

Again, beautiful story.
#12
Bit Spectre 7 Feb, 2018 @ 3:42pm 
I have a pretty simple explanation I can sum up in a few sentences. The medium of this story is presented like a game. The interface is the arrows and the mechanics of "rewinding" the story and having control of how long we look at each "page" pretty much sum up the entire basis of the gameplay. We all know that that there's not much to it other than that, which is important. The Crow is a metaphor for the game, endlessly wandering back and forth with his ironic cage collecting trinkets from people he encounters. Once he is presented with the pinwheel the story goes in reverse. The pinwheel respresents the cyclical nature of the game/story. The girl is also significant because she is very young, and so for her to be turned to stone (to have "croaked") while the Crow is still alive, means that the Crow must be very very old- possibly immortal. And sad, no matter what he keeps in his cage. I also think that the litle stone in the cage is a part of himself that has died.
Last edited by Bit Spectre; 7 Feb, 2018 @ 3:55pm
#13
Kyzka 7 Feb, 2018 @ 7:06pm 
My take...
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/profiles/76561198112866114/recommended/744810/
#14
lia 18 Mar, 2018 @ 8:40pm 
so many great ideas in this thread. i will also add something: i think the game can represent the journey through the cycle of life and death as imagined in hinduism (with the raven being atman, the stones being karma etc.)

at first i thought i would explain my interpretation in this thread, but then decided to post a separate guide with screenshots and stuff. here it is if anyone's interested
Last edited by lia; 18 Mar, 2018 @ 8:51pm
#15
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A Raven Monologue > General Discussions > Topic Details
Date Posted: 18 Jan, 2018 @ 9:44pm
Posts: 27

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