Caravan (Symbol)
The disused "gipsy" caravan Danny and his father live in is symbolic of their poverty. Once pulled by horses, the carriage now sits on blocks, its wooden wheels having rotted. The caravan has been converted into a living space for Danny and his father, who are too poor to afford a regular house. But despite the prejudice the caravan attracts, with Hazell and his hired inspectors dismissing it as unfit for humans, Danny and his father make the caravan a cozy home for themselves.
Hazell's Wood (Symbol)
The privately owned forest six miles from Danny and his father is a symbol for the enclosure of what would otherwise be public land. Although Mr. Hazell is just one person, he owns the title to all of the land surrounding Danny and his father. In his privately held land parcel is Hazell's Wood, a habitat for animals. To get revenge against the wealthy landowner for hoarding so much more property than he needs, Danny's father and other working-class townspeople have a tradition of poaching the animals Hazell keeps in his forest. By doing so, they make the land and the creatures who live on it commonly held property again.
Storytelling (Motif)
Throughout the book, Danny's father tells Danny stories—sometimes fictional, sometimes true. The motif of storytelling establishes the importance of the oral tradition in passing on wisdom and family lore. As Danny grows older, he learns more and more from his father about the mother he never knew and the grandfather who pioneered ingenious methods of poaching pheasants. With storytelling, Danny's father ensures Danny will build on their family traditions by passing on the same wisdom to future generations.
Rolls-Royce (Symbol)
The Rolls-Royce Mr. Hazell drives is a symbol for wealth and elevated social status. Rolls-Royce vehicles are notoriously expensive to purchase and maintain, leaving only people as rich as Mr. Hazell able to afford them. Mr. Hazell is aware of the ostentatious power that comes with driving such an exclusive vehicle, and seeks to provoke envy in others. The symbolic importance of his car becomes particularly relevant when Sergeant Samways ushers the birds off the filling station and onto the roof of the Rolls-Royce. As their claws scrape the paint, Mr. Hazell panics and humiliates himself, fretting over the damage done to his status symbol.
Electric Oven (Symbol)
The electric oven Danny's father hopes to buy at the end of the book is a symbol of aspiration. Having no electricity in their humble caravan, Danny and his father are used to cooking their meals on a paraffin-fuelled single burner. After they poach 120 pheasants from Hazell's Wood, Danny's father fantasizes about having an electric oven in the workshop that they could use to roast birds. Even after most of the pheasants fly away, Danny's father is determined to buy an oven, predicting there will be more food in their future they will want to cook well.
