The Boy From the Woods is a plot-driven novel, but there are symbols and motifs that assist with building tension. One is Crash’s smile skull ring, a motif for malevolence and power. As Matthew observes, Crash flashes this ring right before he does something awful, “[w]hich means something is up” (142). This becomes a signature move for Crash from the moment of his introduction: Matthew sees the ring right before Crash beats him up to retaliate for Hester’s missing person announcement about Naomi’s first disappearance. It appears again when Crash and his cronies chase Matthew out of Maynard Manor—Crash pretends that his malevolence is merely a game of nighttime tag, named after his ring. Matthew also recalls Crash showing his skull ring to Naomi on the night that his cronies stole her stuffed animal, decapitated it, and set it on fire, one of their more extreme bullying stunts. In all of these examples, Crash’s ring foreshadows the malevolence that is soon to follow and the power he wields over his posse and high school populace.

In contrast, his severed finger (bearing the ring) negates this effect. It is delivered to the Maynards both as an acknowledgement of their semi-cooperation in uploading the video footage and as a warning that the video that the kidnappers want is not included.