The Last Unicorn

In addition to serving as the unicorn’s home, the lilac wood symbolizes the unicorn’s innocence at the beginning of the novel. The lilac flower traditionally represents ideas of youth and innocence, and while the unicorn at the beginning of the novel has lived for a significant amount of time, it’s also true that she knows little about the world outside her home or what’s happened to her fellow captured unicorns. After all, even as hunters can enter the unicorn’s lilac wood, they aren’t able to capture any prey, and the unicorn remains safe. Only after journeying outside of the lilac wood does the unicorn learn important truths about the outside world, including the heartbreaking fact that many humans can no longer recognize unicorns and that her fellow unicorns are in danger. As such, the lilac wood represents the “safety” of the unicorn’s initial innocence before she learns cruel truths about the world.