The Sopranos: The Hidden Meaning Behind Every Animal Explained

The seminal HBO series "The Sopranos" ended almost 20 years ago now, but it remains both relevant and incredibly rewatchable. There are so many details packed into every episode that such rewatches are a joy, because there's almost always something new to discover. And in a show with metaphors aplenty, there are none more powerful or more frequent than the show's use of animals to tell us more about the inner lives of New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and his closest friends and family. The various members of the sprawling New Jersey criminal organization beneath Tony aren't exactly the kind of guys who open up and talk about their feelings much (even if several of them admit to Tony that they see therapists), so how they interact with the world has to be our guide. 

There are a few animals whose appearance doesn't seem to be a metaphor, like the gorillas Tony sees at the zoo. While the death of Adriana La Cerva's (Drea de Matteo) little dog Cosette definitely represented the beginning of the end for both she and her fiancé Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli), the dog itself wasn't representative of much other than Adriana's need for a little bit of love. There are plenty of critters who mean quite a bit, however, from Tony's beloved ducks to the tragically doomed racehorse Pie-O-My, so let's break down what it all means. This should go without saying, but there are major spoilers for "The Sopranos" ahead. 

The very first episode of "The Sopranos" introduces us to mob heavy hitter Tony Soprano and his family, and Tony seems rather obsessed with a family of ducks that have taken up residence in his pool. Through his conversations with his new therapist, Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), we learn that the ducks occupy Tony's thoughts because he has grown to care for them and doesn't want them to ever leave — in fact, their leaving causes him a great deal of emotional distress. 

In all things, Tony views himself as a provider and protector. Whether it's his wife and children, who are pulling away from him, or his mafia "family," Tony feels that it's incredibly important for him to take care of everyone. The ducks are just an extension of this, but they're a family he can care for that doesn't actually ask for anything in return. They don't fight with him or demand to move up in the ranks or betray him. Instead, they just do the thing that all ducks do and flying away when it's time. Throughout the series, Tony will struggle to control his loved ones as well as protect them, and the ducks become a pretty apt metaphor for his nostalgia for a time when family was "easy." There's a good reason why the duck in "The Sopranos" Monopoly board game is actually a duckling, because Tony just wants to be a good father figure to everyone beneath him. 

When Tony's nephew Christopher goes through the ceremony that confirms him as a "made man" in the mob family, there is a crow sitting on a window ledge staring him down. There are a lot of bird metaphors in "The Sopranos," (Dick Latessa's priest character Father L'Oiseau's name even translates to "the bird"), but the crow is one of the most obvious and powerful. Crows have traditionally symbolized death and bad luck in a number of cultures because they are carrion birds and were therefore associated with corpses, and the somewhat superstitious Christopher believes it has to be a bad omen. 

Since Christopher ends up with PTSD and a serious drug habit that eventually pushes Tony to kill him despite their incredibly close ties, if the crow really was a bad omen, it was an accurate one. Becoming a made man was the first step toward both Christopher and Adriana's deaths, and the crow was there to watch it all. 

There's a lot of dark, uncomfortable humor in "The Sopranos." Some of the best bits come from the goofy mundanity of the lives of criminal characters who seem untouchably cool in other media, and that includes henchman Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri (Tony Sirico) being utterly delighted with a Big Mouth Billy Bass. There's just one thing: Tony has been having nightmares about having to kill his friend and underling Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero (Vincent Pastore) in which Puss is talking to him through the mouth of a dead fish at the market. Since Pussy is "sleeping with the fishes" — having been killed at sea on Tony's boat, The Stugots — the metaphor is pretty obvious. Fish in this instance represent the violence of the mafia lifestyle, and Tony feels incredible guilt about some of that violence.

It's especially telling that Paulie is the one who is most amused by the fish, since Paulie is also one of the most violent and amoral characters on the series. He obviously isn't aware of the metaphor, but from a storytelling perspective, it's great.

Besides consigliere Silvio's (the E Street Band's Steven Van Zandt) strip club, the Bada-Bing, the other main place Tony and his friends like to spend their time is at Satriale's Pork Store. The often lounge out in front of the store at a little table, and Paulie even sunbathes there, right beneath a statue of a pig. Satriale's is mob-owned because Tony's father took it over after the original owner missed a number of payments to him, but it is an actual butcher shop and market, not just a money laundering front. As such, the mobsters and their families all shop at Satriale's, eager to enjoy fresh meats that remind them of their heritage. 

The only problem is that Satriale's is more than just a place of community for the family. It's also where Tony had his first panic attack as a child because he witnessed his father being violent to the original owner, and pork products continue to cause Tony panic attacks throughout the series. if his father hadn't been greedy about payments he wouldn't have beaten a man in front of his young son, and so the meat becomes a symbol for greed. Pigs have traditionally been associated with greed as well ("don't be a pig!" etc.) so it's especially apt. 

In the absolutely brutal episode "Employee of the Month," Tony's therapist Dr. Melfi is attacked and sexually assaulted in a parking garage, leading her to re-examine her own moral code. Though she had initially wanted to break away from her patient-doctor relationship with Tony, she has a dream near the end of "Employee of the Month" where her attacker comes back but a rottweiler appears and rips him to shreds. She tells her own therapist that she believes the dog represents Tony, as rottweilers are descended from ancient Roman guard dogs. Initially she considers telling Tony exactly what happened to her, because she knows who her attacker is and he gets away with the crime due to police incompetence, but she eventually decides just to keep Tony around as a sort of guard dog of her own (even if it's rather clear she's hesitant to ever sic him on anyone). Dogs are known for their loyalty, and Tony is nothing if not loyal.

A rottweiler is an interesting pick for Tony not only because of the ties to Ancient Rome (coinciding with Tony's Italian-American heritage), but because rottweilers are traditionally very sweet unless provoked — sort of puppies in killer bodies. There's a sweetness and a softness to Tony that's puppylike, but he's also capable of incredible violence. Dr. Melfi is so important to the series because she provides a perspective outside of the criminal element and pushes Tony to be a better person, making her the best character outside of Tony and Christopher. 

The most heartbreaking animal metaphor in "The Sopranos" is that of Pie-O-My, the racehorse that Tony buys from his biggest earner, Ralphie (Joe Pantoliano). Tony has a real soft spot for animals and even threatens to strangle Christopher after he accidentally kills Cosette the dog (a pretty grim look into the character's future). Tony adores Pie-O-My, a beautiful mare who gets very sick one night from bloat. Tony ends up sitting up with her in the barn despite the rain, and a little goat even comes in and joins them. With the animals, Tony doesn't have to be an enforcer, and they never actually ask him for everything. He gives them his love and compassion freely, and Pie-O-My represents this loving side. She is everything Tony might have been if he hadn't been born into a family of violence, and when she dies in a fire set by Ralphie for insurance purposes, the last bits of his warmth and humanity burn away with her. It should be noted that despite Ralphie doing a ton of terrible things, including killing his own stepson after Tony gave him a pass, it was only after Ralphie murdered Pie-O-My that Tony killed him. 

Tony had a portrait of himself painted with the horse, which he then wants destroyed because it makes him so upset to think about. Paulie ends up having Tony painted over as Napoleon so he can keep it for himself. In that way Pie-O-My becomes an ideal: a dream that's now lost. 

One character with more indirect ties to organized crime is Artie Bucco (John Ventimiglia), a chef who runs the authentic Italian restaurant Nuovo Vesuvio. Artie grew up with Tony and the two are good friends, though Artie mostly manages to keep his nose clean and his business out of the criminal element outside of its biggest customers. 

In the episode "Luxury Lounge," Artie is frustrated that his decision to try and follow in his father's footsteps and be a moral, good man have mostly failed him. He's lonely and bitter and frustrated by a credit card scheme run by Christopher and one of the soldiers, Benny (Max Casella), and when a rabbit gets into his vegetable garden it's just one step too far. He shoots and kills the rabbit and later serves it to a young couple who come to Vesuvio's late, lovingly preparing it. In the same episode he also gets his hands really dirty for the first time, violently beating Benny. 

The rabbit represents law, order, and a straight and narrow life. Artie brought the vegetables back from Italy, which is illegal, then killed the rabbit and served it at his restaurant (also illegal). He's given up on being meek and is willing to fight for his dreams, even though it will only lead to bitterness. 

During Tony's stay in a safehouse during a war with another mob family, he befriends a little orange tabby and ends up bringing it back to Satriale's. Paulie hates the cat, noting that the old Italians kept them away from babies because they would "suck their spirits out," and he calls it a snake with fur, but Tony keeps the kitty around anyway. The cat stares at a photo of Christopher that was put up to honor Tony's dead nephew, and it comes to represent Tony's guilt for killing Christopher (and for having Christopher's fiancée Adriana killed). It also becomes a symbol for the wedge growing between Paulie and Tony as the family begins falling apart, all trust lost between the various members. 

While some viewers think that the cat was staring at the picture of Christopher because the photo had a microphone and the FBI were listening in, the show also deals so heavily in the mysterious and potentially supernatural that it's just as possible that it is Adriana reincarnated, or in some way connected to Chris. Either way the cat is a specter of death: a reminder that no matter what they do to try and protect themselves, danger and destruction are always just around the corner.