"The Raven" Symbolism In Poe’s "The Raven" the most obvious symbol is the Raven its self. Why would Poe use a non-reasoning creature to recite the refrain of "nevermore?" I believe Poe uses the non-reasoning raven because to us it would make little to no sense, and frustrate us because were a reasoning creature that can answer the question. It is also important that the answers to the questions are already known, I think it helps to illustrate the self-torture the narrator exposes himself to. Another symbol is the Pallas. In the whole room the raven decides to perch on the Greek Goddess of Wisdom, why? Could he be trying to lead us to believe