The secular angel in contemporary children's literature: David ...

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is Philip Pullman. “To [these writers],” they write, “the contemporary novel represents a new front in the ideological war against religion … [and] apparently stands for everything—free speech, individuality, rationality and even a secular experience of the transcendental—that religion seeks to overthrow” (Bradley and Tate, 2010, 11). According to Bradley and Tate, the “Four Horsemen” of this New Atheism—Sam Harris, Daniel Dennet, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens—share “a conviction that religious belief is not simply irrational but immoral and dangerous” (Bradley and Tate, 2010, 1). This notion becomes especially interesting when one considers that “in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, people who behaved immorally were considered atheists” (Lackey, 2004, 80). All three texts analysed in the thesis engage with this notion of morality and explore alternative frameworks for morality than those offered by religion. James Wood’s article about “Secularism and its discontents” states that “many people […] believe that morality is a deliverance of God, and that without God there is no morality—that in a secular world ‘everything is permitted’” (Wood, 2011). This very misconception is what these three authors wish to contradict and prove wrong in choosing to write of angelic figures whose existence does not depend on or presuppose a God figure, but whose merit and definition—of good or evil—as creatures is now more than ever based upon their actions, thoughts, and character. On the contrary, the authors’ decision to describe and deconstruct such a supernatural and religiously-associated persona within a secular and, some would even say ‘morally-free,’ framework places an even greater burden, for themselves, and responsibility, towards their readers, to be morally candid and scrupulous. Of the three authors analysed in the thesis, Pullman is the only one who actively wages an ‘ideological war against religion’, whereas Almond and McNish moderately advocate secular values for their readers while challenging, at the same time, issues of faith and science in a twentieth-century society. The question of morality becomes paramount in McNish’s work, but instead of adopting an anti- and pro-God ideology, he showcases the difficulty of adhering 2
to one’s morality based on the ethical choices one makes repeatedly on a daily basis. Almond chooses to leave his narrative unburdened by his atheistic beliefs, his notion of morality pertaining to the act of helping and caring for others, as well as accepting others as they are and learning to see beyond their exterior. Pullman, on the other hand, is well known for his critique of religion. In HDM he sets about dismantling the foundations of Christianity, claiming in the words of his character Mary Malone that “the Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake” (Pullman, AS, 441) and challenges the predetermined ideas of good and evil and innocence and experience. David Almond presents a part-human, part-angel, part-bird creature whose origins are unknown and, for the sake of the story, unimportant. Afflicted by his loneliness and his physical disease, arthritis, Skellig has forgotten how to be an angel, a human, and a bird. The novel’s two protagonists, Michael and Mina, aid him in all three aspects of his existence, and in turn he unknowingly helps them to discover, experience and appreciate the human as well as the magical, the real as well as the unknown or transcendental aspects of life. He enables Michael to see beyond the reality he knows and acknowledge that this otherworldly is, or should be, as much an indispensable part of life as the realistic. In essence, Skellig illuminates a form of compatibility between scientific and faith-based understandings of the world and aids the children in their transition from a state of innocence into one of experience, suggesting, however, that the unknown and the magical is essential and can harmoniously coexist in both states, and in the minds of adults and children alike. Pullman’s approach differs in many respects. Although, like Almond, his focus remains on two sets of William Blake’s Contraries—explained later in the Introduction— exploring in depth both faith and science, as well as the falsely assumed ‘innocent’ state of childhood and its counterpart ‘experience’, he initially envelops these concepts in the foundations of Christianity and the biblical story of the Fall of Man. This is a deliberate and 3
Page 1 and 2: THE SECULAR ANGEL IN CONTEMPORARY C
Page 3 and 4: ABSTRACT This thesis explores the r
Page 5 and 6: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I believe this thes
Page 7 and 8: Faith vs. Science & Innocence vs. E
Page 9: INTRODUCTION This thesis explores t
Page 13 and 14: part-angel, part-human, and through
Page 15 and 16: subject of angels, is indicative of
Page 17 and 18: the Book of Enoch (or 1 Enoch) and
Page 19 and 20: God with the scientific notion of D
Page 21 and 22: (Keck, 1998, 69). McNish’s angels
Page 23 and 24: your small existences?’ ‘But yo
Page 25 and 26: 1980, 7). In order to grasp Blake a
Page 27 and 28: and, in the final analysis, its som
Page 29 and 30: was the strongest and kindest of al
Page 31 and 32: This reference to Blake points to o
Page 33 and 34: deconstruction-, its function “is
Page 35 and 36: childhood. Almond has mainly used d
Page 37 and 38: argument, and the heroes of the sto
Page 39 and 40: act of killing God, to the slow sec
Page 41 and 42: mentioned, the intertextual element
Page 43 and 44: meaning of words” (Allen, 2000, 3
Page 45 and 46: Transformation Transformation is a
Page 47 and 48: narrative the process is set into m
Page 49 and 50: secondly, it bears testament to Fre
Page 51 and 52: the crude awakening of the fact tha
Page 53 and 54: CHAPTER ONE DAVID ALMOND’S SKELLI
Page 55 and 56: appalling at first. His first meeti
Page 57 and 58: him, and serves as a mirror through
Page 59 and 60: are some of the parallels that can
Page 61 and 62:
Blake & Intertextuality William Bla
Page 63 and 64:
With these verses she is signalling
Page 65 and 66:
Blakean passages that Almond has in
Page 67 and 68:
a process which ultimately leads hi
Page 69 and 70:
Michael’s mother, who faces a cer
Page 71 and 72:
are not only symbolic and allegoric
Page 73 and 74:
the first time, whereas Skellig has
Page 75 and 76:
Mina read the sentences out loud. S
Page 77 and 78:
see and closely observe the two met
Page 79 and 80:
Mina is the one who teaches Michael
Page 81 and 82:
however, does not constitute the ep
Page 83 and 84:
that such a change in our nature an
Page 85 and 86:
trepidation, there is no surprise w
Page 87 and 88:
doctors whose responsibility it is
Page 89 and 90:
have ultimately learned and exercis
Page 91 and 92:
This very process of change, of bot
Page 93 and 94:
may be offered along the way, this
Page 95 and 96:
of by doctors, Michael tries to hel
Page 97 and 98:
this entire process for Michael and
Page 99 and 100:
in Almond and McNish’s work, as b
Page 101 and 102:
witnesses the wings on his own back
Page 103 and 104:
character and an idea. The artist
Page 105 and 106:
Pullman wished for this story to re
Page 107 and 108:
concepts. As a result, the Fall’s
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case of these three authors it is i
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Malone, who often voices opinions s
Page 113 and 114:
Roger, true fear and loneliness ove
Page 115 and 116:
egins by gathering all the elements
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intertextual umbrella under which t
Page 119 and 120:
driven by malevolence and revenge.
Page 121 and 122:
have to be considered as they are d
Page 123 and 124:
drawn between the two girls, Lyra a
Page 125 and 126:
the end of the GC where Lord Asriel
Page 127 and 128:
considered preferable or superior i
Page 129 and 130:
act is what brought sin into the wo
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punishment for disobedience is not
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work of the General Oblation Board
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Especially in the case of Asriel, h
Page 137 and 138:
Lyra finds Dr. Mary Malone, a scien
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opposite to the religious one; whil
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subject to the laws of optics. They
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homosexuality to child readers as p
Page 145 and 146:
could be, according to Schweizer, a
Page 147 and 148:
as adults. Although she knows what
Page 149 and 150:
conception of the angel Uriel” as
Page 151 and 152:
however, could be intentional on th
Page 153 and 154:
‘I propose to send a man to find
Page 155 and 156:
substitution of this erroneous fait
Page 157 and 158:
come after death. In this way, Pull
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towards adulthood is not always rel
Page 161 and 162:
Pullman parallels childhood and inn
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double significance. In Lyra’s ca
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Instead, he seems to willingly and
Page 167 and 168:
and its innocence, as well as the s
Page 169 and 170:
eligious views myself, and therefor
Page 171 and 172:
The issue of intertextuality is not
Page 173 and 174:
style: shining, fully-robed, [their
Page 175 and 176:
fails to pass the first time. Freya
Page 177 and 178:
McNish appears to harbour the idea
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species closer together to the poin
Page 181 and 182:
this point, it is important to atte
Page 183 and 184:
guardian angels was as conscious as
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has created his own moral code and
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where Luke and Tate are standing in
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2011, 100). He writes that the Jewi
Page 191 and 192:
with this everlasting feeling of de
Page 193 and 194:
to assist and comfort each other. W
Page 195 and 196:
Faith vs. Science and Innocence vs.
Page 197 and 198:
education, and social structures wh
Page 199 and 200:
in angels is not out of the convict
Page 201 and 202:
McNish’s portrayal of innocence a
Page 203 and 204:
All this changes when Freya first m
Page 205 and 206:
enters a state of experience which
Page 207 and 208:
The debate between state-school edu
Page 209 and 210:
or strict, he also draws attention
Page 211 and 212:
following peer victimization” (Tr
Page 213 and 214:
Stephanie feel accepted and more se
Page 215 and 216:
house. Furthermore, he has also had
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Stephanie wants to become her frien
Page 219 and 220:
called from the window. ‘It’s n
Page 221 and 222:
elationship with Stephanie and its
Page 223 and 224:
This he exemplifies both in Mestraa
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thesis, however, it was argued and
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increasingly accurate perceptions o
Page 229 and 230:
interesting things” (Franks, 2011
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strength of the book, and I made ea
Page 233 and 234:
225
Page 235 and 236:
227
Page 237 and 238:
Anonymous, “A Dark Agenda?” Sur
Page 239 and 240:
Bleich, D. (1978) Subjective Critic
Page 241 and 242:
Chambers, A. (1985) Booktalk: Occas
Page 243 and 244:
Damon, S.F., Eaves, M. (1988) A Bla
Page 245 and 246:
Fairer, D. (2002) “Experience Rea
Page 247 and 248:
Gibbs, N. (1993) “Angels Among Us
Page 249 and 250:
Hunt, P. (1994) An Introduction to
Page 251 and 252:
Kochenderfer-Ladd, B., Troop-Gordon
Page 253 and 254:
Manlove, C. (1999) The Fantasy Lite
Page 255 and 256:
Mishna, F., Scarcello, I., Pepler,
Page 257 and 258:
Pfeiffer, J. (1999) “‘Dream not
Page 259 and 260:
Rosenblatt, L. M. (1982) “The Lit
Page 261 and 262:
Squires, C. (2004) Philip Pullman
Page 263 and 264:
Warner, N.O. (1982) “The Iconic M
Page 265:
Yampbell, C. (2005) “Judging a Bo
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