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

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include and encourage creative thinking, and second, that creative thought and indeterminate assignments fall within the category of non-homework, meaning that they may not belong or should not exist in school. Finally, by renaming the task, the teacher might actually encourage the children to free their imagination as the parameters of the assignment are not strictly set and so they do not have to conform to what they expect of schoolwork. Darwin, Evolution, and Science vs. Faith Another significant intertextual reference in Skellig is to Darwin and his work on evolution. Although Darwin is not quoted within the novel, or used to the extent that Blake is, some of his most basic and well-known arguments in On the Origin of Species do surface through Mina’s words and serve as evidence of both Skellig’s existence and our own nature. This section will explore and demonstrate how Darwin’s theory of evolution fits within the story’s framework and what issues it brings to the surface. The first part will briefly describe Darwin’s work, focusing on the fact that despite his extensive work on plants and animals over a span of several years, “man and his evolution do not figure in The Origin” (Anonymous, 1989, 139). The second part will look closely at issues of faith within Skellig and analyse the juxtaposition between science, in the form of doctors, medicine, and evolution, and faith in the unknown, in the form of spiritualism, dreams, and the unexplained. The novel’s recurring themes of dreams and birds will be explored further and put into perspective by illuminating their direct link to this juxtaposition. Darwin’s On the Origin of Species was published in 1859 for the first time, and by 1872 the book had reached its sixth edition. This work of scientific literature was considered controversial, especially in regards to the Church and its doctrines. Nevertheless, it quickly acquired popularity which did not only derive from the scientific community. The Origin, 72
however, does not constitute the epitome of Darwin’s work, nor the end of his theories on evolution and natural selection. “Considered from our vantage point 150 years after the Origin’s publication in 1859, telescoped by time, it is often unappreciated that key elements of Darwin’s thinking unfolded over a dozen or more years—with even his central mechanism of species diversification, his “principle of divergence,” not coming to him until well into the 1850s” (Costa, 2009, 886). James T. Costa writes that the Descent of Man (1871) and Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872) constitute Darwin’s statements on human evolution and the fundamental relationship between humans and other animals—the touchiest of evolutionary topics, which he had long avoided in his public writings. Darwin realized the philosophical implications of his theory for humans from the beginning. (Costa, 2009, 892) Mainly through Skellig, Almond creates a complex and multifaceted relationship between the human, the animal and the angelic. Yet, throughout the narratives, these elements are constantly being linked, compared, juxtaposed and intimately investigated by Michael and Mina who learn by inspecting and respecting nature and the animal kingdom around them by taking care of Skellig—whom they believe to be living proof of evolution, and maybe even a preview to humanity’s future—and finally, by caring for each other. Evolution in Skellig is introduced by Mina. After Michael has returned from the hospital he visits Mina and finds her looking at an encyclopedia studying dinosaurs and the archaeopteryx. She tells Michael that there is a theory suggesting that dinosaurs were not extinct, but 73
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THE SECULAR ANGEL IN CONTEMPORARY C
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ABSTRACT This thesis explores the r
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I believe this thes
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Faith vs. Science & Innocence vs. E
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INTRODUCTION This thesis explores t
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to one’s morality based on the et
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part-angel, part-human, and through
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subject of angels, is indicative of
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the Book of Enoch (or 1 Enoch) and
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God with the scientific notion of D
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(Keck, 1998, 69). McNish’s angels
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your small existences?’ ‘But yo
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1980, 7). In order to grasp Blake a
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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
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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
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Page 69 and 70: Michael’s mother, who faces a cer
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Page 75 and 76: Mina read the sentences out loud. S
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Page 79: Mina is the one who teaches Michael
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Page 91 and 92: This very process of change, of bot
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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
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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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Page 111 and 112: Malone, who often voices opinions s
Page 113 and 114: Roger, true fear and loneliness ove
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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
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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
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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
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could be, according to Schweizer, a
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as adults. Although she knows what
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conception of the angel Uriel” as
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however, could be intentional on th
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‘I propose to send a man to find
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substitution of this erroneous fait
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come after death. In this way, Pull
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towards adulthood is not always rel
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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
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and its innocence, as well as the s
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eligious views myself, and therefor
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The issue of intertextuality is not
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style: shining, fully-robed, [their
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fails to pass the first time. Freya
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McNish appears to harbour the idea
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species closer together to the poin
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this point, it is important to atte
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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
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with this everlasting feeling of de
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to assist and comfort each other. W
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Faith vs. Science and Innocence vs.
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education, and social structures wh
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in angels is not out of the convict
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McNish’s portrayal of innocence a
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All this changes when Freya first m
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enters a state of experience which
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The debate between state-school edu
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or strict, he also draws attention
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following peer victimization” (Tr
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Stephanie feel accepted and more se
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house. Furthermore, he has also had
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Stephanie wants to become her frien
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called from the window. ‘It’s n
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elationship with Stephanie and its
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This he exemplifies both in Mestraa
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thesis, however, it was argued and
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increasingly accurate perceptions o
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interesting things” (Franks, 2011
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strength of the book, and I made ea
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225
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227
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Anonymous, “A Dark Agenda?” Sur
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Bleich, D. (1978) Subjective Critic
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Chambers, A. (1985) Booktalk: Occas
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Damon, S.F., Eaves, M. (1988) A Bla
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Fairer, D. (2002) “Experience Rea
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Gibbs, N. (1993) “Angels Among Us
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Hunt, P. (1994) An Introduction to
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Kochenderfer-Ladd, B., Troop-Gordon
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Manlove, C. (1999) The Fantasy Lite
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Mishna, F., Scarcello, I., Pepler,
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Pfeiffer, J. (1999) “‘Dream not
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Rosenblatt, L. M. (1982) “The Lit
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Squires, C. (2004) Philip Pullman
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Warner, N.O. (1982) “The Iconic M
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Yampbell, C. (2005) “Judging a Bo
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