So, here's a funny thought. We haven't really discussed the topic of Vinculus's 'bookish' nature, so to say. I'm very interested (once again) in the religious overtones I picked up here. The Raven King, to my mind, can easily be taken as a God figure. He is omnipresent, omniscient, omni-etc. to the nth degree. He hangs out in England, not in physical form, but rather saturating the ether with his presence. (I'm sort of reminded of Moby Dick in that way. Only no one is trying to kill the Raven King. Except Norrell, I guess, and he falls faaar short of the mark to be an Ahab). The Raven King's 'book' is a living, breathing being, a person who is certainly imperfect and somewhat of a charlatan, and it is subject to change. It even changes by his own hand. I thought that this was possibly a symbolic stance on how religious texts should be interpreted: loosely, and with myriad grains of salt. Last but certainly not least, we have the Childermass, the Reader, the man who teaches based on his understanding of the Book. Slap me if I'm going to far, but does this sound like some sort of preacher? I'm probably just nuts (I tend to see religious allusion EVERYWHERE) but it seemed obvious to me.
Speaking of Childermass...since names are so meaningful in this fine little pocket novel...how about these apples:
The commemoration of the massacre of the "Holy Innocents"(the children put to death by Herod)—considered by some Christians as the first martyrs for Christ[17]—first appears as a feast of the western church in the Leonine Sacramentary, dating from about 485. The feast is also called Childermas, Children's Mass or Holy Innocents' Day, and is celebrated on different dates by different traditions: the West Syrians (Syriac Orthodox Church, Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, and Maronite Church) and East Syrians (Chaldeans and Syro-Malabar Catholic Church) commemorate this feast on December 27; the Roman Catholic Church (using red vestments on this day since 1961, and violet or red with older missals), the Church of England and the Lutheran Church commemorate the slaughtered children on December 28; and the Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates this feast on December 29 (using the Julian calendar).
At least this little blurb ties Childermass to the whole 'Raven King as Christ/God' thing I've got going.
OH! And it turns out that a 'vinculum' is a bond or a tie. Isn't that an odd coincidence, since Vinculus links England with the Raven King?
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4 comments:
I'm currently doing some research on a protein called vinculin, and so alllll through the novel I kept thinking how a bonding protein would have figured into Vinculus... cool stuff.
Also, really nice link with the Childermass name. I totally knew what its significance implied (it lies on my birthday, so... y'know) but had no idea it could be linked in such a way.
Wow!!! It seems such a simple connection once you explain it! It is an astonishing linkage that I dare say I would never have come up with myself. Bravo!
Very cool insight! Thanks for looking into all that stuff and sharing. I like the whole idea of bonds for sure. And as we noted with a few of the other character's Clarke sure put a lot of thought into choosing names (Stephen Black, etc.).
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