Speaking of Mysteries: Atonement in Teenage Fantasy Books. by Anne van Gend A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Victoria University of Wellington 2015 2 Abstract The question of how we can speak of a transcendent God and God’s relationship with creation has been pondered for millennia. Today particular difficulties arise when communicating Christian atonement theories to a generation for whom the world of the Bible is increasingly foreign, and in a time when theologians and philosophers are questioning both the violence of some atonement theories and the existence of “superior transcendence.” This study explores the presence of biblical motifs in the stories of atonement in young adult fantasy works. It suggests that the use of these motifs to make sense of atonement within fantasy worlds may assist readers to make sense of the same motifs when they are used to portray the Christian story of atonement. The investigation begins by discussing the place of imagination, reason and transcendence in religious language and argues for the centrality of metaphor and myth in religious expression. It suggests that young people today still seek intermediaries—“priests and prophets”—between themselves and the unknown, but they now find them in the fantasy authors who continue to use imaginative language to communicate transcendence. A central trope in contemporary fantasy fiction is that of a death that saves the world. Contrary to the expectations raised by René Girard’s work, these are not the violent deaths of a helpless scapegoat. The biblical mythologems incorporated in these works allow the authors to explore instead ideas of divine and human self-giving. This is demonstrated by tracing how mythological understandings of blood, victory and covenant in the Bible are incorporated into the atonement process of three fantasy series: the Old Kingdom Chronicles by Garth Nix (1995-2003), the Mortal Instruments trilogy by Cassandra Clare (2007-2009), and the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (1997-2007). The thesis proposes that the presence of biblical mythologems in contemporary fantasy stories of atonement means that a better understanding of their use in each domain can both enrich our appreciation of this kind of literature and provide teenagers with an imaginative language with which to consider aspects of Christian atonement. The prevalence of atonement ideas within recent fantasy books suggests that, by attending to the mythologems of atonement drawn from i the Bible, the church might both rediscover the imaginative power of her own story and convey it meaningfully to young readers of fantasy literature today. ii Acknowledgements I am blessed with friends who have been willing to read each version of this thesis as it has unfolded, who have had the courage and knowledge to make helpful suggestions, and who have frequently seen what I was trying to say more clearly than I have. Special thanks to Lisa, Jerry and Leisa who have generously proof-read various stages, and adroitly handled all the angst I could throw at them: a true test of friendship. Thanks also to Chris and Kathryn for skilfully manoeuvring me through the past five years and over every hurdle of discouragement. Julian and Jonty can hardly remember a time when I wasn’t writing a thesis; they have borne with it cheerfully. And to Mike, who barely finished his own PhD before he found himself supporting me in mine: thank you that in these past years you have been consistently understanding and immensely patient whenever my thesis threatened to drag me down, and encouragingly interested in every insight that sparked my enthusiasm. Arohanui. ii Contents Chapter 1. Introduction……………………………………………………………1 1. Christian Atonement: an Overview……………………………………….........4 2. Myth, Metaphor and Religious Language……………………………………..12 3. Biblical Atonement and Fantasy Writing……………………………………...16 Chapter 2. Reason and Religious Language…………………………………….. 23 4. Reason and Transcendence……………………………………………….........24 5. Reason and Imagination………………………………………………………. 28 6. Reason and Experience……………………………………………………….. 31 7. The Oddness of Religious Language…………………………………………..33 Chapter 3. Metaphor and Myth…………………………………………………. 37 1. The Nature of Metaphor………………………………………………………. 37 2. The Character of Myth………………………………………………………... 43 Chapter 4. Fantasy and Faith……………………………………………………. 55 1. Reality, Wonder and Possibility………………………………………………. 57 2. Fantasy Authors as Prophets and Priests……………………………………… 60 3. Allegory, Mythopoesis and Twentieth-Century Fantasy Literature………… 61 Chapter 5. Three Fantasy Worlds……………………………………………….. 69 1. The “Old Kingdom Chronicles” by Garth Nix……………………………….. 69 2. The “Mortal Instruments” by Cassandra Clare……………………………….. 74 3. The “Harry Potter” series by J.K. Rowling…………………………………… 82 Chapter 6. Atonement through Blood…………………………………………… 87 1. The Life of Every Creature is in its Blood……………………………………. 88 2. Blood as an Instrument of Repair and Healing……………………………….. 92 3. The Blood of Christ…………………………………………………………… 98 Chapter 7. Blood and Atonement in Three Fantasy Worlds…………………..107 1. The Old Kingdom……………………………………………………………..107 a. Life is in the Blood…………………………………………………...108 b. Blood’s Cleansing Power…………………………………………….112 2. The Mortal Instruments……………………………………………………….114 a. Life is in the Blood…………………………………………………...115 b. Blood’s Cleansing Power…………………………………………….118 3. The Harry Potter Series……………………………………………………….122 a. Life is in the Blood…………………………………………………...122 b. Blood and Holiness…………………………………………………..126 Chapter 8. Atonement through Victory…………………………………………133 1. Evil Personified……………………………………………………………….135 iii 2. Kingdoms of Light and Darkness……………………………………………... 146 3. Victorious Atonement………………………………………………………… 152 a. Light, Darkness and Recapitulation………………………………….. 153 b. Christ as Redeemer…………………………………………………... 155 c. Christ as Ransom…………………………………………………….. 158 Chapter 9. “Victory” in Two Fantasy Worlds………………………………….. 163 1. The Mortal Instruments……………………………………………………….. 164 a. Personified Evil………………………………………………………. 165 b. Kingdoms of Light and Darkness……………………………………. 171 c. The State of the World……………………………………………….. 176 2. Harry Potter…………………………………………………………………… 185 a. The Use and Misuse of Power……………………………………….. 186 b. The Powers of Darkness……………………………………………… 188 Chapter 10. Covenantal Atonement…………………………………………….. 197 1. Covenant and Chaos………………………………………………………….. 198 2. Covenant and Curse……………………………………………………………207 3. The New Covenant…………………………………………………………… 214 a. The Covenant Curse…………………………………………………. 215 b. Covenant and At-one-ment………………………………………….. 217 Chapter 11. Covenantal Atonement and Fantasy………………………………. 221 1. The Old Kingdom…………………………………………………………….. 221 2. The Mortal Instruments………………………………………………………. 230 3. Harry Potter…………………………………………………………………… 236 Chapter 12. Summary and Conclusions………………………………………… 247 1. What Myths of Atonement Offer Fantasy Books…………………………….. 248 2. What Fantasy Books Contribute to an Understanding of Atonement………… 250 3. Beyond Atonement……………………………………………………………. 253 Bibliography iv Chapter 1 Introduction If you take a lift in the Ministry of Magic to the lowest possible level, which very few people do, you will come out at the Department of Mysteries.1 It is a place of silence, of dark, featureless doors which swirl and change positions at unexpected times. We know that behind one door is a room containing minds: brains carefully preserved in a tank of green liquid, able to inflict lasting wounds if touched.2 Another room has shelves of misty prophecies: evidence of the rare times when true insights into present actions and future possibilities have been discerned and captured. Another is filled with clocks and a tiny bird that repeatedly hatches and is re-enclosed in its egg. The only room to be kept locked at all times, we are told, “contains a force that is at once more wonderful and more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than the forces of nature,” a force constantly underestimated and dismissed by Voldemort who can neither understand nor accept it.3 Dumbledore calls it, simply, “Love.” And in yet another room, on a stone dais at the base of something like a stone amphitheatre, there is an ancient archway with a veil hung across it. Some can hear faint voices beyond it; some are strangely attracted to it as the veil moves gently. We are never told directly what it is, but when Sirius passes through it, there is no coming back. Those who work in the Department of Mysteries are called Unspeakables. “For of that work that falleth only to God, dare I not take upon me to speak with my blabbering human tongue,” said the mystic who wrote The Cloud of Unknowing.4 It is an ancient problem. How are we to speak of “mysteries,” of things that are, by definition, difficult or impossible to explain? How are we to speak of religious mysteries which are not only beyond rational explication but include belief in transcendent realities? The mystics of many traditions urge silence in the face of religious mystery, but however well that advice may convey the depth and 1 Rowling, Order of the Phoenix, 681-88. 2 Ibid., 746. 3 Ibid., 743. 4 Anonymous, Cloud of Unknowing, 61. 1 limitlessness of a mystical experience, it is not helpful in communicating with others. Nor does it account for the existence of written scriptures in many faith traditions which claim to mediate insight into mystery. In the Christian tradition, Jesus, the Word-made-flesh,