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Chapter 31
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Skellig, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Weakness, Strength, and Hardship
Curiosity, Nature, and Transformation
Love, Empathy, and Caregiving
Imagination, Magic, and Faith
Summary
Analysis
The next day, Dr. Death comes to see Michael. Dad tells the story of the sleepwalking, fear in his voice. Dr. Death asks about Mina’s involvement, and Michael says that Mina saw Michael sleepwalking out her window and came out to help. After examining Michael, Dr. Death asks if there is anything Michael would like to tell him. When Michael shakes his head, Dr. Death assures him that he will get through this difficult time. Michael knows wings will never sprout from Dr. Death’s shoulders.
Michael now uses the image of wings as a way of understanding what kind of person someone is. Dr. Death gives Michael the kind of automatic assurance that someone gives when they don’t empathize deeply with the other person’s situation. This deficiency does not earn Dr. Death wings, suggesting that wings, for Michael, symbolize deep empathy and sensitivity to the feelings of others.
Themes
First affirming that Dr. Death was Ernie Myers’s doctor, Michael asks if Ernie ever talked about “seeing things” around the garden. Evasively, Dr. Death says that Ernie’s mind became “disorderly” as he approached death. Patting Michael’s head, Dr. Death says that Michael needs to play more football and spend less time wondering. When Dr. Death leaves, Michael apologizes for scaring Dad last night. Michael and Dad hug. Michael considers telling Dad everything but decides it would seem too weird.
Michael’s question about Ernie is implicitly founded in the question of magical—and therefore positive—occurrences around the property. Dr. Death conceives of this negatively as “disorderly” mental behavior. Michael’s experiences with magical or supernatural occurrences have had the effect of “ordering” his life, but to the rest of the world, particularly the factual medical community, these occurrences are the sign of madness.
Themes
