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Chapter 37
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
Midmorning, Mrs. McKee brings tea to Michael and Mina. Sitting on the stoop, Mrs. McKee tells the story of Persephone, a goddess forced to spend half the year underground. While underground, it was winter, but when she was released, the world burst into spring. Mrs. McKee points at the chicks and the flowers, saying that Michael might soon be welcoming home his own Persephone. Michael imagines Persephone braving all kinds of obstacles to get to the light of the sun.
With Persephone as the personification of the spring, winter becomes an apparent rather than an actual death. The life of spring only needs to be regenerated because it has not fully disappeared. In this way, this story takes away the finality and permanence of death. When Mrs. McKee compares Persephone to the baby, then, Michael can understand the baby’s dire condition as a temporary state of passage into healthy life.
Themes
Mrs. McKee suggests that Michael and take a walk. Mina takes Michael’s hand, and they make their way through the sunny streets to the “Danger” house and up the stairs. On the attic landing, Mina whispers that Skellig will be so happy to see Michael. The two enter the attic, but Skellig isn’t there. Mina runs through the house, searching and calling Skellig’s name, but he is gone. Michael and Mina go to the window and look over the rooftops. Suddenly, Michael grabs the windowsill and says that his heart has stopped. Mina feels Michael’s heart. Michael passes out.
Significantly, the baby goes under surgery (as the narrative indicates by noting the moment that Michael’s own heart stops beating) the moment that Michael and Mina find Skellig is gone. This confirms the parallelism that the novel has established between Skellig and the baby. Just as the baby is facing the pivotal moment in her development, Skellig has embarked on the pivotal moment of his. For Michael, this moment is extra terrifying, as he feels that both Skellig and the baby are leaving him.
Themes
