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Chapter 39
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
Mrs. McKee comes out and cuts a pomegranate on a board. Handing quarters to Michael and Mina, Mrs. McKee says that Persephone ate pomegranates while underground; she points out how much life a pomegranate contains in all its seeds. The phone rings and Michael panics, but it isn’t Dad. Michael still can’t feel the baby’s heartbeat within his own.
In this scene, the pomegranate acts as a symbol for a situation that is apparently hopeless, but actually contains a huge amount of potential. In Michael’s life, this phenomenon applies to the run-down house his family has moved into, and the frailty of the baby and Skellig.
Themes
Mrs. Dando, who is bicycling by, stops to chat. Mrs. McKee gives Mrs. Dando some pomegranate, and Mrs. Dando giggles with delight. Mrs. Dando says that Michael’s friends miss him, and she hands Michael his homework. Michael and Mina look at a worksheet on the bones of the human body. Mina adds “the spirit” to the list. Mrs. Clarts has assigned Michael to write another imaginative story. With Skellig gone and the baby likely dead, Michael can’t imagine anything.
For Michael, imagination is not something that comes to him to fill his world with images when the real world is empty. Instead, imagination comes to Michael when the creatures he loves are alive and well. In this way, imagination is a symptom of a happy life. Mina observes that bones are not all that make up the human body. Since bones often represent weakness, the addition of “spirit” offers a resilient and immortal dimension to the body.
Themes
Mrs. Dando asks about the baby. Mina says that the operation is today, then chastises Mrs. Dando for bothering Michael with homework and stories of his friends. Michael walks away and sits on the garden wall. Dad drives up and Michael gets in the car with him. Hugging Michael, Dad says it is all over.
Michael’s fear and distress lead him to isolate himself from others, even from his closest friends. This is reminiscent of the early days of Michael’s hardships when he shared none of his feelings or secrets due to his deep sense of alienation.
Themes
