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Chapter 40
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
At the hospital, Mum, Dad, and Michael hold hands and look at the baby sleeping in the glass case. Mum says that everything is all right now; there was a moment when the doctors almost lost the baby, but she burst back to life. Mum and Dad wonder what to name the baby. Michael suggests Persephone. Mum says the name has to be little and strong, like the baby. The family jokes, thinking up boyish names.
Mum’s description of the baby “bursting” back to life recalls the myth of Persephone. The baby seemed dead, in the same way that the world seems dead when Persephone is underground, but then the baby’s life regenerated. Michael wants to name the baby Persephone because he feels that the world is alive again now that she is well.
Themes
Mum tells Michael and Dad how she kept slipping in and out of dreams last night. Once, when she thought she was wide awake, she saw a strange man in a filthy suit standing over the baby. Mum wanted to yell for the man to get away, but the man turned and Mum saw tenderness in his eyes. Then the man picked up the baby and spun with her; wings sprouted from the baby’s back. Then the man put the baby down. Mum slept soundly the rest of the night. Mum says this must have happened because Michael asked her what shoulders were for. Michael whispers Skellig’s name. Mum says that they will have to be gentle with the baby. Michael says that they will love her.
This scene confirms that there is no strict distinction between dreams and reality. Michael has never completely shaken his suspicion that Skellig is a figment of the imagination, and therefore never told his parents. Now that Skellig has appeared naturally to Mum, Michael sees that his disjointed life is in fact interconnected. Skellig and the baby’s paths have aligned, suggesting that Skellig is a guiding light that illuminated an arc of transformation from death to life.
Themes
In the hall on the way out, Michael and Dad pass Dr. MacNabola. Michael tells Dr. MacNabola that his arthritic friend is better. Dr. MacNabola attributes the success to his prescription of cod-liver. Michael asks if love helps a person get better. Dr. MacNabola laughs and says that he hopes he and Michael’s friend never have to meet. Dr. MacNabola winks and walks away. Dad laughs and calls Michael a “mystery man.” In the car, Dad sings loudly, and Michael makes his owl call; they rejoice that the baby will be just fine. They plan to order 27 and 53 for dinner, agreeing that this food is the “nectar of the gods.”
This scene illustrates how the world of medicine is incomplete when it comes to prescribing illnesses. Doctors prescribe exclusively material medicines, (such as cod-liver and aspirin) to their patients and disregard the health benefits of things like love, compassion, and empathy, which are harder to quantify. In Michael’s previous conversation with Dr. MacNabola, Michael simply took his advice as true. Here, Michael suggests love as a medicine, showing how much his confidence has grown.
Themes
