“I imagine them moving through the dust. I imagine their skin mixing with the skin of Mr. Myers, their breath mingling with his breath, their lives mingling with his life, with his death.”
– My Name is Mina, p. 177
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“In some places, people believe that the soul never leaves this word, but takes the form of a bird. Imagine if that were true – that the birds we see around us are people’s souls.”
– Mina, My Name is MIna, p. 74
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Obvious that it is part of his craft, Almond also brings in superstition and science to support this theme: characters contemplate the role of shoulder blades in human anatomy (where our wings were?), how dust mixes the living’s skin cells with those of the dead Ernie Myers, and whether the souls of birds could be those of the deceased. |
David Almond’s use of magical realism also connects Earth and Heaven. Both the arthritic, winged man in Skellig and the mysterious bloke sitting on the spring bench in Slog’s Dad are characters who blur the line between the living and the dead. The nature of Skellig – beast? owl? angel? – remains unsolved, but hints of divinity shine through. And in Slog’s Dad, the bloke relays information about Slog’s father, but his identify is never solidified by Almond. Also, many characters teeter between worlds, like Michael’s sickly baby sister in Skellig and Bobby’s coughing dad in The-Fire-Eaters.
Using Chapter Five, “Danse Macabre” of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book – in which the stroke of midnight commences a street dance between the living and dead - could be a supplemental text to aid the teaching of this theme.
By erasing the concrete line between the living and the dead, Almond’s books lessen the threat of death, offer a small solace to the grieving, postulate the possibility of a heaven on earth and eternal life, and raise the miraculousness of Earth.