His Dark Materials: Putting an End to Death
Death is inevitable for all of us. Most of us fear death and
do everything we can to evade its arrival. People also wonder where we go after
we die. Beliefs on this subject vary massively depending on culture and
religious beliefs among other things.
In His Dark Materials, the witches have a prophecy about
Lyra playing the role of Eve and ‘falling’. As discussed, this means her
growing up, leaving behind her childhood and her innocence and attracting dust.
The prophecy states that she will bring about the ‘end of destiny’ and must do
so of her own accord without knowing in advance what she must do.
Death
Death is the end of life, whether it happens due to injury,
illness or just old age. We will all have to face death at some point. We are
mortal. It’s a fact of life, and it will happen. It’s normal to fear it, and to
feel angry or upset when a loved one dies. Especially if it is sudden and
unexpected.
So what happens when we die? Physically it is very clear.
The heart stops beating, breathing stops, brain activity shuts down and the
body’s physiological systems stop functioning. Eventually the body will
decompose. This sounds harsh but it’s the natural order of things, and this
process provides nutrients in the soil to feed plants. The circle of life, as
told by Mufasa in the Lion King.
The metaphysical sense is different. Whether you call it the
mind, the soul, the spirit or something else, the essence that makes up an
individual person. What happens to that part of us after death? Does our essence
go somewhere, and does it depend on how you behaved in life?
Heaven/Nirvana/Peace
Many religions speak of or promise a peaceful afterlife
where you are happy and comforted. This may be something you have to earn by
behaving in line with the teachings of your deities. You’ll be familiar with
the concept of ‘heaven’ or ‘paradise’ from the Abrahamic religions: Christianity,
Islam, Judaism. Eastern religions like Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism speak of
Nirvana – a place of rest and peace earned through good karma.
Hell/Punishment
Some religions also speak of a place of eternal punishment
for sinners or those who go against God. This is particularly notable in
Christianity and Islam. Judaism has Sheol which is a place of darkness but not
necessarily of torment.
In the eastern religions of Busshism, Jainism and Hinduism,
there is a place called Naraka which is a temporary place where you suffer and
earn good karma, or are purified. Sikhism has no belief in any kind of hell.
Purgatory
Fairly unique to the Roman Catholic sect of Christianity,
purgatory is a temporary place of purification before you can be admitted to
heaven.
Other Options
Some people believe that when we die, nothing happens and we
are simply gone. Or that ghosts stick around, intangible and perhaps looking
for unfinished business.
The Witches
In Lyra’s world, the witches have their own Goddess of Death,
Yambe-Akka. She welcomes dying witches with open arms and a smile, a peaceful
and welcoming event for them.
Fear of Mortality
People fear death, for themselves and their loved ones. We
fear the unknown because we cannot possibly confirm for certain what happens
after death. It’s natural to have this fear. Things are less scary when we
understand them, and death is something we don’t understand.
I think of Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 5, when Buffy’s
mother dies. It’s a heart-breaking point of the series and the way each of the
characters reacts to the news is different. But it is Anya’s reaction that I
find particularly gut-wrenching.
She doesn’t understand why it happened. She lived for over a
thousand years as an immortal vengeance demon, and didn’t much care for the
lives and deaths of humans. Now human again, Anya has to face up to the reality
of mortality. That someone she knows and cares about is dead and there’s
nothing to be done to bring her back.
The Land of the Dead
In The Amber Spyglass, Lyra and Will travel to the land of
the dead. They leave their demons behind when on the ferry. They discover that
the afterlife is nothing but a quiet empty place full of ghosts. The ghosts
slowly lose their memories and fall into despair, with the harpies taunting
them by reminding them of every little thing they did wrong in their lifetime.
The harpies were charged with watching over the land of the
dead by the Authority, and to feed on the misery of their charges. It’s a
bleak, sad, empty place where everyone is treated the same. The boatman
especially highlights this, pointing out he’s had rich people try to bribe him,
people try to threaten him. Everyone ends up going to the same place regardless
of who they were in life.
There is no judgement, no heaven, no hell. Whatever sins or
righteous deeds you did in life, no matter how much penance you do, you still
end up in this place which is nothing. You are forced to accept you are dead
and now you have nothing left.
In order to cross the water to the land of the dead, Lyra
must meet her Death. A being created for every person at their birth. Your
Death follows you throughout your life, ducking out of sight for most people
but never leaving your side.
There is at least one world where people know about their
Deaths and see them, finding their presence comforting and reassuring. When
your time is up, your Death takes you by the hand and leads you to the ferry.
Lyra and Will seek their loved ones and plan to escape the
land of the dead. They also look for closure from the people they have lost, to
assuage their guilt and say a final goodbye. How many of us wish we could have
this chance to talk to a loved one, just one more time, after they have passed
away?
The Harpies
The harpies were tasked with watching over the ghosts and
keeping them miserable. Lyra begins to tell a story, with her usual lies, and
the harpies know she is lying and attack her. Later, she tells another story,
this time a true one and the harpies listened and were nourished by it.
They agree to lead Lyra and Will to a place high enough for
them to cut through into another world using the Subtle Knife. In exchange for
true stories, the harpies agree to lead the dead to this window. They make exceptions
for very young people who did not live long enough to have stories.
This is the ‘end of destiny’ prophesised. An end to death.
The ghosts are able to re-join the universe, their atoms becoming part of
everything. A peaceful ending, returning to the world and remaining part of it
forever instead of misery and eternal emptiness.
When they learn the windows must be closed, they decide to
keep living full lives to create enough Dust to allow the window for the dead
to remain open forever. To ensure that death remains a peaceful and joyful
thing instead of something to fear. The ghosts splitting apart as they re-join
the world is described like bubbles of happiness.
What does it all mean?
The lesson to be learned here is to live our lives and
treasure our experiences and relationships over superficial and material gains.
To live more for the now and ensure we have good, true stories to tell at the
end of our lives.
Our deaths may come at any time, sudden and unexpected or after
a long battle with cancer. We cannot evade death forever, but perhaps we can believe
in a peaceful end and embrace it as we did life. We’ll never truly know what
happens after we die, but perhaps we need not fear it so much.
This part of the story does also highlight a lot of the
hypocrisy of organised religion that is a major theme of the books. People are
not judged for their sins and virtues and separated into the good and the evil.
Everyone ends up in the same place.
Father Gomez will have ended up here, after being killed by
an angel. So all of his pre-emptive penance would be for nothing as he would
not be judged by anyone. And if he spent his entire life doing nothing but
penance for a future sin, he probably doesn’t have a great story to tell the
harpies.
So what do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts about
this. As mentioned, I am an atheist, and I’m not sure what I believe awaits us
after we die. But I always embrace the idea that your own faith and beliefs are
important to you and you have the right to express them.
Thanks for reading!
Emi the Cat Lady 💜
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