In my next life I hope that I am a giraffe. Or maybe a sea turtle. Reincarnation is the idea that when one dies, one gets reborn as another living being. Whether that be a human, mammal, or insect. Some religions with this theory of reincarnation also believe that how you act in your current life, determines what you will get reincarnated into. So if you commit academic dishonesty on an entire blog post for Mrs. Laclair's first year of trying out the blogs for students...you might get reincarnated as a beetle. On the other hand, if you are a good person who helps and cares for others, you have a better chance of getting reincarnated into a lion, or into a privileged family. I think that this concept is intriguing. Now that I have read about 3/4 of the book, I have discovered that reincarnation is a large component to Cloud Atlas.
In the next section that I read, "Sloosha's Crossin' An' Ev'rythin' After", reincarnation is explicitly discussed as a belief of the main character, Zachary, along with the people who surround him. When a foreigner named Meronym from a ship called Prescient comes to Zachary's village, it is apparent that the two are very different. Meronym is extremely smart and has seen the world, while Zachary, the narrator is not as smart in that sense. This is apparent with the language he uses to write the story. Zachary and Meronym contrast in what they believe in. Zachary discovers this when he asks Meronym about her ideas about death. Meronym responds by saying that "'We Prescients b'lief when you die you die an' there ain't no comin' back.' But what about your soul? I asked. 'Prescients don't b'lief souls exist.' But ain't dyin' terrorsome cold if there ain't nothin' after?". This quote shows how the characters think differently about death. I think that this section is very important because it is the first one to go out and introduce the idea of reincarnation. Meronym has a comet birthmark, much like the ones of other characters in the sections. David Mitchell is trying to lead you into believing that the individuals from different time periods with comet birthmarks were reincarnated and therefore connected to each other through past lives. You are forced to think of this when the section clearly discusses the idea of reincarnation, and then mentions that the "Lady Moon lit a whoahsome wyrd birthmark jus' b'low my friend's shoulder blade as she sleeped fin'ly. A sort o' tiny hand mark it were, yay, a head o' six streaks strandin' off, pale 'gainst her dark skin, an' I curioed why I'd never seen it before". Meronym has a birthmark in the same spot as all the other characters who have birthmarks. In the other sections it is mentioned to look like a comet, but Zachary does not seem to have this kind of knowledge of comets, so he describes it in his own way.
This section was my second favorite behind the first Sonmi section. Although the language and the way it is written can be very hard to follow, I thought the idea behind the religious beliefs were interesting. Sonmi is thought to be a god in Zachary's culture, which ties with the section about Sonmi, but is confusing as to why she became a god-like figure. I am still confused about that, but am sure that when I finish the book my questions will be answered.
Good discussion of the comet and the idea of reincarnation. You might consider why Mitchell chooses a comet, particularly if you know that comets (like Haley's comet) return at regular intervals.
ReplyDeleteBesides the comet, what other similarities do you see between the various sections?
And I don't know about a beetle; that's pretty low.
Also, I forgot to mention that in the movie, the same actors play the main characters in each of the sections, to tie in to the reincarnation idea you discuss. An interesting idea, but I'm not sure how effective it is.
DeleteI had not thought of what the comet symbolizes! That is a really cool idea of a a soul returning in other forms, much like a comet returns in regular intervals. I have continuously noted the stressful environments in each section, and the fact that there is one character in each section with the birthmark that continuously better's the situation. For example, Timothy Cavendish makes it out of that senior home (gave me so much anxiety thinking about that happening to me). Another example is when Meronym helps Zachary with his sister, and with coping with the tragedy to Zachary's community. I also think that having the same characters for the reincarnated souls would be easier for someone who did not read the book to understand, but defeats the point. Reincarnation is about the mind and soul being reborn, and has nothing to do with physical features.
DeleteFirst of all, props for liking the "Sloosha's Crossin' An' Ev'rythin' After" story; it hit the bottom of my list because of the future slang and comprehension difficulties. Secondy, great job discussing how that story really drives home the idea of reincarnation. While I first picked up on the idea of it when Luisa Rey experienced some extreme deja vu, to the point of comparing it to memories, when she read Frobisher's letters, I had no idea where Mitchell was going with it. I think the passage on page 308 where Zachry compares souls to clouds crossing the skies of time is particularly important because it illustrates this theme of reincarnation while providing a tie-in to the title. Having just finished the book, I think Sonmi-451 is seen as a god because she was a revolutionary who sparked "the Fall" by attacking Fabricant slavery and dying a martyr. As for how she evolved from a person to a god is unclear, but Isaac Sachs' passage provides a good idea: "[an event] as it actually occurred descends into obscurity as its eyewitnesses die off, documents perish [...] Yet a virtual [event] created from reworked memories, papers, hearsay, fiction- in short, belief- grows ever 'truer'" (392). While we've both recognized reincarnation as a theme, I'm still a little fuzzy on its purpose. My best idea is that it symbolizes a continuity across generations. Thoughts?
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