While he isn’t faster than a speeding bullet or able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, Skellig is as mysterious and magical as a superhero. He might not have the most charismatic personality, but there is something charming about Skellig, nonetheless. Like all good fantasy characters, Skellig is described in detail by Michael and Mina, his rescuers: “Mina and I gazed at his face, so pale and plaster dry. His skin was cracked and crazed. His lack hair was a tangle of knots. Dust, cobwebs, bluebottles, spiders, beetles clung to him and fell from him. We saw for the first time that he wasn’t old. He seemed like a young man” (85). Vivid imagery colors the readers mind with pictures of Skellig. He is a man but something more than a man. It isn’t until Michael and Mina move him that they realize just how extraordinary Skellig is: “Beneath his jacket were wings that grew out through rips in his shirt. When they were released, the wings began to unfurl from his shoulder blades. They were twisted and uneven, they were covered in cracked and crooked feathers” (94). Perhaps, Skellig is an angel?
Skellig by David Almond is a novel marked by short chapters and repetition. Each chapter is roughly 3-6 pages long, allowing readers to see Michael and Mina develop, relationships form between characters, and the story progress as a whole. The structure also adds to the swift pace with which the story is told. Further, repetition causes the reader to note special attributes or characteristics. In this case, when Michael attempts to communicate with Skellig, he describes Skellig’s response: “He laughed, but he didn’t smile” (19, 28, 31, 55, 75, 76). Because of this repetition, the reader becomes invested in seeing Skellig smile and when he does, it’s incredibly powerful. After Skellig is moved out of the garage, Michael and Mina continue visiting him. On one magical night, they sprout ghostly wings and Skellig, Mina, and Michael hold hands, turning in a circle. It is only then that we first see a glimmer of happiness within Skellig: “I found that I was smiling, that Skellig and Mina were smiling too” (120). This time he didn’t laugh. He smiled.
Even fantasy books are not without insight and life lessons. There are questions in life that will always remain unanswered. For me, why did my marriage end? Why did both my parents get cancer? Why can’t I find the right job? For Mina and Michael, they learn, through the agony of the unknown, about acceptance – “’Sometimes we just have to accept there are things we can’t know. Why is your sister ill? Why did my father die?’ She held my hand. ‘Sometimes we think we should be able to know everything. But we can’t. We have to allow ourselves to see what there is to see, and we have to imagine’” (140).
Acceptance and letting go feel impossible in the moment. I find myself feeling so often like Michael, with tears silently dripping down my face, kittens meowing for attention, and simply wanting to be like Skellig: “I felt the tears trickling through my tightly closed eyelids. I felt Whisper’s claws tugging at my jeans. I wanted to be all alone in an attic like Skellig, with just the owls and the moonlight and an oblivious heart.” An oblivious heart would at times be a blessing. How often have I wished that I didn’t think and feel EVERYTHING? But, an emotionless world would be a world without meaning. Therefore, we must accept what cannot be changed, seek gratitude for what we see, and appreciate the connections we make. The truth is that Skelligs exist, and they aren’t like anything like Superman. They’re merely beautiful people who inspire us when we’re apathetic and strengthen us when we are weak. They teach us about acceptance, love, and joy simply by being.
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