Ask the Author: Robert Cely Interview

[Maryann]

1- Why do the stars play such a prominent role in the story?

The stars have always represented the eternal. Aristotle looked at the world around him and saw the mutable, changeable world, but when he looked up he saw constancy in the heavens. The stars, as a result, came to represent the eternal, transcendent world.

Without any notion of transcendence, then the best we can become is an economic animal. For Alistair, his recognition of the stars was the beginning of his transformation. Likewise, at the end, he knew the people needed to see the stars if they would be transformed as well. Without the heavenly things, we are left only with earthly things.

2- What makes Rabon so powerful?

Rabon is a man, powerful in his own right, that takes advantage of a people that have lost all reason. The people outside the wall represent our more numinous, spiritual and faithful sides. Opposed to a people who only believe in the few things their senses can perceive, the men outside the wall have come to believe in any and every thing. A life without any discrimination at all is a life that is groundless, lacking any ability to tell right from wrong, or even have a sense that there is right from wrong. In such a situation, you invite the potential for any power, if it is strong enough, to take over with very little resistance. And a power that seeks to lead an indiscriminate people will not have to answer to justice or truth.

3- Is the Eternal Song the same as destiny? Does it control people and things to a certain degree?

The Eternal Song is much like destiny. It is the will that flows from God to His creation, guiding them along the path that they are supposed to go. The Song compels us, it leads us, and if we follow, it is a source of energy and power. It is more than morals or ethics as it leads a person into the fulfillment of all his potential and the maturing of his life. But the Song does not make us do anything. As stated in the book, man himself is a singer. What he was meant to do was magnify the Eternal Song, create theme and variation and diversity. Instead he often uses that ability to magnify and serve the self. This ability to thwart our own destiny is crucial in God’s great work of the universe. Forcing people by an irresistible destiny is contrary to God’s plan. Whatever universe such a compelling would create is not the one He is currently fashioning.

4- What is the purpose of the ugly women at Rabon’s court that everyone believes are beautiful?

The ugly women at Rabon’s court are another symptom of a world that has lost its moorings. In the early decades of the twentieth century the popular movements in art were rejecting ideals, eternals, truth and reasoning. The art reflected this belief in nothing. Many set out to create works that were deliberately ugly, shocking and scandalous. Without the guidance received from ideals grounded in truth they were easily led astray, seeking to turn everything on its head. What was considered beautiful became ugly. What was ugly was beautiful. I think over time we have even lost our ability to recognize beauty, at least true beauty. Much of what is vile and disgusting is paraded around as art, just as the ugly, over-painted women at Rabon’s court were considered beautiful, while the true beauty was dismissed as passe and ugly.


5- Alistair is told that nothing will harm him he stays in the road. Does that mean to suggest that nothing bad will happen to us as long as we are doing what we are supposed to?

That’s always a hard idea for faithful believers to understand. It’s something that’s reinforced in us from an early age. We’re always taught that if we behave and follow the rules then everything will work out for us. The reality is that sometimes you can do everything right and have it still turn out wrong.

What we often forget is to distinguish between hardship and failure, and further to distinguish between failure in man’s eyes and failure in God’s. Many people ended their lives as wretched failures in the estimation of the world, but were magnificently successful as God reckons things. Hardship is something we will always experience, and we should expect it. Because we face hardship and distress does not mean we are doing something wrong, it just means that life is hard. If we stay on the path to God, we will face hardships, but we will not fail. I think that’s the message that He is always reminding us of. Trust in me, he says, and you won’t fail. Will you ever hurt? Sure. But you won’t fail.