2. Meaning of the amulet (Discuss before reading last chapter)

[John]

2. What is the meaning or symbolism of the amulet (Jacob's Ladder)?

[John]

Jacob's ladder is a novelistic exposition of, and the amulet is symbolic of, St. Aquinas's second argument for the existence of God. A neatly and cleverly constructed story.

[Manuel]

Right. As I said in the last paragraph in the book (which I added to this edition, it was not in the original publication) the symbolism of the shape of the amulet was a surprise for me... I had designed the amulet and given it a name before I had an inkling of its possible meaning. Then all the pieces started falling in place. For this reason I came to suspect that the origin of the inspiration for this part of the novel should be sought in the fourth Echelon :-)

[Celia]

The ladder structure shows different echelons. The top echelon is God. When I was a child I sang 'We are climbing Jacob's Ladder'.
There are five verses, each one siung in a progressively higher key. The image of climbing toward God stays with me still.