When merfolk accept baptism, they become mortal human beings but receive a soul. When their king, Vanimen, comes, newly christened, from the church and urges his people to accept Christ, they have been waiting:
"...under budding leaves, in a hard rain." (V, p. 152)
Budding leaves mean new life. Is hard rain cleansing, like baptism?
Later, however, when Vanimen's daughter is christened, nature does not rejoice:
"The weather had turned unseasonably cold. Wind drove clouds across a wan sky and soughed in leaves that were fast changing color. Shadows came and went." (VIII, pp. 239-240)
This time, the emphasis is not on her salvation but on her permanent separation from her brother, Tauno, who stands apart and will not accept Christendom.
Always watch the weather.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I did notice, in my past readings of THE MERMAN'S CHILDREN, Tauno's sense of alienation from his sister and the other mer people who accepted baptism, but not how that use of the weather was meant to stress that alienation. It's because of YOU that I finally understood Anderson's use of pathetic fallacies.
Ad astra! Sean
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