Prophet Song

“He steps about the room looking though not seeing, the newspaper might be already forgotten, he is seeking something within the shade of his own thinking and cannot alight upon it. He turns then and studies his wife as she feeds the child on her breast and the sight of this comforts him, a sense of life contracted to an image so at odds with malice his mind begins to cool.”

Larry’s “seeking something within the shade of his own thinking” is a depiction of Larry struggling with the premonition and foreboding that something bad is going to happen. He “cannot alight upon it” because the threat to his life and safety is incomprehensible, given the society he has lived in his entire life. This uncertainty and inability to grapple with the shifts in society emphasizes the tension of the novel and reveals how dystopian societies form around individual uncertainty and confusion. This instability is juxtaposed with the natural and domestic image of a mother breastfeeding her child, an image that highlights how radically the Stacks’ world is about to change.

“[T]he real work of a microbiologist is standing at the bench for long hours seeking evidence, testing hypothesis against reality, against whatever an individual might seek to believe, the answer true or false is found in the result.”

The construction of the dystopian society in this novel is based on perceptions of fact versus fiction. As a scientist, Eilish sees truth in facts that can be proven. This quote emphasizes the importance of that scientific mindset against bigotry or misconceptions that people want to believe in. The willingness to believe in something that can be proven to be untrue is one of the central conflicts that develop within this society.

“We are both scientists, Eilish, we belong to a tradition but tradition is nothing more than what everyone can agree on—the scientists, the teachers, the institutions, if you change ownership of the institutions then you can change ownership of the facts, you can alter the structure of belief, what is agreed upon.”

In a moment of lucidity, Simon explains to Eilish how the regime is able to control truth and reality by controlling social institutions. This quote emphasizes the philosophical nature of belief versus the hard facts of science. This quote challenges the conception that fact is always fact and highlights how society and culture can change perceptions of facts in ways that degrade those facts. This further highlights how society can warp individual understanding of truth.

“Then she sees it, a lone magpie tricked to a tree, watching for a time how the bird flicks its wings and yet remains fixed to the branch as it bends with the wind, seeing now that it is not she who must hold on but Larry, he must hold on and meet whatever he is being met with, sensing his strength now and knowing it, stepping inside his strength and clasping it to her body.”

In Irish folklore, the magpie is a symbol of luck, both good and bad. Seeing a magpie is therefore fortuitous in some way. The magpie is an intelligent bird, which is emphasized symbolically in this quote as Eilish learns a lesson about how to move forward while observing the magpie.

“The detective inspector looks across and finds her gaze and there is a moment between them where he puzzles at her and then he smiles and it is the smile of somebody you know to say hello to on the street, a husband, a father, a volunteer in the community, and yet behind that smile lies the shadow of the state.”

In this quote, Lynch emphasizes the deceptive nature of the state through the symbolism of the detective inspector’s smile. The smile is a façade that masks the detective’s antagonism. It is also crucially an effective mask because despite being a part of the regime, he’s also—like Eilish—just another person. Throughout the novel, Eilish witnesses neighbors and other acquaintances do, say, and believe terrible things on behalf of the NAP regime.

“[S]ometimes not doing something is the best way to get what you want, sometimes you have to be quiet and keep your head down, sometimes when you get up in the morning you should spend more time choosing your colours.”

This quote reveals Eilish’s desire to protect her family even if it comes at the cost of going along with new restrictions and risks. While Molly wants to wear a white scarf in a show of solidarity with her father and other protestors, Eilish is cautious about bringing more unwanted attention to her family during an unprecedented situation. This quote captures the ways in which authoritarian regimes keep citizens frightened to subdue them and force them into obedience.

“For an instant she is met with some inchoate feeling of death, of victory and slaughter in vast numbers, of history laid under the feet of the vanquisher and she stands as though with some great blade in her hand, she brings the blade down and shivers with exaltation then takes a sharp breath.”

As Eilish and her children attend a protest/vigil for four boys slain by the government, her fear temporarily turns to a feeling of empowerment amid a collective of fellow protestors. This quote also foreshadows a devastating battle between citizen and government over issues of freedom and justice, suggesting that whoever wins the battle determines the perception of history. 

As Eilish and her children attend a protest/vigil for four boys slain by the government, her fear temporarily turns to a feeling of empowerment amid a collective of fellow protestors. This quote also foreshadows a devastating battle between citizen and government over issues of freedom and justice, suggesting that whoever wins the battle determines the perception of history. 

This quote notes Mark’s character development as he shifts his tone in response to the increasingly dystopian society. Mark evolves from being a typical adolescent into a hardened and cold young man determined to fight for freedom, much like his father did. Eilish realizes that he is his own person and that there is little she can do to change his mindset.

“Watching them all now with this feeling of the moment vanishing, knowing she will remember them like this, her children seated around the table, sensing the wheel of disorder coming loose into spin.”

On Mark’s 17th birthday, he asserts his choice to stay in the country rather than move across the border to a boarding school. Lynch highlights Eilish’s fear of time slipping away as she can no longer enjoy her children’s childhoods because of the threat they live under. She worries about her children’s well-being and the innocence and security they are losing. This concern is shown using the metaphor of the wheel of disorder.

“She looks to her son in the highchair, the eyes that smile are from a world of pure and ecstatic devotion, his blond hair fingered with mashed apple and rice.”

Ben’s character is important symbolically because his innocence and oblivion are juxtaposed with the terror of violence and social upheaval the family faces. He only knows unconditional love and comfort because he is a baby. His innocence and purity represent hope for the future and joy in the present.

“I no longer have my freedom, you need to understand, there is no freedom to think or to do or to be when we give in to them, I cannot live my life like that, the only freedom left to me is to fight.”

Mark advocates for himself and his future by joining the rebel army. Mark is willing to risk his personal safety for hope for his future. This quote defines the problems with acquiescing to an authoritarian power and depicts a shift in Mark’s character as he becomes both more mature and more rebellious; it characterizes him as a hero.

“The dawn has come and yet the day has fled, she can see this now, how the light that makes insubstantial the dark is false and it is the night that remains true and unshaken, seeing how she called her children into her arms knowing her comfort was false, this house no place of shelter.”

A mother’s arms and a house are typically symbols of safety and comfort. In this quote, Lynch highlights that these comforts are now futile. The futility of the safety of a mother and a house emphasizes the danger the characters are in. By making home unsafe, this dystopian society has built their power from robbing people of a respite for their fear. Throughout the novel, Eilish characterizes the regime and its forces as “dark” and “darkness”; that it is “night that remains true and unshaken” suggests that the regime is winning the battle for what constitutes reality and truth.

“What I see now, Eilish, is a black hole opening before us, we have passed the boundary of escape and even when the regime has been overturned the black hole will continue to grow so that it will consume this country for decades.”

This quote emphasizes that the changes, betrayals, and horrors that have occurred in Ireland during this dystopian time will leave a permanent scar on residents’ identities. The “black hole” is a metaphor for the loss of security and safety, mirroring other references to darkness to characterize the regime. While Eilish’s “when” assumes that the regime won’t hold power forever, she understands that it will take decades for her and her fellow residents to move on with their lives. This quote emphasizes the bleak mood of the novel.

“[W]atching the people in line around her and despising what she sees, the common run of mankind, what are they all but animals in docile servitude to the needs of the body, tribe, and state.”

As the country crumbles into chaos, Eilish sees more behavior from people that makes her ashamed. This shame in human nature’s desire to align with a tribe at all costs for the sake of safety challenges the idea that people have no other choice but to succumb to the chaotic life that the state forces them into.

“History is a silent record of people who could not leave, it is a record of those who did not have a choice, you cannot leave when you have nowhere to go and have not the means to go there, you cannot leave when your children cannot get a passport, cannot go when your feet are rooted in the earth and to leave means tearing off your feet.”

Lynch’s novel is of the dystopian literature tradition, a genre that challenges the relationship between individual and national identity. Throughout history, there have been innumerable examples of authoritarian governments, civil wars, and other violent events that have prompted people to leave their homes—or at least to contemplate it. A common criticism surrounding these moments in history is why more people didn’t leave. This quote defends the human spirit to fight for their own home, as well as the human instinct to do what’s best for their loved ones no matter what the cost. It also illustrates the practical aspects of leaving: Refugees need resources—such as money, documentation, and a safe destination—to flee. The ability to leave is a privilege that many do not have.

“Your father is with you all the time, she says, even when he’s gone […] he will always be here because the love we are given when we are loved as a child is stored forever inside us, and your father has loved you so very much, his love for you cannot be taken away nor erased […] it is a law of the human heart.”

Eilish comforts Molly when she misses her father and shares a dream that he had about her. This quote portrays The Power of the Family Unit and love. Whatever has happened to Larry, the love he gave to his family endures, and therefore his memory lives on. The “law of the human heart” is a triumph because it can overcome even the fear and chaos of living in a dystopian society.

“She rubs her thumb along his jaw wondering what it is a child this age can know of the world, the odour of fear on her body, the child growing to know the smell that cannot be wished away nor suppressed, the child absorbing the mother’s trauma and storing it for later use, the child become adult stricken by dread and blind anxiety, lashing out at those around him, she is holding a damaged man in her arms.”

Ben’s future is a major concern in this novel. This quote highlights the threat Ben faces and Eilish’s cognizance of the biological and psychological impacts of stress and trauma. He only has a biological response to the world around him, and the security of his mother is how he determines that biological response. The fate of the nation is under threat in part because the babies of society and war will grow up with the aftereffects of long-term trauma. This quote emphasizes that even though the Stacks are surviving, they are not truly living.

“She watches the flames as though in a trance, watches the firelight dance before their eyes, the firelight reaching for the eyes that remain in darkness, and who are these people without their eyes and who are these people with their eyes blinded to the future, these people trapped between the fire and the dark?”

This quote depicts the trauma of the people making their way to the border, hoping for freedom. Throughout the narrative, “darkness” is a metaphor for The Tyranny of Authoritarian Society. The “eyes that remain in darkness” symbolize the dehumanization of people who have been traumatized by the regime and war. The eyes “blinded to the future” represent the loss of hope and therefore the acceptance of dehumanization. Eyes, often called the windows to the soul, thus symbolize their humanity.

“[T]here will be no going out into the darkness after her son though she wishes she could follow, she will stand watching her son but she will not go out to the darkness because she must remain and there is only this for her now, to be a vessel in which to carry the children away from the darkness and there will be no escape from pain and not even the darkness of closing her eyes is peace.”

The darkness in this quote is a metaphor for death. This quote portrays Eilish’s desire to die because Bailey is dead. She realizes that she must continue to live so she can prevent the deaths of her other children, but she reduces herself to a “vessel,” highlighting her feelings of emptiness. Eilish accepts that death will not free her the way she hopes it can. This quote highlights that the tension in Eilish’s life is only increasing.

“It is not that she has forgotten him, it is that when she thinks of him now so little remains, he has become a shadow, an absence in the place where love used to be, or perhaps some small love remains in a chamber of the heart sealed under so much weight.”

By the end of the novel, the fight for survival has overtaken many of Eilish’s past feelings and memories. She still thinks of Larry, but so much trauma has occurred since she last saw him that she can’t summon his memory. The dulling of memory due to trauma is one of the ways that people become dehumanized and succumb to authoritarian abuse. This quote highlights Eilish’s character development and the threat she still faces that she will lose her sense of self. However, the possibility that love is still sealed in the heart is a hopeful note. It suggests that the one thing a government can’t take away from an individual is their love for others.

“[S]he knows that once they walk across this line the weight will begin, that what is left behind will not be left behind at all but will continue to grow in weight and be forever carried on their backs.”

In this quote, Lynch uses metaphor to capture a crucial plot development. The “line” referred to here is both literal and metaphorical: the literal line that is the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, and the metaphorical line that is the past and the future. The “weight” referred to here is a metaphor for the many traumas Molly, Ben, and Eilish will carry into their new lives away from their home. These traumas include guilt, grief, and the feeling of instability.

“I think what I’m trying to say is that I used to believe in free will, if you had asked me before all this I would have told you I was free as a bird, but now I’m not so sure, now, I don’t see how free will is possible when you are caught up within such a monstrosity, one thing leads to another thing until the damn thing has its own momentum and there is nothing you can do, I can see now that what I thought of as freedom was really just struggle and that there was no freedom all along.”

This quote questions the notion of free will. The structures of democracy have sponsored the idea that individuals have free will. Once different people control the institutions of society, however, free will is proven to be a fallacy. The characters in this novel struggle with the sudden and escalating losses of freedoms and autonomy they had taken for granted. Mark sees himself as not having free will and makes the decision to join the rebel army. Eilish has also been stripped of all her joys and structures, but she keeps moving forward to the border. While the characters still have opportunities to make such choices, the narrative highlights that such life-and-death decisions are hardly decisions at all, and they’re certainly not “freedom.”

“[S]he looks at her infant son, this child who remains an innocent and she sees how she has run afoul of herself and grows aghast, seeing that out of terror comes love and out of love the world can be redeemed again, and she can see that the world does not end, that it is vanity to think the world will end during your lifetime in some sudden event, that what is sung by the prophets is but the same song sung across time.”

This quote captures the moment in which Eilish remembers her true self and regains hope. Her baby Ben inspires her to remember that her mission in life is to believe that there is a future possible for her children. If she gives up on the future, then she is essentially giving up on her children. Eilish recognizes that societies throughout history have faced mortality and destruction; societies throughout time have believed that their conflicts are cataclysmic. Eilish therefore refuses to believe that this is the end of the story for her family. This quote also refers to the title of the novel, highlighting the connection between Lynch’s narrative and the centuries of narratives about end-of-the-world scenarios that have not come to pass.