Ragnarok

“The thin child, despite the war that was raging, was more afraid of eternal boredom, of doing nothing that mattered, of day after day going nowhere, than she was of death or the end of things . When she thought of death she thought of the little boy across the road who had died of diabetes.”

I picked this passage because this selection explains why the “thin child” would rather read fantasy, mythological stories, as opposed to a religious book, like the Bible. To the thin child, religion and the idea of an eternal life after death bored her. So to counteract with what she was continuously taught in school and in religion, she would read or make up stories with multiple gods; they involved more action and relatable events. Instead of an all-powerful God, her characters were much more than just powerful; they had flaws and personalities such as being a bully or too cunning. She had created them to escape the daily life apocalypses she was experiencing. She wanted her life to have more meaning. These stories gave her life more meaning when she reread them; she was reviving and ending life through her characters.

In addition, most people use religion to give there lives more meaning because of the “story” aspect in religious texts to imagine something much greater. Similar to the thin child, instead of using religion literature-since she found the idea of God and religion to be boring-she would supplement her own stories she found fascinating to cope with the time.  Everyone has their own way with handling situations; she chose stories that broadened her imagination. Also, I wanted to mention the significance of the last line I quoted. She had a very limited personal experience with death. When she thought of death, she thought of the “little boy across the road who had died of diabetes.” This highlights how as a child, she may not have completely had a grasp or a developed idea of death. She was a child who was much more stimulated by the stories she read. They were much larger than life to her. Throughout this book, this premature developed mind helped her completely transform the idea of “death” with the gods.