Reincarnation is a concept that is present in many of the world's cultures. Perhaps most notably, reincarnation is traditionally accepted in Indian culture and in the religious communities that have their origins in India such as Hinduism. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell uses this concept to weave together the many internal stories.
The first protagonist presented is David Ewing, who has a distinctive birthmark. All the protagonists in the following stories have this same birthmark, except for Sloosha's Crossin in which Meronym, not Zachry the protagonist has the birthmark.
This is the main clue that these people are really the reincarnation of the same soul. But an interesting point is that though they have the same soul, they have very differing personalities and characters. But, a recurring theme is that they fight against oppression and evil in some way. This implies that one's personality is temporary and fleeting, but it's core goodness is inherent despite its physical manifestation.
This goodness may be little and insignificant in its time, but it adds up through the accumulation of lifetimes. This is what is addressed in the last line of the book; "only as you gasp your dying breath shall you understand, your life amounted to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean!' Yet what is any ocean but a multitude of drops?" What this line essentially gets at is that each life may be fleeting, but collectively throughout time these short lives can truly be of great consequence.
Ugh. I hate it when I look back right after finishing and see a typo.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that one person alone can change the world, but a group of people with the same beliefs may be able to make an impression.
ReplyDeleteIm going to have to agree with nick on this one, it would take a lot to make a change in the world and I don't believe one single person will make this happen. possibly a group or something but even that is a long shot
ReplyDeleteStephen never says a single person can change the world. He says although life is fleeting a short life "can truly be of great consequence". And throughout history, we have seen people whose lives have had terrible consequence: Jesus,Hitler,Nelson Mandela, Socrates, Jesus, Muhammad, etc. As for the question can a group change the world, I only have to type the word "Nazi" to make my point. And there are many people who we haven't heard of who have created great consequence; parents, teachers, friends. Peanuts writer Charles Schulz has an interesting idea which reminds me of this. http://www.manausa.com/charles-schulz-philosophy/
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your sentence that says "This implies that one's personality is temporary and fleeting, but it's core goodness is inherent despite its physical manifestation." I definitely agree that goodness can be found underneath the personality. I really like this concept. However, I also feel that perhaps true goodness should be reflected in one's personality?
ReplyDeletegoing from jessica's quote, i feel it's impossible to say whether or not the soul itself is inherently good or evil. i think that should be determined by the personalities as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI would go further to say that I'm not sure whether a soul can be inherently good or evil, but it is likely some mixture of the two.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it takes one person to change the world but I do think it takes one person to make people see that the world could be different.....if that makes any sense
ReplyDeleteA famous quote attributed to Margaret Mead, a U.S. anthropologist (1901-1978): Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
ReplyDeleteI'm particularly interested in Stephen's claim that each of the reincarnated characters "fight against oppression and evil in some way." I can see this clearly with many of the characters, but would like more detail on the way(s) in which Frobisher (the composer) does this.
TATY SAYS: I really love the last line of the book. It makes me think of the question of when you die how many people will know the impact you have made on the world. We all make a difference but it’s the debate of how much affect one person can have like Peter was talking about in his comment.
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