After finishing "Lincoln and the Bardo," my first reaction was, "That's it?" The novel left me with many unanswered questions. What were the "spirits" that tried to convince the ghosts to leave the Bardo? What exists after the Bardo? What was Reverend Thomas' experience before coming to the Bardo? Why do children perish and suffer in the Bardo? What happened to each of the ghosts after they left the Bardo? Are the answers to these questions meant to be subjective? Can I answer them simply by looking back and interpreting the novel?
First, let's begin with the spirits that visit the Bardo. They appear to each ghost as a different image: one that will entice their deepest desires. The question I ask myself most about these spirits is whether they are good or evil. They appear to want the best for the ghosts in the Bardo, but is it possible that they are acting under a guise to manipulate the ghosts into coming with them? My first reaction was to think that the spirits were trying to lure the ghosts to some kind of afterlife, such as Heaven or Hell, but it was unclear to me which one it was. It is entirely possible that it was neither.
Once I read about Reverend Thomas' experience before coming to the Bardo, I wondered if the "spirits" that judged the ghosts were the same that came to the ghosts in the Bardo. This made me believe that it is possible that the disguised spirits were trying to bring the ghosts in the Bardo to the same judgement that Reverend Thomas had run from. This, however, raises the question: why did thee ghosts not go straight to judgement? I believe that is has something to do with not knowing or accepting that they are dead. This novel revolved heavily around each ghosts' regrets and unfinished business. This obsession ties them to the Bardo by making them unable to let go.
I think one of the most intriguing concepts in this novel is the children who remain in the Bardo. The force that overcomes them seems to be made up of the souls of sinners. My first thought was maybe these souls need to feed on pure souls (ie children) and can only access them in the Bardo. Building on this, it is possible that these souls are avoiding judgement, just like Reverend Thomas. We see what happens to adults that stay in the Bardo for too long; they become muddled and fuzzy and lose communication. Maybe by feeding on children, these souls gain the energy to successfully live in the Bardo.
I think the whole point of these questions is that they are subjective. I believe that fact that they can have many interpretations and theories is one of the messages of the novel. Just as there are many possible answers to these questions, there are many beliefs about the afterlife. I think the novel not revealing what exists beyond the Bardo reflects how we can never know what afterlife exists until we are dead ourselves.
I found myself asking similar questions while reading Lincoln in the Bardo, and found the interpretations presented in this post very similar to the conclusions that I drew from the text. If Saunders were to provide explanations for everything discussed in the book, it would almost derail many of the messages that he is trying to provide and would alter the overall mood. I didn’t find this book attempting to explain the afterlife, but, instead, found myself focusing on the interactions between characters, which is essentially what these questions use as a primary reference. Perhaps what Saunders is trying to portray is that, although we cannot always distinguish intent from falsehood in conversation, we can always draw conclusions and rational guesses from communication with others. It can be argued that the spirits that interacted with the ghosts in the Bardo have the same interests in mind as the other ghosts within the novel. After all, what interest should vollman have in interacting with willie? Other than an attempt to overcome the mundane life he lives with the other two major characters in the novel, he does not necessarily demonstrate an interest in developing willie as a character or person until later in the story, when willie relies on his help. I feel as though the complexities that envelope the human mind and the paradoxes that communication creates is what Saunders attempts to portray through these open-ended questions. This is also presented in the numerous historical texts that are used which falsify the accounts present before it.
ReplyDeleteI am intrigued by your analysis of the book since my analysis differed slightly. I think the spirits are actually a reflection of their inner desire to move on, and this causes the apparitions to take the form of what they love most. This is in direct contrast to the various disabilities’ they suffer, like Vollman’s erection or Bevins’ many eyes and hands which remind them of the sadness of their pasts. Like you said this book does leave the reader with a lot of unanswered questions but I think this was Saunders’s way of putting us in the position of the spirits in the Bardo who are staying because they are afraid of the unknown. Just like them, we don’t know what is next or even if they know what’s next (like Reverend Thomas) they don’t know what judgment awaits them or what they are being judged on. They don’t have security in the Bardo either, as you mentioned, because children get besieged and adults fade into strange shadows of themselves (132), but they choose to stay anyway because it is an insecurity they have grown accustomed to. However, the Lincolns force them to consider what is holding them back.
ReplyDeleteYour comment does an excellent job posing questions that one cannot fully answer after reading the novel. For instance, I would agree that the spirits that appear in the Bardo are probably neither good nor evil, and likely work for the same entity as the spirits who judge Reverend Thomas. I would like to further build upon the question’s related to the spirits with the following theory. In order to be judged by the spirts one must consent to being judged. Everyone who does not consent to being judged by the spirits for whatever reason (you haven’t accepted you’re dead for instance) lives in the Bardo until they consent to leave with the spirits whereupon they are judged. It also appears to be possible to withdraw said consent while you are being judged, which explains what happened to Thomas and why he ended up in the Bardo. It also explains why instead of chasing him the simply said “Tell no one about this Or it will be worse upon your return” (193). The spirits therefore serve as temptations to tempt someone into giving consent to be judged. After all “God” probably doesn’t employ bounty hunters. The children are a sort of scare tactic to try and get the residents to pass. After all the “God” doesn’t seem to be above scare tactics based on his threats to Thomas. When asked if they are in hell the spirits making up the carapace respond “not the worst one” (268). This implies that they are in some kind of Hell. Spirits in Hell are still under the control of “God” after all.
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