A Canticle for Leibowitz facts for kids
First edition dust jacket
Illustration by George Sottung |
|
| Author | Walter M. Miller Jr. |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | George Sottung |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Published | October 1959 (J. B. Lippincott & Co.) |
| Media type | Print (hardback and paperback) |
| Pages | 320 |
| OCLC | 1451434 |
| Followed by | Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman |
A Canticle for Leibowitz is a science fiction novel by American writer Walter M. Miller Jr.. It was first published in 1959. The story takes place after a terrible nuclear war has destroyed most of the world.
The book is set in a Catholic monastery in the desert of the southwestern United States. It follows the story over thousands of years as civilization slowly rebuilds. The monks of the Albertian Order of Leibowitz work to save the last bits of human scientific knowledge. They keep this knowledge safe until the world is ready to use it again.
The novel is made up of three short stories Miller wrote earlier. These stories were inspired by the author's own experience during World War II. He was part of the bombing of a monastery in Italy. A Canticle for Leibowitz is seen as a classic science fiction book. It has always been available since it was first published. It won the 1961 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel. Its main ideas include religion, history repeating itself, and the relationship between the church and the state. A second book, Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman, was published after Miller's death in 1997.
Contents
The Story of A Canticle for Leibowitz
The book is divided into three main parts. Each part takes place about 600 years after the last.
Before the Story Begins: The Flame Deluge
After the 20th century, a huge nuclear war called the "Flame Deluge" destroyed civilization. After this war, people became very angry at advanced knowledge and technology. They blamed it for creating nuclear weapons. This period was called the "Simplification." During this time, mobs of "Simpletons" would kill anyone who was educated or could even read. Books were burned everywhere. Most people became unable to read or write.
Isaac Edward Leibowitz was a Jewish electrical engineer who worked for the United States military. He survived the war and hid from the angry mobs. He secretly looked for his wife, who he had lost during the war. When he realized she was likely dead, he joined a monastery and became a priest. He decided to dedicate his life to saving knowledge. He did this by hiding books, secretly moving them to safe places, memorizing them, and copying them.
He asked the Church for permission to start a new group of monks. This group would be dedicated to preserving knowledge. He got permission and started the "Albertian Order of Leibowitz" in the desert of the American Southwest. This was possibly near the military base where he worked. Leibowitz was eventually betrayed and killed for his efforts. Later, the Roman Catholic Church honored him, and he became a candidate for sainthood.
Six hundred years after his death, the monastery still keeps the "Memorabilia." These are the collected writings and objects from the 20th-century civilization. They hope these items will help future generations rediscover lost science.
The story is told in three parts: "Fiat Homo", "Fiat Lux", and "Fiat Voluntas Tua".
Part One: Fiat Homo ("Let There Be Man")
In the 26th century, a 17-year-old novice (a monk-in-training) named Brother Francis Gerard of Utah is on a special prayer vigil in the New Mexico desert. While looking for a rock to finish his shelter, Brother Francis meets a Wanderer. This Wanderer seems to be looking for the monastery. He writes Hebrew words on a rock that fits perfectly into Francis's shelter.
When Brother Francis moves the rock, he finds the entrance to an old fallout shelter. Inside are "relics," which are old notes that look like a 20th-century shopping list. He soon realizes these notes seem to have been written by Leibowitz, the founder of his order. This discovery causes a big stir at the monastery. The other monks think the relics belonged to Leibowitz.
Brother Francis's story about the Wanderer, who never actually came to the monastery, gets exaggerated by the other monks. They even spread rumors that the Wanderer was Leibowitz himself appearing to Francis. Francis denies these exaggerations but insists the meeting happened, even though there were no other witnesses. Abbot Arkos, the head of the monastery, worries that finding so many holy relics so quickly might slow down Leibowitz's process to become a saint. Francis is sent back to the desert to finish his vigil and calm things down.
Many years later, the monastery is visited by Church officials investigating Leibowitz's sainthood. Leibowitz is eventually made a saint, partly because of the evidence Francis found. Brother Francis is sent to New Rome to represent his Order at the special ceremony. He brings the documents he found and a beautiful, hand-decorated copy he spent years making as a gift for the Pope.
On his way, he is robbed by "The Pope's Children." This is a sad name for outcast people who have physical differences because their ancestors were affected by radiation from the war. His decorated copy is taken. He manages to keep the original blueprint it was based on. The robbers think the gold-decorated copy is the real treasure and the blueprint is worthless.
Francis finishes his trip to New Rome and meets the Pope. He gives the Pope the blueprint. The Pope tells Francis that the fifteen years he spent making the decorated copy were not wasted. Instead, that work was important for protecting the original document. The Pope also gives Francis gold to buy back his decorated copy. However, Francis is killed on his way back by the Pope's Children. Just before he dies, he sees the Wanderer approaching in the distance. The Wanderer finds and buries Francis's body. The story then briefly follows buzzards who were hoping to eat Francis's body. They fly over the plains and find lots of food near the Red River as a new city-state, based in Texarkana, begins to grow.
Part Two: Fiat Lux ("Let There Be Light")
In the year 3174, the Albertian Order of Saint Leibowitz is still working to save the knowledge from before the Flame Deluge. The new Dark Age is ending, and a new Renaissance (a time of rebirth in learning) is beginning. Thon Taddeo Pfardentrott, a respected scholar, is sent by his cousin Hannegan, the Mayor of Texarkana, to the monastery. Thon Taddeo is very interested in the Order's collection of old knowledge.
At the monastery, Brother Kornhoer, a skilled engineer, has just finished building an "electrical generator." It is powered by a treadmill and creates light for an arc lamp. He gives credit for this invention to Thon Taddeo's earlier work. When Thon Taddeo arrives, he immediately understands how important Brother Kornhoer's invention is. By studying the Memorabilia, Thon Taddeo makes several big "discoveries." He asks the abbot to let him move the Memorabilia to Texarkana. The Abbot Dom Paulo refuses. Instead, he offers to let Thon Taddeo continue his research at the monastery. Before leaving, Thon Taddeo says it could take decades to fully understand all the Memorabilia.
The Wanderer, now called Benjamin, has settled near the monastery as a hermit. He has become friends with the abbot. Before Thon Taddeo leaves, Benjamin visits the monastery to meet him. He wants to see if Thon Taddeo is the long-awaited Messiah.
Meanwhile, Hannegan makes an alliance with the kingdom of Laredo and other nearby cities. They are worried about attacks from nomadic warriors. However, Hannegan is secretly planning to get rid of all his enemies. This would leave him in control of the entire region. Monsignor Apollo, a Church official at Hannegan's court, sends a message to New Rome. He warns that Hannegan plans to attack the Empire of Denver next and use the monastery as a base. For sending this warning, Apollo is killed. Hannegan then starts a split from the Church, saying that being loyal to the Pope is a crime punishable by death. The Church then officially removes Hannegan from the Church.
Part Three: Fiat Voluntas Tua ("Thy Will Be Done")
In the year 3781, humanity has entered a new age of technology. People now have nuclear energy and weapons again. They also have starships and colonies on other planets. Two big world powers, the Asian Coalition and the Atlantic Confederacy, have been in a cold war for 50 years. The Leibowitzian Order's job has grown to include saving all knowledge.
Rumors spread that both sides are putting nuclear weapons in space. There are also rumors that a nuclear weapon has already exploded. This makes people and countries very tense. At the monastery, the current abbot, Dom Jethras Zerchi, tells New Rome that the Church should start the Quo peregrinatur grex pastor secum plan. This plan means "Whither wanders the flock, the shepherd is with them." It is a backup plan for another global disaster. It involves "certain vehicles" the Church has had since 3756.
A "nuclear incident" happens in the Asian Coalition city of Itu Wan. An underground nuclear explosion destroys the city. The Atlantic Confederacy responds by firing a "warning shot" over the South Pacific. People wonder if the city's destruction was on purpose or an accident.
New Rome tells Zerchi to start the Quo peregrinatur plan and get ready to leave in three days. He chooses Brother Joshua to lead the mission. He tells him the mission is an emergency plan to keep the Church going on other planets if there's another nuclear war on Earth. The Order's Memorabilia will also go with them. That night, the Atlantic Confederacy attacks Asian Coalition space platforms. The Asian Coalition responds by using a nuclear weapon against the Confederacy's capital city, Texarkana. Millions of people die. The World Court then calls for a ten-day ceasefire.
The Wanderer appears again at the monastery. This is at the last meal before Brother Joshua and the monks trained for space travel leave on a secret flight to New Rome. They hope to leave Earth on the starship before the ceasefire ends.
During the ceasefire, the monastery offers shelter to people fleeing the areas affected by fallout. The war starts again, and a nuclear explosion happens near the monastery. Abbot Zerchi tries to escape to safety. He brings with him the monastery's ciborium, which holds consecrated bread used in Church services. But it is too late. He is trapped by the falling walls of the monastery. He finds himself under tons of rock and bones as the abbey's old burial places break open. Among the bones is a skull with an arrow hole in its forehead. This is likely Brother Francis Gerard from the first part of the book.
As he is dying under the rubble, Zerchi is surprised to see Mrs. Grales/Rachel. She is a tomato seller and a two-headed person. Mrs. Grales has been knocked unconscious by the explosion and seems to be dying too. As Zerchi tries to give Rachel a special baptism, she refuses. Instead, she takes the ciborium and gives him the consecrated bread. It is suggested that she is special, like the Virgin Mary, and is free from original sin (a Christian idea about human nature). Zerchi soon dies, having seen what seems to be a miracle.
After the abbot's death, the story briefly shows Joshua and the Quo peregrinatur crew. They are getting ready to launch as the nuclear explosions begin. Joshua, the last crew member to get on the starship, knocks the dirt from his sandals. This is a reference to a Bible verse (Matthew 10:14). He whispers, "Sic transit mundus" ("Thus passes the world"). This is a play on a famous Latin phrase meaning "thus passes the glory of the world."
Finally, a short scene shows the effects of the war on nature. Seabirds and fish die from the poisonous fallout. A shark avoids death by swimming to very deep water. It is noted that the shark was "very hungry that season."
Main Ideas in the Book
History Repeats Itself
Many scholars and critics have noticed that the idea of cyclic history (history repeating itself) is a major theme in Miller's works, especially in A Canticle for Leibowitz. This means that human civilization tends to go through similar cycles of growth, destruction, and rebuilding.
The story's circular structure supports this idea. Even though the novel takes place in a made-up future, its three parts represent important stages of Western history.
- The first part, "Fiat Homo," shows the Church saving civilization. This is like the "Age of Faith" after the fall of ancient Rome.
- The second part, "Fiat Lux," focuses on a new growth of "secular learning" (knowledge not tied to religion). This is like the Renaissance when science and faith sometimes disagreed.
- "Fiat Voluntas Tua," the last part, is like our modern civilization. It has amazing technology and focuses on worldly power, but it often forgets about faith and spiritual things.
This theme suggests that societies go through three phases:
- First, they struggle to build themselves in a difficult world.
- Then, after they are built, they grow and expand quickly.
- Finally, the main culture weakens, and new, younger cultures rise up.
Adaptations
- A 15-part radio show based on the novel was made by John Reeves and broadcast in 1981 by National Public Radio (NPR).
- In 1992, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a 90-minute radio play of the first two parts, "Fiat Homo" and "Fiat Lux."
- In 2012, BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast a five-part radio adaptation of "Fiat Homo."
Sequel
Near the end of his life, Miller wrote another book in the Abbey of Saint Leibowitz story, called Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman. This book is much longer than the first one. It takes place in AD 3254, eighty years after the events of "Fiat Lux" but several centuries before "Fiat Voluntas Tua." Miller had trouble finishing the book, so author Terry Bisson helped him complete it. Bisson said he only helped tie up the loose ends Miller had left.
The novel tells the story of Brother Blacktooth St. George from the Leibowitzian monastery. Unlike Brother Francis, he wants to leave his holy vows and the monastery. The book also describes the political situation in the 33rd century, as the Church and the Texark Empire compete for power. Miller died before this novel was published.
Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman is a great novel, even if it is often compared to Miller's first book.
See Also
- Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
- Nuclear warfare in fiction
Images for kids
-
First edition dust jacket
Illustration by George Sottung -
Map of North America in 3174, showing Texark territory in yellow. The Texark expansion is marked in orange.
