A Canticle For Leibowitz

“There were things that were clearly natural, and there were things that were clearly supernatural, but between these extremes was a region of confusion (his own).”

Francis is confused when the abbot questions him about the old wanderer in the desert. Francis views the world from the perspective of faith, with empirical data on one side and supernatural, or faith-based, evidence on the other. He attributes the confusion between the two to a lack of his own wisdom rather than entertaining the idea that there may be questions that have no answers.

“They don’t think up questions like that on the basis of what might be true; they concoct the questions on the basis of what might be sensational if it just happened to be true.”

Father Cheroki counsels Francis regarding the novice’s doubts about his experience in the desert. The rumors started by the other monks are based on sensationalistic thinking. They are not asking questions as seekers of truth. Rather, they ask questions that they hope will provide entertaining answers.

“Because a doubt is not a denial. Doubt is a powerful tool, and it should be applied to history.”

Throughout the novel, much of history has been forgotten. The documents of the Memorabilia are treated with skepticism early on. Widespread illiteracy makes doubt difficult because only the literate can read and evaluate documents that purport to be true chronicles of history. Past actions shape the course of future decisions. A history that cannot be doubted cannot be argued against.

“When you tire of living, change itself seems evil, does it not? For then any change at all disturbs the deathlike peace of the life-weary.”

One of the novel’s themes is that all change is turbulent, if not outright violent. Fatigue and weariness are a kind of certainty and routine to the monks. Change forces people who are peaceful into actions or reactions. When Taddeo says that no change comes calmly over the world, he also refers to those who are tired of life. All change requires a seismic shift.

“For Man was a culture-bearer as well as a soul-bearer, but his cultures were not immortal and they could die with a race or an age [...].”

A society’s culture is the sum of its ideas, art, priorities, and records. An extinction-level event like a nuclear holocaust can destroy life, but it can also wipe out human knowledge and culture in an instant. The history of an age requires that its culture survive to be studied by the inhabitants of the new age. When cultures erode and cultural records vanish, history is cast into doubt.

“Truth could be crucified; but soon, perhaps, a resurrection.”

As the Dark Age begins to end, the narrator reflects on the transient nature of truth. Truth can be destroyed by evil people, the destruction of historical records, and the suppression of knowledge. The return of truth is akin to the return of Christ rising from the dead, restoring illumination and hope to the world.

“Probing the womb of the future is bad for the child.”

It is unhelpful to deduce the significance of an era before it happens. The primary difficulty in interpreting history in the modern day is that people already know the results of the past. Their interpretations are colored by what they already know occurred.

“Nayol is without speech, and therefore never lies.”

Nayol is what the nomads refer to as the god of nature. The concept of Nayol reinforces the idea that humans will inevitably cause trouble for themselves through dishonesty. Nature works better than humans because it does not speak, the only guarantee of honesty.

“[...] for no change comes calmly over the world.”

Taddeo describes the coming intellectual revolution in terms of turbulence and violence. All significant changes require upheaval. He knows that his vision of aircraft and automobiles returning to existence will come at a high price. Even changes of trivial distinction can have far-reaching effects, such as Francis’s encounter with the old man in the desert.

“Ignorance is king. Many would not profit by his abdication. Many enrich themselves by means of his dark monarchy. They are his Court, and in his name they defraud and govern, enrich themselves and perpetuate their power.”

Not everyone is invested in progress. Taddeo reminds the audience that ignorance benefits those who can use it to remain in power. The literate have an undeniable advantage over the illiterate, who cannot study and learn on their own but must have the truth dictated to them by those who can.

“If you try to save wisdom until the world is wise, Father, the world will never have it.”

Throughout the story, various characters reflect on the human race’s capacity to destroy itself and refuse to learn from its own catastrophes. There is no amount of wisdom that can obviate future disasters with complete certainty. The world cannot become wise because it comprises fallible people.

“It never was any better, it never will be any better. It will only be richer or poorer, sadder but not wiser, until the very last day.”

Taddeo makes a fatalistic, pessimistic speech to Paulo. He is realizing that there is little reason to hope that humanity can eventually escape its flaws and save itself. The record suggests that humanity is incapable of learning from its mistakes and acting on behalf of its long-term prospects.

“But neither infinite power nor infinite wisdom could bestow godhood upon men. For that there would have to be infinite love as well.”

For the monks, God is the embodiment of love. Men attain power and wisdom, but these traits do not always translate into greater love. Men are incapable of acting in the image of God because they are fallible, insecure, petty, and greedy. The actions of humanity do not show a group of people interested in modeling their behavior after God and his infinite love.

“Listen, are we helpless? Are we doomed to do it again and again and again? Have we no choice but to play the Phoenix in an unending sequence of rise and fall? Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, Greece, Carthage, Rome, the Empires of Charlemagne and the Turk: Ground to dust and plowed with salt. Spain, France, Britain, America—burned into the oblivion of the centuries. And again and again and again. Are we doomed to it, Lord, chained to the pendulum of our own mad clockwork, helpless to halt its swing? This time, it will swing us clean to oblivion.”

The fact that nuclear weapons have nearly destroyed the world is no guarantee that it can’t happen again. The appearance of Leibowitz’s documents leads to the rediscovery of dangerous knowledge. As long as the knowledge exists, the human race will find a way to misuse it.

“When mass murder’s been answered with mass murder, rape with rape, hate with hate, there’s no longer much meaning in asking whose ax is the bloodier.”

Righteous retaliation is an absurd notion when everyone is guilty. Jesus’s words of not casting stones while a sinner shows the hypocrisy of the quibbling among evildoers. By the novel’s end, Zerchi has almost accepted that there is no such thing as a guiltless person. There is no point in wondering if anyone is pure and righteous; there are only degrees of culpability.

“How strange of God to speak from a burning bush, and of Man to make a symbol of Heaven into a symbol of Hell.”

Fire is a critical symbol throughout the story. Humans pervert what was originally an image of comfort and warmth—the burning bush—turning it into something twisted and destructive. Nuclear fire is the ultimate tool of destruction, and people employ it to turn earth into a new Hell.

“Speak up, destiny, speak up! Destiny always seems decades away, but suddenly it’s not decades away; it’s right now. But maybe destiny is always right now, right here, right this very instant, maybe.”

There are many critical moments in the novel’s cycles of violence at which disaster could be averted. The characters are often short-sighted, seeking only to solve immediate problems while neglecting their import in future catastrophes.

“You don’t have a soul, Doctor. You are a soul. You have a body, temporarily.”

Zerchi speaks with Doctor Cors, who is conflicted about euthanasia for those with radiation sickness. Zerchi believes that corporal pain is only temporary because the body is temporary, and the soul outlasts the body. Because Cors does not share his belief, he believes the easing of suffering to be his primary duty when he cannot heal.

“If a man is ignorant of the fact that something is wrong, and acts in ignorance, he incurs no guilt, provided natural reason was not enough to show him that he was wrong. But while ignorance may excuse the man, it does not excuse the act, which is wrong in itself.”

Accountability for one’s actions is a function of moral awareness. Someone who lacks the capacity for reason cannot be accountable for not seeing facts derived from reason. However, this does not mean that one condones wrong acts, only that one considers the motives of the person making the error.

“Sincere—that was the hell of it. From a distance, one’s adversaries seemed fiends, but with a closer view, one saw the sincerity and it was as great as one’s own. Perhaps Satan was the sincerest of the lot.”

Sincerity is a greater virtue than duplicity, even for Satan. Getting to know people up close creates empathy, and empathy leads to greater compassion. The suppression of knowledge and the enforcement of illiteracy created a new Dark Age that created distance between people, not protection.

“It is not the pain that is pleasing to God, child. It is the soul’s endurance in faith and hope and love in spite of bodily afflictions that pleases Heaven.”

Zerchi responds to the woman who asks why God would be happy at her child’s suffering. His response implies that mortal suffering is necessary to prove one’s devotion to God. Without trials, there would be no way to demonstrate one’s faith.

“The trouble with being a priest was that eventually you had to take the advice you gave to others. Nature imposes nothing that Nature hasn’t prepared you to bear.”

The monks assume that all things are bearable because every trial is a test from God. That which is truly unbearable is lethal. However, the monks still suffer during their vigils and times of hardships. The knowledge that their trials are a test from God is small comfort during the actual experience.

“To minimize suffering and to maximize security were natural and proper ends of society and Caesar. But then they became the only ends, somehow, and the only basis of law—a perversion. Inevitably, then, in seeking only them, we found only their opposites: maximum suffering and minimum security.”

There is a cost to avoiding suffering as society’s highest priority. Minimizing suffering does not guarantee a stable, just society. Draconian measures and the suppression of knowledge—however well-intentioned—have the opposite effect as what was intended.