Quote from Lilith by George MacDonald


Description of Project:

For my project this semester, I decided to write a series of blog posts. On these blog posts I'll do one of two things: either I'll write a short essay on a theme found in my reading or from another work we've read this semester, or I'll post a quote from one of them and talk about the theme and the relevance of the quote.

Chosen Book for Final Unit:

The book I chose to read for the final unit is Lilith from The George MacDonald Treasury.

Quote from Lilith: (Page 505 in The George MacDonald Treasury second to last paragraph)

""You did me no wrong," he returned. "Calling me a raven, or thinking me one, allowed me existence, which is the sum of what one can demand of his fellow-beings. Therefore, in return, I will give you a lesson: -- No one can say he is himself, until first he knows that he IS, and then what HIMSELF is. In fact, nobody is himself, and himself is nobody. There is more in it than you can see now, but not more than you need to see. You have, I fear, got into this region too soon, but none the less you must get to be at home in it; for home, as you may or may not know, is the only place where you can go out and in. There are places you can go into, and places you can go out of; but the one place, if you do but find it, where you may go out and in both, is home.""

What I think it means: 

This quote stood out to me because he was talking about who a person is. The main character has no idea who he really is. He completely forgets he has a name, because his name is unimportant. From this one quote I can tell most of this story will be about him finding out who he truly is. He can not say he is himself because himself is nobody and nobody is himself. We are all different, and we need to figure out who exactly we are.

The second part was a little more difficult for me to decipher. What I got from it is that we can be ourselves in our homes and come and go. If we can not come and go we are not home. I don't exactly understand this but I hope this book goes on to explain it so that I can understand it better.

Link to:

While I was reading this I was thinking about Anodos and how he finds himself in Phantastes. He doesn't exactly say he doesn't know who he is, but the whole story is about him finding a purpose in life and figuring out who he really is and living up to it.

Theme:

The theme of this quote is the spiritual journey one goes through in order to find out who they are and what their purpose is. Hopefully the character in Lilith will figure out who he is in the course of this book. I definitely think the quote I chose will sum up the whole journey he goes on in this book.

If you have any ideas or comments for me, just post a comment and I'll reply. I'd love to discuss the meaning of this quote, especially if you've ever read the book! I'm just starting this book and I'd love to hear what you have to say!

<3Claire

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