Not a Typical Children’s Book
This is a children’s book, of course, and there is absolutely no question about that. However, there are certain aspects of it that verge a little off the beaten track of what many might consider typical of such literature. For instance, this rather gripping paragraph robust with metaphor:
“The room was silent then and, even with the light from the candle, too dark. The darkness and silence felt familiar to Beatryce. It was the same as the abyss—that terrible place of not-remembering. She felt that emptiness at her back, pushing against her, breathing against her neck.”
The Goat
But it is foremost and above all a work written for children. One of the main characters is, after all, a rather idiosyncratic goat who is not fully anthropomorphized, but is quite capable of interacting with human beings in a way that makes her intentions known in the deepest regions of the emotional connections:
“The goat was in his heart, too. Seemingly, the heart could hold an untold amount of things—letters and people and goats and bees.”
The Prophecy
The prophecy of the title is very significant, as most prophecies tend to be. The prophecy itself are just words written into a book, but there is a vital connection to two different people. One of them is Beatryce, of course, and the other is the king. Words and those to whom they refer become metaphorically inextricable:
“It is not this monk who bears news for the king…It is the king himself, here before you. He is the prophecy in the flesh.”
Darkness
As already indicated, the very popular metaphor of darkness bears a heavy presence in the tale. Darkness is a popular metaphor since the beginning of the 20th century because we have become more exposed to the pervasive darkness of the human soul surrounding us. Beatryce is a child in a children’s book, but there are adults around her and where there are adults, there is bound to this metaphor:
“Beatryce wrapped her arms around her legs to warm herself. It was cold, very cold. She felt as though the darkness were trying to swallow her.”
Lightness
And yet, the twofold duality of everything means that where there is darkness there must also be its opposite. And where there is evil among adults, there is also, usually, goodness to be found. Without this being true, Beatryce would not stand a chance:
“Brother Edik felt his heart, light within him, almost as if it were filled with air.”
