Firefly and Religion, Part Two by zoid

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Firefly and Religion, Part Two

POSTED BY: ZOID
UPDATED: Thursday, April 1, 2004 16:37
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VIEWED: 756
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Thursday, April 1, 2004 4:37 PM

(Originally posted in A.T.F NG)

Part Two

To continue...

Book's motivations are fairly straightforward, he's a Shepherd. He carries a
bible, about which -- through River's 'corrections' -- we have enough illumination
to make the reliable assumption that it's a Christian Bible. While Book wears a
collar, was "never married", and was cloistered in an abbey, one may or may
not be correct in assuming this means he is Roman Catholic. I tend to make
the assumption anyway, although the way he says he was never married in
response to being called 'Grandpa' or 'Grampa' (fetchingly, by Kaylee) makes
me believe that it *was* an option (NB: In OiS, he states to Jayne that some orders do allow Shepherds to marry, but that he took the stricter path), and I don't recall him crossing himself at anytime, or saying Notre Patrias or Ave Marias as he feverishly prays in "Out
of Gas".

At least, I feel it's safe to assume he's a Christian minister. But has he always
been? I have speculated in the past that 'Book' was -- in fact -- General
Richard Wilkins of the Alliance, the mastermind of the victory at Serenity. I
also postulated that he became disenchanted with the goals and motivations
of his erstwhile military masters, and entered the priesthood and cloistered
seclusion out of remorse for the evils he wrought in a unjust cause.

I have read elsewhere that Adam Baldwin ('Jayne') has stated that Book's
character, while mysterious, had nothing to do with the military or with the
Battle of Serenity. Well, gentle readers, you'll have to pardon my stubborn
refusal to accept that testimony. I'm not calling Adam a liar -- although if he
were saying it 'as Jayne' I might have my suspicions -- because I enjoy Mr.
Baldwin's work and he's much larger than I am to boot. Rather, I will say that
I suspect that Joss wouldn't necessarily tip his hand to his actors, and so they
might not know the complete storylines of even *their own* characters. I have
enumerated in the past my logical justifications for my assertion that Book is
General Wilkins and will not reiterate them here. Suffice to say, I'll simply
wait for proof in celluloid -- along with everyone else -- whether or not my
theory is accurate.

If my supposition is correct -- even in the face of evidence to the contrary --
this makes Book our second apostate, except his loss of faith is with his
government. He has turned away from his former steadfast belief that those
in leadership of his society were righteous in their actions, *toward* religious
belief.

Book -- regardless the true nature of his past -- is clearly a conflicted soul. The
extent of his conflict is apparent in the tenor of his conversations and
interactions with Inara and River (about whom, more later). He expresses
doubts as to whether he is ready to be in the world of men during the
aforementioned scene in which he talks with Inara (Jayne calls her 'Eye-naira',
hilarious!) near the end of the ep. She then, in one of the most memorable scenes of the
series in my mind, places her hand upon his bowed head, suggestive of a
benediction. I'll explore Inara and this particular interaction in greater detail in
the next segment.

With regard to River, our little cipher, two transactions with Book spring to
mind. The first is when River redacts Book's Bible by crossing out passages
and ripping pages from the book. She states she is "fixing" it, one assumes
because of apparent inconsistencies between the passages. Reviewing
the "Jaynestown" episode, these amendments appear to be mostly in the first
part of the Bible, the Old Testament. River states "Noah's Ark is a problem,"
while muttering something about prime numbers, "eleven" and "always comes
out one". I'll let someone else look up the exact statements she's making
there, but it should be noted that there's been a lot of recent material published
and televised regarding the Old Testament and its basis, the Torah in particular,
and the use of numbers to decipher theorized hidden meanings. And then
there's the Kaballah, which is another kettle of worms entirely, and definitely
beyond the scope of the present discussion. Do a word search on the
Internet, if you're interested... Back on track, then, shall we?

While it's undoubtedly a stretch on my part, it should be pointed out that a
prominent historical figure, near and dear to every Christian, likewise amended
the laws of the Old Testament: is this an intentional attempt on the part of the
show's creators to equate River with a messianic mission? Regardless, Book
and River then engage in dialogue that can only be described as religious in
nature, summed up by Book's, "You don't fix faith, River, it fixes you."

The second memorable interaction between River and Book occurs during
"Out of Gas", when River approaches Book in his hour of despair. She states
that the Bible says "don't be afraid" of death, then suggests that Book *is*
afraid nonetheless. After he confirms that he does fear death by asphyxiation,
she tells him that "it's not going to happen." The audience, by this time
suspecting that River is an "off-the-charts" genius with paranormal perceptive
abilities, are immediately hopeful that she has some insight to a possible solution
to their dilemma... Only to be brought crashing back to earth -- reflected in
Ron Glass' own crestfallen expression -- when she assures us they'll freeze to
death first. The scene itself, however, is indicative of Book's struggle with his
faith, yet his clinging to it, even though that faith is apparently not constructed
of the hardest stone.

So with apologies to Adam Baldwin and others who have implied that Book is
an agent of the government sent to spy on one or more members of the crew
of Serenity, and who is only *posing* as a Shepherd, I'll politely disagree until I
see hard evidence to the contrary on film. I believe that Book *is* a minister of
God, whose great personal mystery involves his on-going crisis of faith caused
by the horrors he has witnessed and been actively causative of in his military
past. I further believe that his confrontation of that past, his reconciliation with
it, will take place through a confession to Mal, which will heal them both.

Exactly how that revelation will come to pass, remains in the mind and hands
of Joss Whedon. I reject any notion that this somehow 'spoils' the movie, by
quoting the good Shepherd himself: When Kaylee asks Book, "How come you
don't care where you're goin'?", he responds, "Because how you get there is
the worthier part." I trust Joss has got the 'how' sewn up.

Here endeth Part Two... Next, out on the limb with Inara, saw in hand.

Respectfully,

zoid

P.S.
Did I mention that I was hard-headed, tactless and long-winded? Just
checking...

"River didn't fix faith. Faith fixed River."

- Senator Richard Wilkins, Independent Congress
from, A Child Shall Lead Them

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