"The Gift" Analysis #11
The ring is an object of magic, wish-fulfillment, and damnation. Like the gold from which it was created, it is birthed from the primordial pit of the earth, the chthonic mineral core of darkness and chaos. It is an artifact of Hell inciting greed and the lust for power, an accessory symbolizing, protecting, and enhancing the power of the Morley clan.
To get back the ring, Caleb must, therefore, re-enter Hell. He must reconnect with his father, who, inhabiting the abyss, can reveal knowledge inaccessible to those on the earthly plane of existence, knowledge focusing on the Morley legacy, the ring, and the tactics Caleb should use to take control of it.
Caleb’s descent into the underworld, like that of Orpheus and other mythological characters from various cultures, is a journey into the land of the dead and the most frightening regions of the imagination, a land of immense danger and mystery, of vast riches and occult secrets bestowing power. Those brave (and perhaps arrogant) enough to enter the underworld risk life, soul, and sanity. However, as the Myth Encyclopedia (http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Tr-Wa/Underworld.html ) points out, those who take that dangerous subterranean journey and survive often return “to the living world transformed by the experience, perhaps bearing special wisdom or treasure.”
The ancient myths of the underworld are timeless reminders of a realm most people only glimpse in dreams or moments of nightmarish revelation. Artists throughout the centuries have been the shaman soothsayers describing these infernal landscapes. William Blake, Alfred Kubin, Sylvia Plath, and William Burroughs, among other intrepid visionaries, have evoked the grotesque yet mesmerizing splendor of this realm. They have traveled there, bringing back the tantalizing treasure of forbidden wisdom. Caleb’s portrayer, Michael Easton, has also revealed in his Soul Stealer graphic novel series the twisted, torturous mazes of this realm, his writing, shimmeringly fused with Christopher Shy’s art work, capturing the elusive presence hidden within the labyrinths.
Through his depiction of the Caleb character, Michael Easton also reveals his profound insight into the dark regions of the mind, regions he previously explored in his book of poetry Eighteen Straight Whiskeys and would later, in more terrifying guise, use as the basis for his Soul Stealer novels.
Preparing to meet his father in Hell, Caleb removes from its hidden compartment the book of spells the Morley clan has used throughout the centuries in their magickal workings. As he takes out the book from its-crypt-like enclosure, a rainbow of light briefly illuminates the pentagram-etched cover, the multicolored prismatic light seeming to presage a secret about to be revealed, a mystical illumination about to take place.
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