52 pages • 1 hour read
Hyperion
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Resurrection
The motif of resurrection runs through some of the pilgrims’ tales. Most notably, resurrection is the central idea in Hoyt’s retelling of Duré’s experiences with the Bikura. Resurrection is a central component of Christianity, as Christ dies and is resurrected three days later. Thus, the priest understands the Catholic Church’s goal of achieving immortality. However, the cruciform that the Bikura revere is not a deity or credo but a biological organism. This type of resurrection is a horror to Duré, for the “Bikura have realized the human dream of immortality and have paid for it with their humanity and their immortal souls” (89). It is a physical resurrection, not a spiritual one; it leaves “insipid,” dull versions of one’s prior self.
Johnny, the John Keats cybrid, is another form of resurrection. Created by AIs, he is the repository for all knowledge and memories of and about the Old Earth poet. Frequently, Johnny has to remind Brawne Lamia that he is not the actual Keats. In fact, he is not even the original cybrid—that one was murdered. His existence raises questions about what makes someone human and a distinct individual. Now that all of his data has been downloaded to the Schrön loop in Lamia’s head, she feels she is “twice pregnant,” first with a child of procreation and secondly with all the bits of data that made up Johnny and Keats, hinting that perhaps that entity can be resurrected in another form.
Trees
Trees have symbolic importance in three parts of the book. The first significant tree is the treeship Yggdrasil, named for the immense sacred tree in Norse mythology where the gods would convene and from which Odin, a Germanic god, hanged. The Templars have a telepathic connection to their trees; Het Masteen was the Voice of the Tree for the Yggdrasil. Therefore, when the Yggdrasil is destroyed and Het is subdued, the Consul is clued into some deception.
Given that the Templar religion is based on John Muir’s book it is logical that trees are foremost in their symbols. Trees are the anchors of ecosystems, with roots in the earth and branches in the heavens. They are metaphors for the concepts of aspiration and being grounded.
The Tree of Pain first appears in Kassad’s tale:
Branches shifted, dissolved, and reformed like elements of a poorly tuned hologram. Sunlight danced on five-meter-long thorns. Corpses of Ouster men and women, all naked, were impaled on at least a score of these thorns. Other branches held other bodies. Not all were human (162).
Here, the tree symbol is inverted from its naturalistic, life-supporting meaning. It is metallic, seemingly a product made not grown, and it signifies torture and death as opposed to life and abundance. It is the Shrike’s implementation of “the final atonement,” (221) from which a person does not recover.
Father Duré writes to his friend about the dying of the Church using tree symbolism: “The Church is dying, Edouard. And not merely our beloved branch of the Holy Tree, but all of its offshoots, vestiges, and cankers” (37). Here, a tree represents family, community, faith, and legacy. He also stakes himself to a tesla tree to die. Therefore, the symbolic nature of a tree arises in three different religions.
The Cruciform and Crucifixion
Father Paul Duré wears a crucifix, a symbol of Christianity, on his chest; this saves him from receiving the “true death” at the hands of the Bikura like his guide Tuk does. The Bikura assume he follows the cruciform as they do, and the priest believes that some form of Christianity was passed down from the 70 original settlers. The large cross he sees in the basilica indicates to him that it is Christian but not of Old Earth origin and something much older. It is not until the Bikura take him to the labyrinth that he sees the Shrike and the glowing creatures on the wall, the cruciform organism that they worship. The cruciform brings immortality, but a dull one.
In Christianity, the crucifix is a symbol of Christ’s death on the cross to redeem humanity. For some, it also represents pain and suffering. Father Duré crucifies himself on a tesla tree, thus dying and being resurrected over and over again, to keep the power of immortality out of the hands of the Church and humanity at large. It is also his atonement. Similarly, the victims and sacrifices impaled on the Shrike’s Tree of Pain are considered as making their final atonement. Through the repetition of this symbol, Simmons encourages readers to ponder what the sins of humanity are.
Unlock all 52 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
