Stars

Pa's obsession with the stars is the defining aspect of his character, but we're left with many questions as to whether his far-out beliefs are actually legit.

Most of the time, these beliefs just seem like hogwash. When the novel opens, for example, Pa is performing a complex series of magical rituals meant to induce rain. They don't work. This failure somewhat justifies Lugh's angry rant against his father, but we don't think we'd go as far as he does in dissing his dad; in fact, we think that Saba sums up the situation rather nicely:

Jest like the land, Pa's gittin worse an his eyes look more'n more to the sky instead of what's here in front of him. (1.10)

In other words, Pa's obsession with the future has become so intense that he's entirely lost sight of the present. Deep.

But here's the kicker: Pa seems to predict Lugh's kidnapping, as well as his own death. That changes everything, giving us a glimmer of hope that Pa's star-reading skills are the real deal.

So is the dude a madman? A genius? We don't know, and neither does Saba. Given that Saba has a few prophetic experiences of her own, however, we know which way we're leaning on this one. What about you?

Either way, we have to ask ourselves one more question: if it's at all possible to predict the future, then does that mean that future events are predestined, maybe by fate? The novel never fully answers that question, but it's something to keep in mind as you're reading. See our discussion on fate and free will in our "Themes" section if you want to think about this issue some more.