I know it's late, but . . .

Wow—this book was quite the ride.

Many good things have already been posted about the topics of spirits, bodies, and duality. Another topic that stood out to me as relevant in this story was that of family identity. The theme began without delay, since the story is based on members of two families recently combined into one. Several of the members, particularly Cathy, struggle a bit with these changes and what they bring to their individual and family identities.

Then there’s the family tree scenes. Cathy gets to climb her own—literally (or, at least, as literally as things seemed to get in this book) and learns a bit about her family’s past. But most fascinating to me was the distinct and ultimately crucial power that Cathy gets from her ancestry. She couldn’t have won without it. Her sudden and inexplicable ability to read and speak a new language betray a stronger and deeper connection to her ancestors than most modern readers would buy into. I’d’ve loved to hear some more explanation on this myself. But growing up in the LDS faith and a family who talks pretty frequently and intimately about our heritage lowered my level of skepticism quite a bit. I assume Perkins anticipated this reaction from her LDS readers. I’d love to know what non-LDS readers thought of it. And how Perkins hoped they’d think of it.

The theme of family also assuaged my anger and disappointment at the ending of the story. I was initially pretty ticked off that Blake (the real one) still died after all that trouble. But when Perkins reminded me—us—that Blake’s goal from the very beginning had been to be with his mother? How could I hate that? In hindsight, Perkins did a great job weaving the theme of family and ancestry through the book, and (maybe more importantly) made it clear how vital these are to us all.

Wandering Spirits

Photo by Louish Pixel

Dispirited was an interesting experience. Trying to find the dividing lines between LDS influence and Young-Adult-Exorcist-type fiction was difficult. Because of this, I don't feel like the argument is whether the story supported LDS belief or cheapened it. Rather, I think that the story showed ways in which LDS belief is integrated into everyday life, can seem rather fantastic, and can be interpreted when put into a concrete representative sphere. One example is the idea of disembodied spirits.

The concept of the eidolon doesn't exactly match any LDS belief. It is very possible, on the other hand, that the Wekufe parallel our concept of the 1/3 of the hosts of heaven who were cast out and now roam the Earth. The concept of possession is certainly plausible as it is seen in the New Testament, especially with the focus the LDS people place on the importance of the body. But, eidolon? hmm . . .

Eidolon were a necessary function of Dispirited because Perkins needed a way to set up a plot, create a problem. But the very existence of eidolon, or human spirits separated and barred from their bodies, begs very important questions.

First, what of the state of the soul? 

If the soul in the union of spirit and body, as understood by LDS doctrine, does it disintegrate when placed under the circumstances of someone like Bunny? Then again, did Perkins even intend an LDS audience to draw parallels with Bunny's circumstance and our belief?

Second, what is the reciprocity between the physical body and spiritual being when possessed?

In Dispirited it is very clear that one spirit inhabits one body at a time. This does not necessarily seem parallel with depictions in the New Testament. Then again, has such an experience ever truly been made explicit?

Many more questions could be explored simply within the construct of wandering spirits within Dispirited in relation to LDS belief. But perhaps what is important is that Perkins is taking common LDS belief, such as spirit matter, body and spirit unity, family history, demons, and the like, and manipulating them into fascinating shapes. By reading Dispirited with an LDS eye, we find our beliefs examined and expanded by the epistemological questions that she uncovers. 

The Reality of Spirits

I have to be honest. This book, Dispirited, really frustrated because there were things I loved and things I hated.

• Sometimes the voice and language was captivating
• But there was too much ethereal explanation at times
• It was outside the box. New. Innovative. Exploratory. Unpredictable.
• Sometimes the dialogue was so unnatural, it hurt.
• It dealt and explored issues (such as spirits vs. bodies) that Latter-day Saints aren't always willing to dive into.
• Zared was an unbelievable character. The fact that he pretended to be good and might even refrain from certain evil acts (you know, like killing Cathy and making it look like an accident), just so he could wait til he was 18 and be free, was a little silly. His actions were obviously what worked for the plot and not what the embodiment of evil would actually do.

So long story short, I had mixed feelings about this book as I'm sure most Latter-days would. But whether I love or hate the story, or agree with Perkins' view of spirits, I love that she took the time to explore the ideas of spirits. Latter-day Saints believe in spirits, but we like to keep the safely locked away in another dimension or something and pretend they don't affect our lives or aren't around us. The thing is I believe we have connections with people whether they have a body right now or not.

My sister Karen got married five months after our sister Vicky passed away. Karen and Vicky were best friends, and it seemed unfathomable that Vicky wouldn't be there for the wedding.

Choose Your Response

Luisa Perkins' novel, Dispirited, deals with a lot of interesting issues and topics in regards to the spirit, the body, death, and the after life. What stood out to me most, though, about this book was its subtle exploration of agency.
Throughout the book the main character, Cathy, keeps asking herself why she's the only one that can save Bunny. At times she even fights against that distinction, putting off her rescue attempts because the timing is inconvenient and gets in the way of her living a normal life.
At one point in the book she asks Januarye, a character who is sent to help her and Bunny, why she is the one that has to deal with this challenge. Januarye responds with one simple question, "Why not you?"
In this moment Cathy realizes her selfishness and determines to continue helping Bunny. Despite the fact that she didn't choose this situation, she chooses to still make the most of it and to help someone in need.
I thought this was a valuable lesson from the book. In life we have to deal with hard and terrible situations. We lose those we love, we are injured, we become sick, we move and have to make new friends, we have a bad day at work. Regardless of the challenge, it doesn't matter if we chose it or not, what matters is how we choose to respond to it.
This ability to choose our response is a key part of LDS doctrine. We believe in agency and that each of us agreed to come to earth to use that agency to choose to follow Heavenly Father's plan. With that agency comes, not so much the choice as to control everything that happens in life, but the choice of how we'll respond to what occurs especially when those occurrences aren't our choice. I thought this novel did a good job at illustrating this belief.

Picture Courtesy of Pixabay.com

Evil in Dispirited

Luisa Perkins’ newish novel, Dispirited, personifies evil in the form of Zared, a spirit who steals the body of Blake Something, and inhabits the body for most of the boy’s teenage years. Inside of Blake, he causes the body to indulge in vices—pornography, heroin, pedophilia—which horrify his step-sister Cathy, and cause her to engage in a struggle to expel Zared from Blake’s body, and return it to its rightful spiritual owner.

          Thus the theological questions are ushered in: What is the source of evil? How are the spirit and body related? Is the spirit responsible for the body’s actions? Can one person’s spirit be replaced by an evil one? What is spiritual identity?

          Perkins’ novel not only raises these questions, but brilliantly tackles them with impressive complexity and texture. Zared didn’t just overtake Blake by magic; Blake’s body was vulnerable from grief over the loss of his mother. And Blake’s “true” spirit is personified too, in the innocent, powerless figure of a little boy. It’s not a black and white story—everything is shrouded in a difficult veil, which forces the reader to reflect on what they really believe about sin, agency, and the soul of man.

          Should novels address these kinds of issues? The answer is a clear “duh”—novels provide a new lens with which to study reality, and how to cope with it in humanity. Whether or not Perkins’ novel accurately reflects Mormon dogma is irrelevant; the fact that she chooses to talk about Mormon issues at all sets her novel apart from the floods of cheap literature that line most “Best Sellers” shelves. Perkins’ premise provides an opportunity for readers to think—not just be entertained—to question—rather than just memorize answers. The closer our literature gets to reality, the better, and Perkins’ novel approaches spiritual reality in a way that is laudably accessible for people.

Spirits and Dreams

The premise of the novel Dispirited captured my attention immediately. The idea of a man leaving his body in search of his dead mother is something that may seem foreign and mystical to even most Latter-Day Saints, but it brought up interesting thoughts and memories for me. 

When my cousin Madeline was sixteen, she came down with a case of spinal meningitis. The symptoms started on a Thursday night, and by Saturday, because of an unlucky misdiagnosis by a doctor who was a close family friend, Madeline was gone. This was an extremely difficult time for my family, but especially for her parents, who blamed themselves for their daughter's untimely passing. However, while their minds were tormented during their waking hours, something very interesting happened to them during the night. Both of Madeline's parents began to have repeated dreams in which they were speaking to their daughter. In the dreams, Madeline would comfort her parents, and after relating the details of their separate dreams, the two realized that the dreams had similarities that could not be coincidental. Thus, night became their time to escape their bitter reality and search for their daughter in a realm they had never explored and did not fully understand. 

Louis Perkins' novel resurrected these memories for me. Beyond the theme of death being portrayed through Blake searching for his mother or Cathy’s aiding members of her family after Blake’s passing, the most interesting thing to me was the realm in which the search for connection happened. The novel, reflecting Mormon doctrine in a way that only a seasoned Mormon would catch, portrays an interesting relationship between the body and other forces: heaven, limbo, and even dark spirits. We believe that eternally, the Spirit is inseparably tied to the body, but there are moments in which realities cross over and the Spirit World can feel as real as the tangible world of our probation. This novel brings one of the most interesting doctrines to life in a way that made me reanalyze the mental walls that divide our world from the world of spirits around us.

Body and Spirit

Dispirited by Louisa Perkins portrayed a world that was both relatable, believable yet also over my head and questionable which is why I think I enjoyed this novel so much. It read like an enjoyable, fantasy-like novel but touched on deeper ideas and thoughts that have definitely circled in my mind especially as a Latter Day Saint. For example, as Latter Day Saints we believe that the mortal existence is not the first existence and not the last. Perkins novel creates different existences or dimensions and intermingles them with each other. Though the details of the Spirit World are unknown, it is often described as being close and being around us. Perkins definitely portrays a path in which worlds can connect and though portrayed in a more magical way, she makes the mind ponder.

The most impactful aspect of Perkins' novel that stuck me was her emphasis on the importance of the soul and its relationship with the physical body. Not only the importance of the relationship but the individuality of the relationship. At one point in the novel, Januarye explains that Zared's spirit will never belong in Bunny's body. This explanation suggests that our souls are unique and our bodies are designed to suit one soul alone. Once Bunny's soul as left his body, he cannot fully function with out it in fact he can barely function at all. This is why he require Cathy's help. The longer Bunny is away from his body, the more disconnected he comes and the more of himself he loses. Being a Latter Day Saint, I have been taught that when we depart from our mortal existence our spirit and body are separated for a time but will one day be reunited. This reunification of body and soul is crucial to our eternal existence. If the relationship between a body and spirit were unimportant this bonding would not be a pertinent part of eternity. Yet while on Earth we are commanded to take care of our bodies and treat them as sacred and holy while also nourishing our spirits allowing them to grow in unison. Perkins illuminates this idea in her novel by making one of the main purposes be reuniting Bunny with his rightful body.

Perkins' novel, when looked at as a whole, reads as a great fantastical novel. Yet, when taken apart in pieces this novel reflects and supports in a sense the beliefs that I have come to know. Though she addresses hazy concepts like the post-mortal world, ghosts/spirits, Heaven and Hell, she does so in a manner that is thought provoking and enjoyable.

kind of real.

Luisa Perkins’ novel, Dispirited, is quite riveting and rather engaging as it navigates alternate realities/realms of existence, death and limbo, and ownership of our bodies. While there have been novels, TV shows, and movies that depict alternate realities and realms of existence, not many quite make it so real, so in-your-face, they’re-walking-among-us kind of real. Which leads to the existence of Bunny and how he came to be where he is at—he’s in a limbo, both in this world we call reality and in his own reality with few others for him to be with. It’s as though he is overlapping between two movies playing at once, on the same screen. And this is because he loses ownership over his body—we have seen movies where people become possessed or even telepathically controlled, but to take yourself out of your body and then lose it to some other being? That seems kind of new. And terrifying.

I think Dispirited resonates some of the LDS beliefs and doctrines,

Demons Among Us

Luisa Perkins's novel Dispirited addresses some interesting topics in relation to death, the spirit, and beliefs on the afterlife.
Something interesting that I noted is how she dealt with the issue of death in her novel. Death tends to be a controversial topic among many people as questions arise, such as "Where will we go after this life?" However, among Mormons, the topic is generally treated very differently. As Mormons, we take comfort in knowing where we will go after this life and we take comfort in knowing that God has a plan for everyone. When it's someone's appointed time to die, we're sad, but we know that it will be okay. This concept is embodied in the character Cathy, who's half-brother, Blake, passes away. At the end of the novel, she takes on the responsibility of comforting the remaining members of her family, much as a member of the Church would do in reminding the family of the plan of salvation.
I really liked Perkins's novel because it made me think more deeply about Mormon theology of death and the spirit world. As I was reading, I started to question things that don't really matter, but are interesting to think about. For example, some of the most important characters to the plot are demons, or Satan's followers. Reading about the demons taking over human bodies in this way made me wonder what role Satan's followers really do play in our lives today. We know from scriptures that they are present among us, but to what extent can they influence us? In reality, this isn't something that is pertinent to our salvation, but it does make us think about gospel principles in new ways.
While I don't feel like her novel is in anyway a comprehensive view on the afterlife, it does present some interesting theories (or space-doctrine, as many like to refer to it as).