Discussion+Summary

In the book skellig the main character Michael has to move to a new house that is bigger and will have enough space for his family and his new baby sister who is vey ill. In the new house Michael was told to stay away from the garage because it was very dangerous, if they weren't careful it could collapse. Of course his curiosity got the best of him, looking around inside the garage which was completely trashed he found a man. At first Michael thought that he was dead. He was covered in dust and his face was thin and pale. The man looked very ill and he seems like he is going to die in any minute. Michael tried to make conversation with this man but all the man said was I’m nobody, I want nothing and go away. He also meets this girl called Mina who is seemingly obsessed with birds and she loves to draw.
 * __SECTION 1__**
 * pg. 1-30**
 * by Malina**

__**SECTION 2**__
 * pg. 31 - 60**
 * by Jamie**

Michael visits the creature to give him aspirin, '27', and '53', which stands for the menu numbers of spring rolls and pork char sui from the local Chinese restaurant. Michael attempts to have a conversation with the creature, asking where he is from and who exactly he is, but the creature is unwilling to respond. Only when Michael continues to prod that the creature responds that he is "nearly nobody, most of me is Arthur. Arthur Itis, he's the one that's ruining me bones." The creature seems to be very ill, disgusting, and weathered: he belches frequently, wears a dark suit, and has dust and cobwebs all over him. He is very unfriendly, pessimistic, and appears to dislike Michael. It's hee that is book starts to remind me of //[|The Book Thief]// by Markus Zusak because both books talk about supernatural beings as being, well, not very supernatural like. //The Book Thief// is narrated by Death, who is tired of war, and Skellig is about a creature that is tired of living. The creature seems to be waiting to die, a strong contrast with Michael's feelings, who for some reason wants to help the creature live. I think this is because Michael doesn't want to see someone, or something, so helpless to death like his sister, and his efforts to help the creature echoes his wishes for his sister to live. The creature also has something growing underneath his shoulders.

The next day Michael goes to school. He learns about evolution and asks what shoulder blades are for, but the teacher doesn't know. Once he gets home, he sees Dr. Death talking to his parents, who are obviously upset about something - the baby has to go back to the hospital. Michael's mom starts crying and saying that they should have never moved to such a dirty, run-down old place; it's done the baby no good. I think the ruined house represents the creature and the baby because it is fragile, broken, and teetering on the edge of collapse; but like what the real estate agent said, the house could be beautiful. Michael's dad says he will try harder to get the house looking decent, kind of like how Michael wants to help the creature live because they both don't want to see something so helpless to death.

Later on, Michael asks his mother what shoulder blades are for. She answers, "...shoulder blades are where your wings were, when you were an angel. They say they're where your wings will grow again one day." This idea of wings, and evolution, is prominent throughout the book as the reader learns more things about the creature, and also because wings symbolize freedom, or hope. Michael meets Mina, an eccentric girl who loves things that fly, and she shows him an abandoned house full of tawny owls.

The next day Michael doesn't go to school and stays home with his dad fixing up the place for the baby. He also meets Mina again and learns that she is homeschooled. She is somewhat uppity about being able to learn in the real world, not school, and makes Michael uncomfortable. She also believes that shoulder blades are whre your wings used to be. Michael shows her how to make a hooting sound with your hands, and he promises her that because she showed him a secret place, he will show her the creature in the garage.


 * __Section 3__**
 * pg. 61-90**
 * by Malina**

__**SECTION 4**__
 * pg. 91-120**
 * by Jamie**

Mina and Michael visit the boarded up house and see Skellig sprawled on the staircase, obviously in agony. They lift him up to the second floor and make him feel more comfortable by bringing blankets, aspirin, food, and drink. Mina takes off his jacket and they are amazed to see that he has wings, and although they are long, uneven, and cracked wings, they are beautiful. This is more proof that Skellig is, as Mina puts it, indeed "extraordinary", and the reader starts to see anti-social, old Skellig as something like his wings - cracked, uneven, but beautiful.

When Michael and Mina meet next they talk about how there is no end to evolution, and when Mina mentions Skellig they just fall silent and look into each other's eyes. Suddenly they hear Leakey and Coot, Michael's two friends from school, sniggering and giggling. They force Michael to play football with them and when Leakey and Coot start insulting Mina, Michael gets into a fight with them, causing the garage to almost collapse. Afterwards, when Michael is talking about all the things that Mina and her mother has taught him, like about William Blake, to them, they don't really understand and make fun of him. Michael almost tells Leakey about Skellig, as he doesn't seem to be so absorbed in the teasing as Coot is, but then Leakey starts to call Mina names. At this point of the story I felt sorry for Michael because when he learned all kinds of amazing things about Skellig, the fragility of life, things that fly, and poetry; he gained so much but lost a kind of mutual understanding between him and his friends. They don't understand why he's so solemn now, why he suddenly seems to like some weird dead guy's poetry, or how eccentric Mina's best quality could be her differentness. I don't think Michael will ever tell his friends because they probably won't believe him, given how they acted during this chapter.

Michael and Mina have a big falling out about Leakey and Coot. Later on, in the nighttime when Michael sneaks out to visit Skellig, he meets Mina at the front porch of the boarded-up house and she apologizes. I think this shows that even though Mina can be a bit snobby, she can also be humble sometimes.

As they go up to the first landing they are shocked to see he is gone, and when they go up to the final landing they are even more surprised to see owls coming to the windowsill and leaving bits of food for Skellig to eat. He stands straight up, and appears to be stronger and healthier than ever. Mina, Michael, and Skellig hold hands and seem to fly together in a dream-like trance, again alluding to the book's theme of reality - how do you know what's real and what's not?

The section ends with Michael's dad hugging Micheal, relieved that he found him safe and sound. Michael lies that he was sleepwalking.

__**SECTION 6**__
 * pg. 151-182**
 * by Jamie**

After Michael faints, he feels his heartbeat and resignedly tells Mina that "it's only mine. It's not the baby's." He feels certain that the baby's dead. Mina shows what a good friend she is to Michael by trying to stay positive and saying that they can't be sure. They try in vain to find Skellig, only to discover he has disappeared. Michael fears Skellig has already left. At this point of the story I wondered if Skellig leaving was connected to the baby's operation. I thought that maybe Skellig left because the baby might have died, or maybe he was giving the baby life.

Michael and Mina wait along the road for Michael's dad, and when he finally comes back, Michael is relieved to find out that the baby is alright. Michael goes to the hospital and his mother says that there was a moment when the doctors thought the baby had died, but then she "burst into life again". I immedietly connected this to Michael fainting and I speculated how Michael could possibly feel his sister's heartbeat with his. Maybe Skellig did some magic so that Michael and his sister were interconnected. Michael's mother tells Michael that she had the oddest dream (she was wasn't sure she was awake or dreaming); she saw an ugly man in a black suit standing over the baby, and she felt terrified that he was going to take the baby away. However, when she saw his eyes, so loving and gentle, she knew that he wouldn't harm her. Then he lifted the baby up and they began to dance, ghostly wings rising from the baby's back. This was one of my favorite parts of the book because just when the reader thinks that Skellig might have left without even saying goodbye, he/she discovers that Skellig helped the baby live. Also, this shows how Skellig has changed throughout the book because in the beginning of the book he despised babies, but near the end he helps a baby. Michael thinks that love has helped heal Skellig, bringing home one of the story's themes, how love can help fight illness.

Michael and Mina visit the house in hopes of seeing Skellig again. They are delighted when he flies through the window, although he is noticeably pained. Michael asks him about his sister, and Skellig responds that it was her that gave him strength, not the other way around. He also seems very tender and grateful, thanking Michael and Mina for nursing him back to health. He says that he will leave soon and for the last time, they hold hands and fly. Before they part, Michael asks what he is. Skellig cryptically answers, "something like you, something like a beast, something like a bird, something like an angel. Something like that." I love how the author never says what Skellig is and leaves it up to the reader's imagination.

The following events wrap up the book nicely. Michael goes to school and plays the best game of football ever. Leakey asks him if he'll tell him about what happened when he was away, and Michael decides that he will someday. He even says he might tell Coot, showing his forgiving side. When Mina and Michael next visit the boarded-up house, they see a heart scratched on the floorboards with the inscription, "Thank you. S.," and three feathers. Builders come to knock down the garage. The baby comes home and she is smiling and giggling. Mina drops by and gives the baby a drawing of Skellig to hang on her wall, much to the amazement of Michael's mother, who recognizes the man from her dreams. In the end, they decide to name the baby Joy.