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I've talked about what I think of the prophecies in the stories before. I've said how I know some people find them annoying because they are cryptic and don't seem to help the characters. I also said how I enjoyed trying to guess at their meaning myself.
That's within the world of the stories themselves, though.
I think I've finally cracked it. The prophecies are meant to be like this. They're cryptic, confusing, and sometimes aren't understood until they come to pass…because they're a metaphor for life experiences.
I was thinking about how cryptic the prophecies are. This one was probably one of the ones you would be least likely to guess the answer to. The characters never guess the meaning, though. Do they even do anything? Wait.
In the short story Before There is Peace, Blood Will Spill Blood, And The Lake Will Run Red Leafpool asks what could she do about it. The prophecies do affect them. The cats act in ways they probably wouldn't otherwise. Even if it's often just greater caution
Later in this story, Leafpool says she blames herself for not warning her father. How much of a burden these prophecies, this knowledge must seem to some cats.
And yes, the prophecies are cryptic, but just because you have experience and knowledge doesn't mean you know what to do. Fireheart has trouble understanding them several times in The Prophecies Begin.
When Bluestar blames WindClan for the packs kills in their territory, Fireheart receives a message from Spottedleaf and Yellowfang. They tell him a battle will not be fought, and blood will not be spilled.
He's left wondering if this meant StarClan would prevent the fight or were they saying he should stop blood being spilled?
In this case, he makes the right choice, but Warriors and life rarely have one right and one wrong choice. If you've been in a similar situation, it may influence your choice, but it doesn't mean you made the right one this time.
Experience doesn't always help us make the right decision. It's confusing and cryptic. Like the prophecies to the Clans, we're often travelling blind with our knowledge. We just have to hope its influence helps us.
I think this explains people's biggest gripes with the prophecies well, but what do all you think? Do you like this explanation? Have you thought of it before, or do you have a different idea of what the prophecies might be for?
If you know someone who would like this, please share it with them too.
Here is the summary essay for Before There is Peace, Blood Will Spill Blood, And The Lake Will Run Red.
The central theme in Before There is Peace, Blood Will Spill Blood, And The Lake Will Run Red is decision making. It looks at the influences on our decisions that our experiences in life can have. What we know can help us decide, but it is not always clear what we should have learnt from our experiences. StarClan's cryptic prophecies to the Clan cats are a metaphor for the ambiguity of what we have learned from our past experiences. Despite the lack of clarity, the Clan cats still let StarClan's prophecies guide their decisions.
There is only one main character in the short story. This is the protagonist, Leafpool. Before There Is Peace, Blood Will Spill Blood, And The Lake Will Run Red is told in the first person, through Leafpool's eyes, so she speaks directly to the reader. Through her talking about trying to figure out the meaning of the prophecy, we learn the antagonist of the story is Brambleclaw's brother, Hawkfrost. However, the focus of the short story is Leafpool's struggle to figure out the prophecy's meaning, not the conflict with Hawkfrost. As such, he is not a main character.
The main situations in Before There is Peace, Blood Will Spill Blood, And The Lake Will Run Red are as follows. Leafpool knows the prophecy means bloodshed, but she doesn't know when or what to do about it. She knew Brambleclaw was meeting his father. She thought he might betray Firestar and blamed herself for not warning him. Hawkfrost set a trap for Firestar. Brambleclaw killed his brother to save his Clan. This is what the prophecy had meant by 'Blood will spill blood'. Leafpool couldn't imagine what Brambleclaw was feeling but knew now there could be peace.
Thank you for reading.
Don't forget to share and tell me what you thought in the comments. Do you have another opinion about the purpose of the prophecies in Warriors? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Alice B Hutley
I imagine prophecies are kind of like inner wisdom. Life experience is necessary to become a better version of who you are, but sometimes it can be tricky to put that wisdom in to words. Fireheart took the prophecies as words of wisdom and learning whereas others consider the prophecies as matters to be feared and confused by. It's an important distinction but it's easier for Fireheart to believe Starclan have the best of intentions as they have helped him in a lot of ways. I'm the car off all the others, Starclan's parts have really only arisen as methods of punishment or omens of death or despair. In that, any Starclan prophecy is met with "what have we done this time?" And not "what can we do to be better?" What do you think?
ReplyDeleteOr even, "What's happening now? Come on! What in StarClan is that supposed to mean?" and then, "I guess we'll just wait and see what happens." It bothers me that the prophecies don't 'require' any action in the later books. But you could be right; the characters have simply chosen not to act. We have had a lot of reactive protagonists in some series.
DeleteHaving them as inner wisdom is how Mothwing interprets them. In one book, shortly after they moved to the lake, she tells Leafpool that she may have heard something about the catmint on RiverClan territory but had just forgotten. Because she believes in StarClan, she remembered in a dream that she believed was delivered by a StarClan cat.