Justice In Fantasy World

Fantasy World is a setting in which fictional characters also have to face so many challenges in their day to day lives. People say nothing is easy to get and for that one must do so much hard-work and has to face criticism among their fellow relatives or neighbours. That is how fantasy ‘Consolation’ and ‘Eucatastrophe’ prevails. In all the stories, ‘Lady of the Skulls’ by “Patricia A. McKillip”, ‘John Uskglass and The Cumbrian Charcoal Burner’ by “Susanna Clarke”, ‘Ancestor Money’ by “Maureen F. McHugh” and ‘Mythago Wood’ by “Robert Holdstock”, the fictional characters have overcome the secondary and primary setting which leads to bittersweet ending in which justice is restored.

All the stories have different message and their ending is different which let readers to think critically about it. It shows that money, power, magic, and disbelief are illusions which can create different problems in the lives of these creatures. In the story, ‘Lady of the Skulls’ written by McKillip, one can see that how magic and riddles excited the six men for wealth by risking their lives. They all want money or valuables from the tower. The lady in the tower seems to be the one who collects and grows skull and kills people in the beginning, but she comes out to be the most valuable thing in the tower. She is the Amaranth who has made the tower after getting several heartaches from the men and wants men to die for jewels. But the truth is materialistic things are not valuable, but the living beings are. Men have always used her one way or the other for their own selfish needs.

The story has a secondary fantasy world in which fictional characters have magic. For the lady, tower is the Amaranth that never dies but at the end Carmelaine is the one who recognizes that lady is the real Amaranth. For the valuables, many people have lost their life in the tower but Carmelaine is the one who is being wise and knows the feeling of the lady who is being rejected, touched, and then forgotten as it says love-lies-bleeding but Carmelaine shows his love and affection for the lady and takes her into the dragon’s mouth. All his life Lady thinks that the tower never dies but Carmelaine is the one who built it for her all the time. The story has an open ending in which reader can interpret the story on their own. But the lady finds the true love in Carmelaine as he said, “I will give you back your rose, if you will let me take the Amaranth” (McKillip 53). This shows that the justice is being restored and the story has a bittersweet ending. In the story ‘John Uskglass and The Cumbrian Charcoal Burner’ by “Susanna Clarke”, Both the characters, the King and the Charcoal burner does not know about each other.

For the charcoal burner money matters as he is poor and for the King, his powers are important which makes him think as he is superior of all the people in the Kingdom and knowing that someone else have more power than him makes him angry. But he forgets that God is the one who is superior of all and he is the one who gives life to his children. God gives justice and decides the punishment for his children. The story has a mix of primary and secondary setting as it takes place in Cumbria (in Northwest England) which is a real place, but the fictional characters have power which makes it completely imaginary world. Both the characters have suffered pain equally because they do not care to know the real identity of each other. Charcoal burner always goes to Saints for the justice and the king always gets in trouble by this but in return gives same trouble to the poor man. The story is completely ironic and hold humour in which both the people are getting pain unexpectedly. But at the end, King wants to make everything right, so he goes to Charcoal Burner and asks for his wishes so that in future, he does not bother him again. In this, both have equal selfishness. But they still do not know about each other at the end which leads to ‘Consolation’ and ‘eucatastrophe’. This shows even if the World is imaginary but still people (fictional characters) have greed for money and power. The story ‘Ancestor Money’ by “Maureen F. McHugh” is based on imagined afterlife in which people have different beliefs, culture, and religion. Even after death, they follow their same traditions and wants to progress to live a better afterlife. Thus, they need money and power for that they can do anything. The grandmother in the story is living a peaceful life in her house but stagnant life where she can never progress once goes to the Chinese afterlife to collect her money and goods that has been sent by her granddaughter. The Journey Motif for her is just to collect the money but she encountered various places, people and culture which amazed her but at the end does not changed her thinking and belief. The story has a secondary setting but talks about the real world in which people still have conflicts between each other about their belief of the afterlife.

For her, after death no one progress as death is inevitable as well as eternal. People who have worked so hard in their entire life for fame, money needs rest and peace. That is what the grandmother thinks. Life is all about hard-work, failures, success, money, fame but afterlife is all about being yourself and one should do what makes him happy even if other people of the same background likes it or not. The story has a closed ending in which wrongs are righted because the grandmother takes that decision which she wants and comes back home even if the house is empty and the geese are gone. In the entire life people look for comfort that is the reason they become greedy for money, but the grandmother does not have any greediness as she only wants peace. Thus, the story leads to ‘Consolation’. In the story, ‘Mythago Wood’ by “Robert Holdstock”, The story has a mix setting in which the real-life characters are afraid from the fictional characters which is there in the forest and vice-versa. The story has a primary setting (real world) and secondary setting (fictional world). The characters, Steve and Christian have illusion that something mysterious is there in the forest as Christian has a dream once when he was small that he has married a girl name Guiwenneth. But, these fictional characters are being made by their father just to take revenge from them. Thereby, he starts to fill their mind with these creatures who have supernatural power and are called Mythagos. Such as Guiwenneth, man with a dog etc. These fictional characters are also afraid from the real people that is the reason they haunt them so that they do not get harm. But they say that a person’s past can invade his/her present (Boily presentation 2) The same happened with the two brothers. The story has an open ending, but a person’s disbelief can ruin his life. Fictional characters also overcome ‘Consolation’ and ‘Eucatastrophe’ as they win from the real characters, but it takes courage and dedication to get freedom of the mind from those supernatural powers which takes away a person’ peace.

At the end, people should know what is right for them and what is wrong. Materialistic things do not matter in life until and unless people have their loved ones. Be it fictional characters or real-life people, ‘Consolation’ and ‘Eucatastrophe’ is being achieved at the end as the result of their sufferings and hard-work. At the end, life gives experience which has a bittersweet taste, and which makes people wise. All the good people get justice and the bad ones gets the punishment no matter where one lives.