A Canticle For Leibowitz

Fingo’s wooden carving of Leibowitz appears early in the novel and endures throughout. It is a piece of wood that survives for centuries in a world where nuclear war is always possible. The statue is a reminder that culture is tenuous, that religious ideas have tremendous staying power, and that how religious idols are represented can shape the thinking of those who view the idols. For instance, Zerchi prefers the carving of Leibowitz, with its enigmatic smile, to the sickly representations of Jesus, which always present him as feeble and, in Zerchi’s view, feminine. In contrast, he views the statue’s smile as “satiric” (315), as if Leibowitz is in on a cosmic joke.

The smile feels “familiar” (96) to Francis, reinforcing his idea that the wanderer in the desert was actually Leibowitz. Paulo describes the smile as “turned down at one corner; the eyebrows were pulled low in a faintly dubious frown, although there were laugh-wrinkles at the corners of the eyes” (172).

Despite the loss of an eye, the Poet claims that the glass eye helps him see better. He is one of the only characters who speaks unapologetically about the value of fictional stories. The glass eye does not have the capability of sight, but its improvements are obvious to the Poet, who speaks primarily in allegorical language.