Prophet Song

In the final chapters, the narrative’s tension escalates as war breaks out close to the Stacks’ home. Rebellion is an important element in dystopian fiction—often representing hope and liberation—and the arrival of the rebel army suggests a turning point for the better. However, the rebel army brings additional chaos because there are so many untruths and secrets that keep the regime safe. Furthermore, the rebel army is comprised of people like Mark—those new to fighting and unsure what to do with the sections of Dublin they liberate—as well as people who exhibit brutality and treatment that parallel that of regime officers. Therefore, the freedom they establish in Eilish’s neighborhood is tentative and fragile.

Nonetheless, Eilish maintains her belief in The Power of the Family Unit as she weighs her options. Maeve’s offer to escape tempts Eilish, but she initially is unable to give up her hope for Larry’s and Mark’s returns. Throughout history, there have been wars and crises that have caused people to flee their homes and countries, leaving people—in hindsight—to wonder why more didn’t leave. As Eilish’s neighbor Gerry explains, “Why should we leave […] if you’ve lived in one place all your life the idea of living someplace else is impossible […] neurological, it’s wired into the brain” (228). Giving up on one’s home to travel into the unknown disrupts one’s sense of safety. Because news about the war is unreliable, Eilish relies on her instincts to inform her understanding of what’s going on, but instinct is difficult to access without precedent for her circumstances. The war also keeps Eilish trapped because air raids destroy her home and neighborhood: Eilish discovers “this feeling in her body that things are different now, this deep black fear that lives in the blood, this sense of no escape” (226-27). Maeve’s offer to escape would have been much easier before the war.

Eilish only makes the choice to leave after she comes face to face with The Tyranny of Authoritarian Society during the novel’s climax, when she discovers Bailey’s corpse. After being struck in a bombardment, Bailey is kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by the state with no explanation, and his official cause of death is a lie. This incident serves as a major turning point for Eilish that forces her to reevaluate her decision to stay. After holding her family together for months, Eilish wants to give in to her grief, but The Human Instinct for Survival kicks in. Bailey’s death is a final confirmation that while escape is itself uncertain, Eilish certainly has no control or power to keep her children safe in Ireland, spurring her escape with Ben and Molly. The arduous and chaotic journey to the border further illustrates the ways people attempt to exploit the pain and suffering of war. As the Stack family becomes refugees, Eilish deals with bus drivers, checkpoint officers, and border officials who prey on her vulnerability. She and her children enter a new level of danger, especially as men try to abuse Molly in exchange for their help.

Prophet Song ends on a tentative note of optimism as Eilish’s maternal instinct for the survival of her living children is activated against the odds. Fighting for the possibility of a better future for herself and her children is better than succumbing to the pain of the family she has lost to death or uncertain ends: “[S]he looks towards the sky seeing only darkness knowing she has been at one with this darkness and that to stay would be to remain in this dark when she wants for them to live” (309). Lynch echoes the novel’s opening reference to “darkness” here, reiterating the family’s need to escape the bleak circumstances the dark symbolizes: To stay in the “dark” is to certainly die. Even if the Stacks fail to reach safety, Lynch emphasizes that the ability to retain hope and a fighting spirit is the ultimate victory over fascism. In this way, Eilish is the ultimate rebel. The conclusion of the novel is open-ended, but the sea is a metaphor for freedom, implying that Eilish might find peace and safety for Molly and Ben.