The Keys To The Kingdom - Religious, Cultural, and Literary References

Religious, Cultural, and Literary References

The Keys to the Kingdom appears to contain many examples of religious symbolism and references, particularly in Judeo-Christian tradition. One example is the title of the series, a reference to the words spoken by Jesus Christ to the Apostle Peter in the Bible at Matthew 16:19 - "I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven". Another example is the affliction of each Morrow Day with one of the seven deadly sins that results from their choice not to obey the Will.

• Mister Monday: Sloth
• Grim Tuesday: Greed
• Drowned Wednesday: Gluttony
• Sir Thursday: Wrath
• Lady Friday: Lust
• Superior Saturday: Envy
• Lord Sunday: Pride

Other religious references include the Old One, a Prometheus-like character who held great power but was chained and punished by the Architect for his interference with Her creations. (alternatively seen as a Lucifer character). However, the revelation in the final installment that the Old One was split from the entity of the Architect, and retained her powers, strongly suggest that he is a reference to God. The Drasil trees' name resembles that of the Norse "World Tree", Yggdrasil. There is even a range of literary and mythological reference in the series: Mister Monday's butler is compared to Nestor of The Adventures of Tintin; a character describes Monday's Noon as exactly how she imagined Jane Austen's Mr Darcy; the Piper is a re-creation of the legendary Pied Piper of Hamelin, who with his music led a population of rats from a city, later to do the same to the town's children, whose parents had refused to pay him the promised fee. The Mariner is likely a reference to the title character of the ballad The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Both the mariner of the book and the one of the poem had shot a bird and suffered misery as a result, though Garth Nix does not specify what type of bird the mariner in his book had shot. In addition, the name "Artful Loungers", used for Superior Saturday's servants, may be a reference to "Artful Dodger", the name of a street thief in Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist. References to Dickens and the society wherein he lived are also implied in the personalities of the Piper's Children and in the Denizens' clothes. In Drowned Wednesday, Arthur suggests that a passage may open 'through the wardrobe', which is most likely a reference to the wardrobe in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, through which the protagonist children enter Narnia. The same book also includes an "exchange of blows" wherein each fighter tries to kill each other by means of one strike only, similar to the challenge issued by the Green Knight. Also, the Incomparable Gardens may represent the Garden of Eden,and Saturday's Tower would be analogous to the Tower of Babel, an attempt to reach Heaven. The character of Lord Sunday who claims that his only wish is to care for his garden may be a reference to Candide, who decides that "we must all tend to our gardens". In addition, the three sons of the Architect and the Old One may reference the Holy Trinity, the Father (Lord Sunday), the Son (The Mariner), and the Holy Spirit (The Piper), as well as the three Greek gods Zeus (Lord Sunday), Poseidon (The Mariner), and Hades (Pied Piper; he was banished to the Void of Nothing)

Other literary references in the series, in this case to Dante's Inferno, include the scene of slothful Mister Monday being attacked by Bibliophages, a Nithling that takes the form of a snake, while fighting Arthur, in that the punishment in Hell for sloth is to be eaten by snakes. Grim Tuesday dies by falling into a pool of Nothing, while the punishment in Hell for greed (Tuesday's sin) is to be boiled alive. Finally, Drowned Wednesday is forced to eat every thing in her path and dies of Nothing contamination; the punishment for gluttony is to be force-fed rats, toads, and snakes.

A cultural reference is found in the use of the word Architect to designate the Creator. It may signify either an association with Freemasonry or a simple leap of logic, in that the Freemasons use the epithet "Great Architect" to signify the Supreme Being whereas in a history of the world wherein the Epicenter of the Universe is a house, its maker must necessarily be an architect.

Friday's actions in regard to "experiencing" the humans can be compared to those of a drug addict: She sadly remarks about the feelings "fading", and then desires more before remarking that she would "run out" and then leaves to find "another distraction". When Arthur takes the Fifth Key from her, her pleading for "one last experiencing" is similar to a drug addict. It is also comparable to some perceptions of vampires.

Another cultural reference is the usage of the name Seven Dials to describe the Lower House's transport into the Secondary Realms. The Seven Dials is a large conjunction of roads in the West End of London.

Arthur's name implies reference to archetypes: Arthur Penhaligon might be a play on Arthur Pendragon, who is otherwise known as King Arthur. A pun to this is that he is known as Lord Arthur, by some Denizens. The "Return of the Pendragon", a supposedly prophesied idea wherein King Arthur would return from the land of the dead and bring a golden age to the Earth, may be implied here; Lord Arthur of the House represents the Pendragon, in which role he restores balance to the House and thence to the Universe. In keeping with the Christian theme of the books, he could be seen as being a counterpart to Jesus, further backed by the fact that he has adopted parents, paralleling Jesus' adopted father, Saint Joseph.