Against All Things Ending
Chapter 24: Part Two — 12. Sold Souls
by R., Donaldson, StephenThe chapter “Sold Souls” plunges Thomas Covenant into a nightmarish, timeless void where he experiences multiple overlapping dimensions of suffering. On one plane, he exists on a frozen, featureless plain, his body and mind suspended in agony without the relief of time or change. On another, he endures the torment of countless hornets burrowing into his flesh, their pain eternal and inescapable. Simultaneously, he merges with Joan, experiencing her madness, rage, and fractured memories as his own, while the Raver turiya Herem manipulates their suffering like a cruel puppeteer. Covenant’s consciousness fractures under the weight of these layered torments, blurring the lines between his identity and Joan’s.
Amid the chaos, Covenant clings to fragmented awareness of his purpose: he entered this temporal maelstrom to reach Joan, believing she is the key to his survival and the Land’s salvation. Though he is lost in the caesure’s turmoil, Joan’s presence anchors him to the present, as her heartbeat tethers her to life. Yet, his resolve is eroded by her madness and the Raver’s taunts, which mock his helplessness and the futility of his sacrifice. Covenant’s grip on the krill, a weapon of potential power, is rendered meaningless as he drowns in Joan’s deranged psyche and the Raver’s malevolent games.
The chapter delves into Joan’s tragic backstory, revealing how her idyllic life with Covenant—marked by love, horses, and creative fulfillment—was shattered by his leprosy. Her revulsion and sense of betrayal festered into all-consuming rage, which the Raver exploits to deepen her and Covenant’s suffering. These memories, sharp as knives, strip away Covenant’s sanity, leaving him as broken as Joan. The Raver revels in their shared despair, emphasizing how Covenant’s love has become a source of endless torment, a commodity traded for misery.
Ultimately, the chapter portrays Covenant’s descent into existential despair, where even his fleeting hope of reuniting with Linden Avery and saving the Land seems lost. The Creator’s absence looms over the narrative, suggesting a universe abandoned to its doom. Covenant’s struggle becomes a microcosm of futility, as he is consumed by Joan’s pain, the Raver’s cruelty, and the relentless cold of a timeless void. The chapter ends on a note of unresolved anguish, with Covenant’s fate hanging in the balance, his humanity eroded by forces beyond his control.
FAQs
1. What are the multiple dimensions of perception Covenant experiences in this chapter, and how do they contribute to his suffering?
Answer:
Covenant experiences four overlapping dimensions of perception in this chapter, each amplifying his torment. First, he exists on a featureless, freezing plain where time is suspended, leaving him trapped in eternal cold. Second, he feels countless hornets burrowing into his flesh, causing unrelenting agony without relief. Third, he merges with Joan’s consciousness, experiencing her madness, rage, and traumatic memories as his own. Fourth, he perceives the Raver, turiya Herem, who manipulates these realities like toys. These dimensions compound his suffering by combining physical pain, temporal stasis, psychological fragmentation, and external malice, leaving him utterly vulnerable and lost.2. How does Covenant’s connection to Joan serve as both a path to salvation and a source of destruction?
Answer:
Covenant seeks Joan as his “road back to life” because she anchors the temporal chaos of the caesure—she is the “eye of the paradox” connecting past, present, and future. Her humanity and lingering life offer a tether to reality. However, this connection also destroys him: her madness overwhelms his mind, her memories slice through his sanity, and her impending death (e.g., the coming tsunami) threatens to erase him. Thus, Joan is both his only hope and his undoing, embodying the duality of salvation and annihilation in his journey.3. Analyze the role of turiya Herem in this chapter. How does the Raver’s malice differ from Covenant’s other torments?
Answer:
Turiya Herem, a servant of Lord Foul, acts as a puppeteer of suffering, juggling Covenant’s realities and memories with cruel amusement. Unlike the passive horrors of cold, hornets, or Joan’s madness, the Raver represents active, sentient evil—a “sempiternal sickness” Covenant recognizes as a familiar disease. However, turiya’s malice is secondary to Covenant’s primary torments; the Raver cannot create new suffering but only exacerbate what already exists. His laughter and taunts (“you have sold your freedom”) highlight Covenant’s powerlessness, yet Covenant dismisses him as irrelevant compared to the existential threats of time and madness.4. Why does Covenant believe the Creator has “abandoned his creation,” and how does this reflect the chapter’s themes of despair and agency?
Answer:
Covenant concludes that the Creator (the “old beggar”) foresaw the Land’s doom and withdrew, leaving no warning for Linden. This belief underscores the chapter’s themes of cosmic despair—the idea that even divine forces have surrendered to entropy. Yet Covenant’s earlier choice to enter the caesure, knowing the risks, contrasts with this nihilism. His agency (e.g., trusting in Joan as his path) clashes with his current helplessness, mirroring the tension between hope and futility. The Creator’s absence amplifies the stakes, forcing Covenant to confront salvation or oblivion alone.5. How does the chapter use Joan’s backstory to deepen Covenant’s psychological torment?
Answer:
Joan’s memories—of idyllic happiness with Covenant, her horses, and her son—are weaponized against him. These “sharp as flensing knives” recollections contrast her past joy with her present rage, making her betrayal by Covenant’s leprosy more visceral. Her revulsion at his disease (“it would make her a leper too”) becomes his own guilt, and her descent into madness mirrors his psychological collapse. By merging with her consciousness, Covenant not only feels her pain but also internalizes her shattered identity, blurring the line between victim and perpetrator in their shared tragedy.
Quotes
1. “It would never have that chance. In this place, there were no chances.”
This quote captures the existential horror of Covenant’s frozen, timeless torment. It represents the chapter’s central theme of absolute stasis and suffering, where even the possibility of change or relief is erased.
2. “He remembered her life. His memories were hers. They were broken and whetted, as sharp as flensing knives, and they sliced through him until every vestige of his sanity was cut away.”
This powerful metaphor illustrates the brutal merging of Covenant and Joan’s consciousness. It shows how shared memories become weapons that destroy sanity, representing the chapter’s exploration of identity dissolution.
3. “You have sold your freedom to purchase the misery of love, turiya Herem told him, laughing.”
This key quote from the Raver distills the tragic paradox of Covenant’s choices. It encapsulates the chapter’s examination of how love can become a form of bondage when taken to extremes in this nightmarish reality.
4. “She had found pleasure in Covenant’s first ecstasy of writing… The hurt of childbirth was nothing to her because her husband had written a bestseller, and because she had a son, and because her heart sang in the presence of horses.”
This poignant memory contrasts sharply with present horrors, showing how Joan’s past happiness makes her current suffering more devastating. It represents the chapter’s theme of how paradise lost intensifies present torment.
5. “His illness was a form of treachery because it destroyed her contentment. It would make her a leper as well.”
This insight into Joan’s perspective reveals how Covenant’s leprosy became a betrayal of their shared life. It represents the chapter’s exploration of how physical and emotional wounds become inseparable in their shared madness.