XL: The Ascension of Pope Jurgen explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Illusion vs. Reality

  Heaven is portrayed as a realm of illusions, particularly Steinvor's idealized notions of her family, and Jurgen's masquerade as Pope John the Twentieth blurs truth and fiction.

• Self-Deception and Identity

  Jurgen confronts his younger self and the illusions of his grandmother, reflecting on the multiplicity of his own identity and the stories he tells.

• Mythology and Storytelling

  The use of Jacob's Ladder, the cantrap of the Master Philologist, and the logical argument about papal succession highlight the power of narrative and myth.

Characters to notice

• Jurgen

  The protagonist, masquerading as Pope John the Twentieth, ascends into Heaven using Jacob's Ladder and confronts his younger self.

• Steinvor

  Jurgen's grandmother, who abides in Heaven with her illusions of her family; Jurgen avoids her out of fairness.

• John the Twentieth

  The papal identity Jurgen assumes; the mansion prepared for him in Heaven is vacant.

• John the Nineteenth

  A previous Pope John who claims never to have heard of John the Twentieth.

• John the Twenty-first

  The pope who asserts that John the Twentieth never existed, leading to Jurgen's logical argument.

• Coth

  Mentioned as Jurgen's father in the younger angel's self-identification.

Key passages

• “For Jurgen’s forefathers had, of course, imagined that Hell stood directly contiguous to Heaven, so that the blessed could augment their felicity by gazing down upon the tortures of the damned.”

  Jurgen's ancestors believed Hell was right next to Heaven, allowing the saved to enjoy watching the damned suffer.

  Sets up the spatial and theological framework for the chapter.

• “I am Jurgen, the grandson of Steinvor, and the grandchild whom she loved above her other grandchildren: and so I abide forever in Heaven with all the other illusions of Steinvor.”

  The young angel identifies himself as Jurgen, Steinvor's favorite grandchild, existing in Heaven as one of her cherished illusions.

  Reveals the nature of Heaven as a collection of personal illusions.

• “So Jurgen quitted the boy that he had been. But first had Jurgen learned that in this place his grandmother Steinvor (whom King Smoit had loved) abode and was happy in her notion of Heaven; and that about her were her notions of her children and of her grandchildren.”

  Jurgen left his younger self after learning that his grandmother Steinvor lived happily in her own version of Heaven, surrounded by her idealized family.

  Highlights Jurgen's decision to avoid his grandmother's illusions out of respect.