# Prayer explained — The Book of Jade

> Chapter companion for The Book of Jade by David Park Barnitz.

## What happens

A supplication to Pestilence personified as a divine force, calling for it to descend upon cities and nations to bring destruction, decay, and death to all without distinction.

## Themes in this chapter

### Death and Decay

The entire prayer is a litany calling for pestilence to rot, strike down, and cover the land with death.

### Nihilism and Spiritual Emptiness

The invocation of total annihilation without redemption or mercy suggests a worldview emptied of hope or moral order.

## Character check-ins

### Death

Pestilence is invoked as an agent of death, bringing decay and destruction to all.

## Key lines

> Holy Pestilence, come thou upon them, come thou at night

Sacred Plague, descend on them stealthily under cover of darkness.

_The speaker personifies pestilence as a holy, almost divine entity that attacks unseen._

> Holy Pestilence, let them all perish, touch’d with thy breath

Sacred Plague, let everyone die merely from your exhalation.

_The breath of pestilence is lethal, emphasizing the ease and totality of destruction._

> Holy Pestilence, peasant with ruler, body with head, Holy Pestilence, all shall be stricken under thy tread

Sacred Plague, both commoner and king, every living being, shall be crushed beneath your step.

_Pestilence levels social hierarchies, bringing equal death to all classes._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_book_of_jade_se/chapters/part-ii-prayer
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_book_of_jade_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_book_of_jade_se/chapters