{"id":9502,"date":"2026-10-28T15:17:54","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T18:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/discours-e.ca\/?p=9502"},"modified":"2026-10-31T00:20:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T03:20:11","slug":"superstitions-and-rituals-in-thomas-kings-the-back-of-the-turtle-and-nicolas-dickners-apocalypse-for-beginners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/discours-e.ca\/en\/2026\/10\/28\/superstitions-and-rituals-in-thomas-kings-the-back-of-the-turtle-and-nicolas-dickners-apocalypse-for-beginners\/","title":{"rendered":"Superstitions and Rituals in Thomas King\u2019s \u201cThe Back of the Turtle\u201d and Nicolas Dickner\u2019s \u201cApocalypse for Beginners\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dossier: <\/strong>\u201cThe Future of Threat is Forever\u201d: Apocalyptic Fiction in Canada<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article analyzes Thomas King’s The Back of Turtle. <\/em>See this issue\u2019s introduction<\/a> for full context regarding the study of King\u2019s novel.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Superstitions and Rituals in Thomas King\u2019s The Back of the Turtle<\/em>1<\/a><\/sup>See this issue\u2019s introduction<\/a> for full context regarding the study of King\u2019s novel.<\/span> and Nicolas Dickner\u2019s Apocalypse for Beginners<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By Nadyne Kuhn<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Believing in superstitions serves as a way to navigate chaotic events, such as an apocalypse. Elliott Oring writes in \u201cFour Laws of Folklore\u201d that \u201cwhat counts as superstition\u2026 is not something that is merely known, or even something that is believed, but something that is, at least occasionally, acted upon. The action may be positive\u2026 or it may be negative\u201d (60\u201361). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this sense, action is a repeated performance that either benefits or hinders, regardless of the societal irrationality the superstition presents. Since superstition is a \u201csubcategory of folk belief\u2026\u201d (Oring 60) and has a link to performance, rituals are also a type of performance that ties beliefs, landscapes, and occasionally objects (Moser and Knust 1). Claudia Moser and Jennifer Knust, in \u201cRitual Matters: An Introduction,\u201d write that rituals are not necessarily easy to study because time erases their intentionality, but that objects associated with perceived ritualistic acts remain (1). In fact, they introduce \u201cthing theory,\u201d which \u201cemphasize[s] the way that things \u2018live\u2019, circulate, and attain agency within human communities\u201d (1). Associating meaning with objects gives superstition a physical manifestation and a means of establishing a ritualistic practice. \u201cBelief and practice, concept and object, meaning and matter cannot be separated. In the end, however, even beliefs must be traced in material form since beliefs do not leave material traces; human activity does\u201d (8). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, this paper will explore the characters\u2019 tendency to associate superstitious beliefs with objects and performative actions in Thomas King\u2019s Back of the Turtle<\/em> and Nicolas Dickner\u2019s Apocalypse for Beginners<\/em> and how their superstitions tie into apocalyptic literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dorian and the Rituals of Consumerism<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Thomas King, in his novel The Back of the Turtle<\/em>, introduces the character Dorian, the CEO of the company Domidion, which releases a bacterium that devastates an entire community of people and the surrounding environment. Through consumerism, Dorian uses capitalist rituals to regain control amid uncertainty. His buyer\u2019s compulsion is highlighted through a series of negative events:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rosen\u2019s hadn\u2019t been enough. Even after he left the store, Dorian could still taste Toshi\u2019s office in his mouth\u2026 he walked up and down Bloor Street, touring the other high-end shops and adding some twelve thousand dollars to his credit card\u2026 In the world of fine watches, the Rolex wasn\u2019t an expensive piece. A Jaeger or a Patek would have made a larger dent in his expense account\u2014and he had seen a very nice Jaeger\u2014but he liked the casual look of the Milgauss. (King 191)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

After purchasing the Rolex, Dorian imbues it with meaning and reflects on it whenever he has a positive or negative experience. \u201c\u2018Material culture\u2019 and \u2018materiality\u2019, Knappet has argued, offer both a \u2018useful way of understanding the conjunction or intersection of the social and the material\u2019 and helpful lenses for thinking about how an object\u2026 relates to people and their worlds\u201d (Moser and Knust 2). Given Dorian\u2019s penchant for living within a capitalist regime, following capitalist rituals is natural. Furthermore, Moser and Knust discuss the inertia of material objects, noting that \u201cthings ha[ve] effects on the way people think and behave\u2026\u201d (2). Dorian\u2019s Rolex signals not only his materialism but also his behavioural tendencies. Given his employment at a major company, Dorian prioritizes wealth over confronting the reality of his health, despite his inner monologue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dorian wears his Rolex and vacillates between happiness and regret over the purchase. After multiple crises in Dorian\u2019s life, he channels his anger into the Rolex: \u201cAnd suddenly he was angry. Angry about the divorce. Angry about Florida. Angry that they had bought the condo on Queen\u2019s Quay. Angry with Toshi. Angry that he had settled for the Rolex instead of getting the Jaeger as well\u201d (King 411). His anger reflects his need for control in the face of uncertainty. Yet despite enumerating multiple crises, he ends with regret over not having purchased an additional watch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In \u201cConscious and Nonconscious Components of Superstitious Beliefs in Judgment and Decision Making,\u201d Thomas Kramer and Lauren Block illustrate that \u201cresearch also suggests that people are motivated to rely on superstitious beliefs when their control over an event is undermined and threatened\u201d (784). Considering the astute control Dorian has over his company and the media, the lack thereof over his own health leads him to assign meaning to an object to regain control, ultimately allowing his anger to surface. Dorian is facing an individual apocalypse: his own imminent death, which is directly affecting his present. The object to which Dorian clings for control, his watch, reminds him of his own demise: \u201cHe should have sat down with Toshi, should have listened as a stranger told him that his life was coming to an end. How did you tell someone that? How did you start? Six months, eight months, a year?\u201d (King 468). His obsession with time demonstrates how the future directly affects his present. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In \u201cArchaeology of Memory: About the Forms and the Time of Memory in a Necropolis of Pompeii,\u201d Henri Duday and William Van Andringa write that \u201cregular and continuous attendance at the necropolis is naturally accompanied by a rise of the level of circulation within the enclosures\u201d (77). With Dorian\u2019s regular, ritualistic participation in consumerism, he seems to be performing his own funeral ritual by shopping for new clothes, which could be his funeral clothes, and for his watch, which not only reminds him of his death but could also be used to determine his literal expiration date. By preparing for his impending demise, or his own personal apocalypse, Dorian gives himself structure and a sense of acceptance of his eventual end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sonny\u2019s Salvaging<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Thomas King also introduces the character Sonny, who lives near the community devastated by the bacterium released by Dorian\u2019s company, Domidion. Like Dorian, Sonny uses capitalist consumerist rituals to regain control in his post-apocalyptic environment. In Sonny\u2019s case, his consumerism is linked to salvaging:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Each day on the beach, the world begins anew. Fresh. Clean. Full of salvage. Sonny bends down and rakes the hammer through the sand. He likes the designs that the claw makes, and sometimes he finds things people have lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eyeglasses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baby soothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Car keys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far today, Sonny has found several metal spoons, a plate, and a cup. Right at the water\u2019s edge, he\u2019s found a trunk buried in the sand. (King 51)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

When facing constant renewal, Sonny\u2019s worldview remains positive. He ritualistically sets out each day to discover new objects. In a sense, he becomes an archaeologist, preserving the memory of objects left behind. Even Sonny\u2019s proclamations have a sermon-like quality that echoes his daily ritual: \u201cI have looked to the water, whence cometh my salvage. Verily, I say, my salvage is at hand. Sonny didn\u2019t think these sayings up by himself. They all come from Dad, and Dad had him repeat them over and over. In the beginning was the salvage\u201d (King 28). The emphasis on salvaging seems to be a malapropism, in that, rather than salvation, Sonny understood salvage. Regardless, Elliott Oring writes that \u201crepetitive behaviours that seem to be directed towards producing a particular outcome can result from an accidental behaviour that is fortuitously reinforced\u201d (62). The possibility that Sonny was originally tasked with cleaning the beach is highly probable, and that it eventually became a purification ritual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sonny\u2019s fear is not obvious and could be unconsciously motivated. Whereas Dorian faces a possibly early death, Sonny has already lived through an apocalypse. His salvaging is linked to the ocean\u2019s purifying nature: the objects he collects could be oceanic refuse or offerings for a new life to come. Keeping the beach clean is his unconscious, superstitious ritual to bring humans and animals back to the beach: \u201cA beacon. A tower beacon. A lighthouse. More or less. A symbol of hope. A guiding light. A monument to perseverance. That\u2019s what Sonny will build. Right here on the beach. A tower that will stand against the dark sky and bring the turtles home\u201d (King 268). By deciding to create a beacon, Sonny demonstrates his unconscious fear that the beach will remain empty. The fear of being alone, of his missing father, of missing animals, and of a missing community drives Sonny\u2019s superstition. Yet, instead of wallowing in this fear, Sonny proactively creates a beacon to restore a sense of community after the apocalypse. According to Moser and Knust, \u201csuch ritual continuity within a context of material change offers evidence for the tenacity of social and individual practice over time\u2026\u201d (5). Sonny\u2019s tenacity in reusing what he finds on the beach to create a beacon to signal safety is reminiscent of birds\u2019 nests made from discarded objects. All his hard work rewards him: \u201cIt\u2019s a sea turtle, just like the turtles who used to arrive on Sonny\u2019s beach during tourist season\u2026 Sonny tears some seagrass out of the sand and holds it out, in case Big Red is hungry\u201d (King 429). Sonny symbolically creates life from death. Using his beacon of hope, he creates a superstitious omen to signal good fortune to come, such as the return of the turtles to the beach and the community in the reserve. With the apocalyptic collapse of his environment, Sonny regains control through a nurturing superstition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hope\u2019s Inherited Belief<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the novel Apocalypse for Beginners<\/em>, Nicolas Dickner introduces Hope Randall as one of two main characters whose family is obsessed with the Apocalypse as a genetic, prophetic sense emerges alongside their pubertal awakening. Like Dorian and Sonny in Thomas King\u2019s novel, Hope and her mother, Ann, use capitalist rituals to regain control of their present as a looming future event looms over them. Ann ascribes superstitious significance to texts: \u201cFor example, [Ann] earmarked half of the library\u2019s annual budget for the purchase of an extravagant collection of ancient texts: Bibles in Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek, a facsimile of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Epic of Gilgamesh, the En\u00fbma Eli\u0161 and the Book of the Dead\u201d (Dickner 13). These texts preserve possible Apocalyptic prophecies that could align with her prophesied end-of-the-world date. However, when the Apocalypse fails to occur, Ann ritually returns to the source material and abandons her daughter, Hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hope learns capitalist rituals from her mother, originally using books as her gateway to the Apocalypse. Kramer and Block state that \u201cmany superstitions are culturally shared and socially transmitted from generation to generation\u2026\u201d (784). However, Hope shifts from books to television, which she treats as a ritual. Because televisions are both consumer products and vehicles for consumerist literature, Hope continues a ritualistic performance by watching television and paying close attention to the catastrophes: \u201cThe report on Pompeii was finishing, and Hope immediately insisted on watching the news. I switched channels just in time to catch veteran anchorman Bernard Derome announcing the top stories. Keywords: devastating, typhoon, Thailand\u201d (Dickner 36). Yet her routine observations indicate that, despite the numerous natural disasters that devastate the world, Hope remains dissatisfied with society\u2019s lack of awareness of a specific Apocalyptic date. Her belief in the Apocalypse must be made tangible. In \u201cThere Isn\u2019t Belief, Just Believing: Rethinking Belief<\/em> as a Keyword of Folklore Studies,\u201d Benjamin Gatling writes that \u201cif beliefs aren\u2019t things, if they can\u2019t be pointed to as the causes of action in the world, if they aren\u2019t universally possessed or a feature of religious life writ large, then the term belief<\/em> still seems the most relevant when conceptualizing non-artistic forms of believing, that is informal knowledge\u201d (318). Hope needs to know the date of the Apocalypse. Therefore, by using a game of chance, she ironically takes control of her life by determining the date of the end of the world: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While I daydreamed, Hope tossed the dice. Between throws, she wrote certain numbers down and crossed out others. This method was not only elegant but quick, and two minutes were enough for her to determine that the apocalypse would land on July 17, 2001. Well, at least that was one thing out of the way! (Dickner 58)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Hope determines the date through a ritual of chance, and the date becomes a superstition. According to Kramer and Block, \u201csuperstitions are beliefs that are inconsistent with the known laws of nature or with what is generally considered rational in a society\u201d (784). Hope rationalizes a game of chance as a logical course of action, even as she irrationally ascribes Apocalyptic meaning to a random date. Her superstition, ironically, seems positive, rewarding her perseverance in its discovery: \u201cHope had taped the treasured Captain Mofuku ramen wrapper inside her locker (beside the picture of David Suzuki) and scribbled the numbers 17 07 2001 everywhere: in the blank spaces of her notebooks, in her books, on her arms, her desk, her jeans, and even in the cafeteria\u2019s infamous ravioli sauce\u201d (Dickner 64\u201365). Marking the date \u201ceverywhere\u201d across landscapes (locker, desk), objects (notebooks, books), and even on her person (arms) suggests a death-like, ritualistic preparation for the Apocalypse. Therefore, Hope crosses a threshold and is no longer a bystander but a prophet in her death ritual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Midway through Dickner\u2019s novel, Hope leaves Rivi\u00e8re-du-Loup in search of a second person who predicted the world would end on the same date. As Benjamin Gatling explains, \u201c\u2018personal belief is whimsical; it fluctuates\u2019\u201d (310), and Hope\u2019s original superstitious belief about her Apocalyptic date shifts as she decides to travel the world in search of a fellow prophet. Her superstitious need for confirmation recalls her mother\u2019s obsessive tendency to scour texts to confirm her own (erroneous) Apocalyptic date. Kramer and Block write that \u201c\u2026 superstitious beliefs can lead to behaviour contrary to financial common sense\u201d (785). She uses her entire savings to travel the world:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I tossed the cushion aside, plunged my arm inside the couch and groped around in its entrails for a good while. There could be no mistake: instead of a thick envelope stuffed with money, my hand found nothing but springs, foam rubber and unidentified crumbs. Hope had closed her secret account. (Dickner 138)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Hope\u2019s nonchalant spending reveals a character deeply embedded in a capitalist system. Yet Hope\u2019s travels to Japan signal a change from her death ritual to one of purification: \u201cBrushing the palm of her hand over her shirt pocket, Hope felt the reassuring bulge of the nail clipper\u201d (Dickner 184). Hope assigns a superstition to her nail clipper, transforming it into a lucky talisman. The possibility that both Hope and the unknown prophet could have failed their Apocalyptic prophecy drives her to adopt a new superstition. Hope uses the nail clipper as part of a cleansing: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Since her nails were already short, she was working on a scale of a fraction of a millimetre, applying microscopic file strokes, refining a curve, meticulously shaping a cuticle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merriam watched her work for a moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow many times a day do you cut your nails?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDunno. I\u2019m trying to quit.\u201d (Dickner 198)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Hope\u2019s new purifying ritual signifies a rite of passage, as \u201cVan Gennep recognized that rituals [sic] attended the crossing of a geographical frontier\u2026\u201d (Oring 58\u201359). Hope crosses a \u201cgeographical frontier\u201d into an entirely new environment and, with that, prepares herself for a new world after the Apocalypse (Oring 59). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Watching Infomercials: A Capitalist Ritual<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Nicolas Dickner introduces the narrator, Mickey Bauermann, the son of a family that runs a cement company. Living in a capitalist system, Mickey is not exempt from its influence; however, Hope initiates a capitalist ritual with him:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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She would quietly slip in through the back door, which I always left unlocked, and sometimes, when I woke up to take a leak at around 3 a.m., I would find her sitting cross-legged on the couch, blue and spectral in the glow of the cathode screen, totally engrossed by an infomercial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would sit down beside her without speaking and watch\u2026 (Dickner 108)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Television becomes Mickey and Hope\u2019s place of worship, where they note all major catastrophes that end old worlds and create new ones. In \u201cThe Ties that Bind Us: Ritual, Fusion, and Identification,\u201d Harvey Whitehouse and Jonathan A. Lanman state that \u201cthe key to understanding the cognitive consequences of routinization lies in the effects on memory of regular participation in collective rituals and the ability of these rituals to produce and enhance identification of the group\u201d (680). Mickey\u2019s ritualistic performance allows him to form a kinship with Hope. Recalling that watching television is like Hope\u2019s death ritual, Mickey\u2019s routine participation solidifies his belief in apocalypses. Even after Hope\u2019s departure, the death rituals are so deeply ingrained that Mickey continues to notice changes: \u201cOn the TV screen, Hans Blix was commenting on the UN inspections in Iraq. Saddam Hussein had agreed to abandon his weapons of mass destruction, to suspend his chemical, biological and nuclear arms programs\u2026\u201d (Dickner 225). Mickey is a supporter, an apostle, of Hope\u2019s prophet. According to Whitehouse and Lanman, \u201cunder this folk category, however, are numerous cognitively and behaviourally universal patterns that are normally associated with the term \u201critual,\u201d including such phenomena as synchronic movement, casually opaque action, and both euphoric and dysphoric arousal\u201d (675). Mickey\u2019s participation in Hope\u2019s rituals, whether or not he believes in her superstition, stems from a form of desire:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I was afraid to interfere with an infinitely delicate ceremony: Hope\u2019s breath on my neck, her arm across my chest, the tips of her fingers under my belt. Our two bodies formed a tiny oasis of warmth in a universe that had been cooling down inexorably for fifteen billion years. (Dickner 137)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Mickey\u2019s fear of allowing his arousal to ruin a moment shows he understands that neither he nor Hope is ready to cross the threshold from friends to lovers. Furthermore, Mickey\u2019s lack of full belief in her superstition that the world is ending on July 17, 2001, indicates a disconnect between the believability of his prophet and her message. \u201cBelief can express both doubt and confidence\u201d (Gatling 312), a duality that Mickey inhabits fully. However, after Hope\u2019s departure, his confidence is tested, and his life becomes directionless until she invites him to return. Therefore, by refusing to perform the superstition, Mickey incurs a negative consequence that ultimately affects his future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Conclusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The ritualistic use of objects associated with superstitions grounds humanity during catalytic events. In Thomas King\u2019s The Back of the Turtle<\/em> and Nicolas Dickner\u2019s Apocalypse for Beginners<\/em>, the authors demonstrate, through capitalist rituals, that the future affects the present, as seen in the characters Dorian, Sonny, Hope, and Mickey. They experience either positive or negative consequences, depending on their performative acceptance of the ritualistic aspects of superstition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, technology\u2019s complexities show how it can at once aid and fail, from medical treatment failing Dorian to Mickey\u2019s failed reliance on television. The fear the characters feel, whether conscious or unconscious, drives them to perform rituals when parts of their world collapse. The rituals and superstitions provide comfort and help with coping during transitions and transformations.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Works Cited<\/h3>\n\n\n\n