Summary Guide for "A Canticle for Leibowitz"
A Canticle for Leibowitz (chapter summaries 8 - 19)
Chapter 8 Summary
Arkos relaxes once the Dominicans take over the cause, eleven years after Francis' incident. Francis devotes years of free time labor to his project, which blends with the tedium of days and seasons that for everyone ends with Extreme Unction and the Just King's judgment of "come" or "go." Sarl completes a fifth page before dying, leaving notes someone may use to finish the task. Fingo is restored to the carpentry shop and allowed an hour a day to work on his Leibowitz. Francis enjoys watching the martyr’s visage emerge, with merry-but-sad crinkly eyes and the hint of a wry smile Francis recognizes but cannot place. The smile irritates the abbot, who hides the completed carving in his study. Word of Francis' progress on the illumination spreads and someone insists the Beatus he met must inspire him. When Jeris succeeds Horner as master of the copy room, he insists Francis put away the things of a child and start doing a man's work. Francis hopes to outlive Jeris and resume work. Providence arranges another way by sending a prothonotary apostolic, Msgr. Malfreddo Aguerra as postulator for Leibowitz's canonization. His Dominican clerks will reopen the shelter, explore the "Sealed Environment," and interview Francis about his alleged apparition. The abbot provides deluxe accommodations and entertainments beyond Aguerra's needs or wants, suggesting this abbey lives extraordinarily well. Arkos suggests an unhappy end to Francis' life if he is not very careful in what he says to Aguerra, lest Leibowitz's cause be shelved again. Thus, Francis goes frightened to the suave, diplomatic elder, who wants him to verify a compilation of travelers' stories about the incident. Reading the fat scroll of hearsay horrifies Francis, who insists the event is nothing like this and wishes he had never mentioned a pilgrim to fellow novices. Francis briefly summarizes their one meeting, not marked by halos, heavenly
Chapter 8 Summary
Arkos relaxes once the Dominicans take over the cause, eleven years after Francis' incident. Francis devotes years of free time labor to his project, which blends with the tedium of days and seasons that for everyone ends with Extreme Unction and the Just King's judgment of "come" or "go." Sarl completes a fifth page before dying, leaving notes someone may use to finish the task. Fingo is restored to the carpentry shop and allowed an hour a day to work on his Leibowitz. Francis enjoys watching the martyr’s visage emerge, with merry-but-sad crinkly eyes and the hint of a wry smile Francis recognizes but cannot place. The smile irritates the abbot, who hides the completed carving in his study. Word of Francis' progress on the illumination spreads and someone insists the Beatus he met must inspire him. When Jeris succeeds Horner as master of the copy room, he insists Francis put away the things of a child and start doing a man's work. Francis hopes to outlive Jeris and resume work. Providence arranges another way by sending a prothonotary apostolic, Msgr. Malfreddo Aguerra as postulator for Leibowitz's canonization. His Dominican clerks will reopen the shelter, explore the "Sealed Environment," and interview Francis about his alleged apparition. The abbot provides deluxe accommodations and entertainments beyond Aguerra's needs or wants, suggesting this abbey lives extraordinarily well. Arkos suggests an unhappy end to Francis' life if he is not very careful in what he says to Aguerra, lest Leibowitz's cause be shelved again. Thus, Francis goes frightened to the suave, diplomatic elder, who wants him to verify a compilation of travelers' stories about the incident. Reading the fat scroll of hearsay horrifies Francis, who insists the event is nothing like this and wishes he had never mentioned a pilgrim to fellow novices. Francis briefly summarizes their one meeting, not marked by halos, heavenly