I don’t have much experience writing allegory (or fiction in general), so this is going outside my comfort zone. But I’ve been mulling over some of these ideas for a while, and I had a lot of fun condensing them into this form. I’ll refrain from spelling out any of my thoughts on political parallels here as that would defeat the fun of allegory, but I’d love to chat in the comments. Or if you know me personally, we can have a conversation in the real world.
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No More Knights
“No more knights!” It was our rallying cry. We were tired of being damsels in distress, fair maidens in need of rescue. And so, because we were tired, we labored tirelessly to eradicate knighthood. What man invented the stupid system? This senseless dying of men to rescue women who never wanted rescuing. Knighthood reminded us of manhood, and manhood reminded us of womanhood. And womanhood made us feel trapped–trapped in bodies that pulled us homeward, bodies that seemed made for sacrifice. We would be free. We would be our own.
No more knights. Mission accomplished. We proclaimed a holiday the day knighthood was outlawed. We never stopped to wonder how it happened, how our dream became reality, how our utopia became law. If the knights had all the power, how was knighthood outlawed? We celebrated our ceaseless efforts. We never asked why some knights had championed our cause. What were they after? And as our jubilation reached the skies, I looked up. Was that smoke on the distant horizon? No time to wonder; today we celebrate.
No more knights. But the smoke has spread. Smoke everywhere. Dragons. They must have set out the day knighthood ended. Was it a coincidence? How could they know? And now we labor tirelessly to eradicate dragons. But it is harder. We thought when we got rid of the knights that we were invincible. Nothing could stop us. But the dragons will not be tamed. We could domesticate the knights but not the dragons. And now we labor alone. I remember when we complained that the men did everything. Now a new complaint passes our lips: that the men do nothing. Some say it proves we were right never to rely on men. But I wonder…
No more knights. And at night I lie awake. I close my eyes and open them, and I lie in wide-eyed wonder. The wonder that is fear, terror, horror. The beauty is gone. The dragons and their riders have taken everything. The dragon riders. I didn’t believe my eyes the first time I saw them. They were the knights who demanded the eradication of knighthood. They said we were right. They said we were oppressed. They said we didn’t need the knights. But now they ravage our land, riding their terrible beasts. I’m afraid to speak. The women must not know of my doubts. Above all, the dragon riders must not know. And how could I tell the good men that I was wrong, that I miss the days of knighthood? Humility runs against all I have worked for.
No more knights. But as my fear grows, so does my hope. Hope growing in the most unlikely of places: within my womb. I didn’t know it when we were demolishing knighthood, when we celebrated, or when the dragons arrived. But now it is undeniable. A new life dependent on my life. I fought for freedom, autonomy, being my own. But now I begin to see that it was a war against my own body. For my body tells a strange story of sacrificial love and life-giving surrender. It tells of interdependence, of life intertwined with life, of love begetting love. Of woman made from man and man born of woman and all things from God. I wonder, Who is this new person? What joys and fears, strengths and weaknesses, triumphs and trials will be yours, little one? I’ve made a mess of this world you’re entering. Forgive me, my child. If you are a daughter, I pray you don’t inherit your mother’s folly. I pray you realize the beauty and glory of the calling built into every fiber of your being. I pray you accept what I rejected and don’t make war on yourself as I did. And little one, if you are a son, I pray that you grow into what your mother helped destroy. I pray you become the hero I villainized. May you become a man and a knight. Become the man your father was, the hero whose story I never intended to tell, the knight who died rescuing me.
Coram Mundo 