54 pages • 1 hour read
Louise PennyThe Nature of the Beast
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2015A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Historical Context: Gerald Bull
Gerald Bull was born in North Bay, Ontario, Canada, in 1928. He studied engineering at Queen’s University, where he was regarded as an unimpressive student. However, he went on to complete graduate work at the University of Toronto and earned his PhD in 1951 at age 23. Bull also began to work with the Canadian Armament and Research Development Establishment (CARDE) on projects related to rockets and missiles. Eventually, after conflicts with administration and government, Bull resigned and took a job as a professor in the engineering department at McGill University. While working at McGill, Bull donated land that he owned in rural Quebec, near the village of Highwater, to be used as a research site for the development of new artillery and weapons.
Bull researched and developed a number of long-range weapons but was especially committed to developing a gun-launched rocket that could fire missiles capable of reaching outer space. He eventually privatized much of his research and became an international artillery consultant. In the late 1980s, Bull began working with Saddam Hussein, the President of Iraq, to develop several superguns; this endeavor was referred to as Project Babylon and was planned to yield two full-sized Big Babylon guns and a prototype—a much smaller gun called Baby Babylon. Baby Babylon was completed in 1989 in the Eastern Townships region of Quebec, and tests began. In 1990, Bull was murdered in Brussels, Belgium, where he had been living for several years. His death put an end to his supergun research and projects; a number of parts manufactured for use in Big Babylon are now exhibited in various sites in Europe. No one has ever been charged for Bull’s murder, but given his contentious work for the Iraqi government and a number of other powers, multiple governments or individuals could have had reason to arrange Bull’s murder.
Cultural Context: Babylon
Babylon is the name of an ancient city that was located on the banks of the Euphrates River in present-day Iraq. A settlement with this name can be traced as far back as the 23rd century BCE. Babylon would eventually grow into a major power center, becoming the capital of the Babylonian Empire. The Babylonian Empire was powerful enough to conquer a significant amount of surrounding territory, including the Kingdom of Judah (where ancient Jerusalem was located). When Babylonian forces conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the First Temple in 587 BCE, they inaugurated a period in Jewish history known as the Babylonian Exile or Captivity. Many Jews were forcibly relocated to Babylonian territory; this period is described in a number of writings in Jewish (and later Christian) scripture. For example, Psalm 137 begins with the lines, “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion”; these lines evoke the sadness of the Jewish people who were living in exile. Later, lines from this psalm would also be incorporated into Christian hymns.
References to Babylon also appear in the Book of Revelation in the Christian Bible. Chapter 17 of Revelation states that “a woman sat upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns” (Revelation 17:3). The woman is later referred to as Babylon and the Whore of Babylon. This evocation of Babylon, a historical enemy of the ancient Jewish people, provides continuity between the Old and New Testaments; the Book of Revelation was written much later, most likely between 81 and 96 CE. For early Christians, the Roman Empire was the massive power that posed a threat to them, just as Babylon had once threatened the Jews. Some believe that the reference to a seven-headed beast alludes to the famous Seven Hills of the city of Rome. The Book of Revelation describes a series of prophetic visions culminating in an apocalyptic vision of Christ’s return. The association of a Beast with the possible Second Coming of Christ inspired the 20th-century Irish poet William Butler Yeats to write a poem titled “The Second Coming” in 1919, which culminates in the lines, “And what rough beast, its hour come round at last / Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?” (Yeats, William Butler. “The Second Coming.” Poetry Foundation, 1920. Lines 21-22).
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