Thunderstruck

In Thunderstruck, the séance represents the 1900s culturally accepted fixation on exploring the unknown, especially the death realm, using methods many at the time thought of as scientific. Through the end of the Victorian era and into the early Edwardian era, the British population became fascinated by death, dying, and the great beyond. Larson notes that in the “mid-1890s Britain had 150 Spiritualist societies; by 1908 there would be nearly 400” (72). This, Larson explains, “was largely Darwin’s fault,” his revelation having “turned many others into the arms of Spiritualism and set them seeking concrete proof of an afterlife in the shifting planchettes of Ouija boards” (71). The era brought an end to religion as the only socially acceptable line of inquiry: “Reports of ghosts and poltergeists and premonitions-come-true became commonplace. Families acquired Ouija boards and scared themselves silly. Legendary mediums emerged” (58), revealing a Spiritualism easily encapsulated by the symbol of the séance.

A modern view of the occult is present in Thunderstruck in Larson’s description of Spiritualism. This is most apparent in Larson’s description of Lodge’s exploration of the afterlife. Larson writes, “Lodge—renowned physicist, professor at University College of Liverpool, member of the Royal Institution, revered lecturer, soon-to-be principal of Birmingham University, and destined for knighthood,” takes part in a séance, concluding that “things hitherto held impossible do actually occur” (61). Larson laments Lodge’s decision to focus on the occult rather than on wireless telegraphy, which, with the gift of hindsight, Larson knows to be a valuable pursuit. Of his “vulnerability to distraction,” Larson writes, “Up to this point this flaw in his character had caused him no great harm” (62). Concluding that Lodge’s career would be forever tarnished by his decision to explore the paranormal rather than wireless telegraphy, Larson reminds readers how differently the world of Spiritualism was viewed during the era through the repeated appearance of the séance, a symbol meant to remind readers not to view Lodge’s distraction, however historically vital, with modern reproach.