“A riddle, wrapped in
a mystery, inside an enigma”
That which is so dense and secretive as
to be totally indecipherable or impossible to foretell. It is from a line used
by Winston Churchill to describe the intentions and interests of Russia in 1939
I
was thinking about what makes an enigmatic character. Think Inspector Dalgleish
from the P.D. James novels, or Clarisse from Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. Charismatic
and lovable, but what drives them is only hinted at, never neatly solved.
These
are my favorite kind of characters and my favorite sort of stories, where
everything isn’t neatly wrapped in a bow.
Standing
in awe of the mystery is what I consider contemplation prayer to be. It is how I
understand notions of the divine. It is also what makes for the most powerful
art.
The
headwinds, when writing for young readers in particular, are the how-to conventions
of the publishing professionals who insist on clarity of motives and neat
endings that resolve all questions.
Maybe
this is why I keep The Little Prince front of mind. He asked a lot of
questions and, while a few answers float in here and there, the little guy
himself remained an enigma.
This
little prince is testament that even stories for all ages can feature riddles wrapped
in mystery inside an enigma.
