Death

Death runs as a constant throughout Brian Jacques' novel Redwall, but it has radically different meanings to different characters. After protagonist Matthias recovers the Sword of Martin and uses it to decapitate the dreaded snake, Asmodeus, Squire Julian Gingivere warns him not to consider the sword magical, as many do, but to realize that it has only one function: causing death. It becomes good or evil by the intentions of the one who wields it. Asmodeus, who causes many deaths throughout the novel, should be considered a carnivore by nature who uses his natural abilities to feed himself, on a par with birds of prey. Jacques, however, emphasizes Asmodeus' stealth, hypnotic eyes, terrible fangs, and constant hissing of his own name to bring out sense of evil that surrounds snakes, thanks to the biblical stereotype. Asmodeus is happy when prey fall into his path, relieving him of an...