Previous
The Hard-Bitten Ghost
An intelligent, intensely curious man who became so obsessed with understanding “survival”—i.e., how to live on Earth in the best way possible—that he became impatient in the afterlife. Archibald’s example acts as a warning to scientists, theologians, and philosophers, who love the search for knowledge more than they love God.
Sir Archibald Quotes in The Great Divorce
The The Great Divorce quotes below are all either spoken by Sir Archibald or refer to Sir Archibald. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 9 Quotes
There was nothing more to prove. His occupation was clean gone. Of course if he would only have admitted that he'd mistaken the means for the end and had a good laugh at himself he could have begun all over again like a little child and entered into joy. But he would not do that. He cared nothing about joy. In the end he went away.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Great Divorce LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Sir Archibald Character Timeline in The Great Divorce
The timeline below shows where the character Sir Archibald appears in The Great Divorce. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 9
MacDonald remembers a man named Sir Archibald . During his life, Archibald was a diligent researcher who wanted to understand “survival.” He...
(full context)
