Children of the Black Sabbath by Anne Hébert
"Children of the Black Sabbath" by Anne Hébert is a provocative novel set in Quebec during the tumultuous year of 1944, interspersed with flashbacks to the previous decade. The narrative explores a stark duality between the worlds of dark, satanic rituals and sacred religious practices, highlighting a tension between sin and sanctity. Central to the story is Sister Julie of the Trinity, who, raised in a household steeped in sorcery by her father Adélard and mother Philomène, grapples with her tumultuous past as a cloistered nun. The novel vividly portrays her haunting memories of debauchery and satanic rites, juxtaposed with the austere life of the convent.
As Sister Julie confronts her inexplicable pregnancy, the story escalates into an unsettling climax, presenting a nightmarish image of a half-human, half-beast newborn. This revelation catalyzes a transformation among the nuns, leading them to question their vows and experience blasphemous visions. Hébert's work delves deeply into themes of sexual initiation, the power of the unseen, and the psychological struggles faced by individuals caught between conflicting worlds. Ultimately, "Children of the Black Sabbath" invites readers to reflect on the nature of reality and the existence of darker forces at play in human experience.
Children of the Black Sabbath by Anne Hébert
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published:Les Enfants du sabbat, 1975 (English translation, 1977)
Type of work: Novel
The Work
Hébert’s dualistic perception of existence is seen in Children of the Black Sabbath, set in Quebec in 1944, with flashbacks to the preceding decade. Satanic rituals in an isolated mountainous area and religious ceremonies performed in the Convent of the Precious Blood are juxtaposed by means of narrative shifts. Witchcraft, demonic possession, exorcism, and satanic initiation find their corollaries in prayers, dedication to God, Mass, and initiation into cloistered life. In Héloïse (1980; English translation, 1982), set in Paris, Hébert depicts two worlds, one above (that of the living) and one below (that of the living dead, notably of vampires). In Children of the Black Sabbath she creates a similar dichotomous world. Whereas Héloïse is not without ironic humor (the vampires portrayed in it are fond of Bloody Marys, for example), Children of the Black Sabbath presents with great clarity the debauchery of both worlds.
Sister Julie of the Trinity was reared with her brother Joseph by practitioners of sorcery. Adélard was their father and the devil incarnate, and Philomène was their mother. Sister Julie is carried back through dreams and memories to her childhood, where she was witness to lustful perversion, drunken behavior, and satanic rituals. Now, in the apparent calm of the convent, she must reconcile her past with her present as a cloistered nun in the Convent of the Precious Blood. Her presence does, however, cause great disturbances, not only because of her inexplicable pregnancy, which produces in the novel’s final scene the nightmarish image of a half-human, half-beast newborn, but also because it seems to unleash forces that free the nuns from the stultifying and supremely deceitful ways of convent life. Vowed to silence and personal deprivation, they soon become inclined to hallucinations, blasphemous behavior, and to rebellion, through erotic dreams, against the vow of chastity.
Children of the Black Sabbath is unsettling in its depiction of sordid sexual initiation in the world of sorcerers and deceit within the walls of the convent. As do many of Hébert’s other works, this novel probes the traditional conception of reality, suggesting the existence of another world that is dark and powerful.
Bibliography
Benson, Renate. “Aspects of Love in Anne Hébert’s Short Stories.” Journal of Canadian Fiction, nos. 25/26 (1979): 160-174.
Garneau, Saint-Denys. Saint-Denys Garneau and Anne Hébert. Translated by Frank R. Scott. Vancouver, B.C.: Klanak, 1978.
Knight, Kelton W. Anne Hébert: In Search of the First Garden. New York: P. Lang, 1998.
Noble, Peter. “Anne Hébert: Kamouraska and Les Fous de Bassan.” In Where Are the Voices Coming From? Canadian Culture and the Legacies of History, edited by Coral Ann Howells. New York: Rodopi, 2004.
Pallister, Janis L. The Art and Genius of Anne Hébert: Essays on Her Works, Night and Day Are One. Madison, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2001.
Paterson, Janet. “Anne Hébert.” In Profiles in Canadian Literature, edited by Jeffrey Heath. Vol. 3. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1982.
Rea, Annabell M. “Marie-Josephte Becomes Ludivine: The Family Reformed in Anne Hébert’s Le Cage.” In Doing Gender: Franco-Canadian Women Writers of the 1990’s, edited by Paula Ruth Gilbert and Roseanna L. Dufault. Madison, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2001.
Russell, Delbert. Anne Hébert. Boston: Twayne, 1983.
Weir, Lorraine. “Anne Hébert.” In Canadian Writers, 1920-1959, edited by William New. Detroit: Gale Research, 1988.