Is the power of LOVE...faith?
(Or: A Small Retrospective on Religion, Time, and Noelle Holiday's Love Life.)
!! DELTARUNE CHAPTER 5 SPOILERS AHEAD !!
I have so, so, so, much to say about both of Chapter 5's lake scenes. A lot of my response to this was immediate and personal, particularly for the Normal Route; growing up as a queer kid who saw a lot of myself for the first time in Noelle's character, to now being out and proud a few years later and getting to watch her find the love she's always deserved...THIS MEANT SOMETHING TO MEE!! But I also would like to take a second to sit with Noelle's actions and dialogue in both of these scenes, and reflect on how her words are informed by-- and even actively re-inform-- the game's key thematic beats, particularly with regards to religion.
There's a concept which sometimes gets thrown around in religious studies that I'd like to invoke here, known as 'positive anthropology.' A religious sect which demonstrates a 'positive anthropology' can be said to posit an optimistic cumulative vision of human development, or, in simpler words, present a narrative of human history in which humanity has and will continue to grow closer to goodness, enlightenment, or even perfection*. This classification has particularly stuck with newer religious denominations-- which might be be colloquially classified as cults-- who are often interested in shaking free of the symbolic systems, authority, and 'reverence' logic of so-called 'old' religion and re-centering the power of human spirituality in the individual human. (Think, like, Scientology's whole thing about humans being able to become immortal, levitate, etc. all by themselves). Hence, then, a positive anthropology, or optimistic view of the potential of any individual human being, unencumbered by any real assistance from fate or the divine.
So, uh....why the hell do I bring any of that up???
Well, I have already seen plenty of people pick up on the possible connection between WR Noelle's lake moment and the Christian ritual of baptism. But beyond the very obvious gesture towards a sense of 'transformation,' I think more is left to be said about what kind of figurative 'sin' Noelle is being 'purified' from, and what that means for her character. I think we get some clue towards this in her 'pre-departure' monologue, in which she bemoans a sense of scripted, onerous, unchallenging progression in her own life, and feeling trapped within the ordained limits of her own character as prescribed by.....something. I would venture to say that this something is the Prophecy, or even the game's code. Noelle (and most folks in Hometown) are shown to be religious, and often defer to prophetic/past-oriented logics to guide their decision making (including, but not limited to: the idea that a deity or plan from the far past presides over all living beings, and that this is a net positive, an embrace of cultural conservation and community routines, a fear/lack of curiosity towards the outside world, a fetish for nostalgia and a strong inclination that proverbial the-way-things-should-be is located somewhere squarely in the past). I would consider this all in line with a more 'negative' anthropology: the best way to succeed in the Prophecy's religious logic is to distrust the impulses of the individual, keep your head down, do your part, and not get too ambitious. However, Noelle Holiday is very, very smart, and has the self-awareness (and a potentially traumatic set of memories) to recognize that there is a fundamental lack of congruence between the complexities of her current self and the ideal, restorative, Prophetic past. And yet, she still has tremendously little faith in her 'new' self, and so she fawns her way into a strange limbo of 'observing' the past without embracing it. Her Normal-Route pondering over what it would mean to 'leave' Hometown seems to reflect a very polarized view of either obeying her fate or facing oblivion: she must find a way to force herself back into the routines of Hometown and pretend that its all fine and dandy, because there is nothing waiting for her beyond the Prophecy (and, by association, the culture, 'home,' and Prophecy-driven spiritual meaning she's always known) other than total destruction and death. (We also know that 'leaving' the diegetic confines of Deltarune's Hometown would probably mean literal oblivion for Noelle, as nothing thus far has been coded outside).
But when the Dark Worlds open, something changes. I believe the Weird Route 'baptism' and subsequent boundary breakage reflects an absolute indulgence into that suicidal longing/loathing for the 'beyond-Hometown' by literally removing Noelle from any proximity to the Prophecy and the 'rules' of the game. It is the quintessential cultic fascination with 'positive anthropology:' the Weird Route preaches that Noelle has the power of spiritual enlightenment hidden right within herself (and herself alone), if she is only willing to try a new ritual, a new understanding of the confines of the cosmos of her universe, one which requires her to evaporate every connection, every loved one, every scrap of 'the ordinary world', any sense of personhood, and any sense of control she's ever had to fully realize. It is an obsession with the future; a hunger for a hazy one-day when you, the individual, can be entirely free, lifted from all the material obligations of regular life, and exalted into a new personal perfection, if you're only willing to kill yourself to get there. This is the trap of the so-called 'positive anthropology,' as for all of it's postulating about the innate potential of the individual human, it requires endless sacrifice and self-violence to enact a 'transformation' which never really seems to end. And then, on the other hand, there's the Susie in the Normal Route.
Susie doesn't sell Noelle on a new religion, or even an old religion, or a new sense of meaning, or a new configuration of Deltrarune's diegetic/non-diegetic universe. In fact, Susie doesn't let Noelle touch the 'baptismal' water at all. She just loves her, right where she is. Her faith is in Noelle. She's her angel. Susie loves her heartbeat, her smile; the things that she can hear and touch and feel, right here, right now. There is no demand made of Noelle's body or spirit other than to be, to stay, to make the most of her day as it stands in the present moment. In Susie's eyes, Noelle's perfect spiritual self is not hidden away in the arcane mires of an old prophetic cultural dogma or latent in some cryptic, cult-like metaphysical future-- it's right there in her arms. It'll just last for a little while, until the sun sets, and it won't solve everything. But for right now? It's the easiest thing in the world to love. And tomorrow, it might even mean something more.
I think that Susie's love, then, demonstrates what a 'true' positive anthropology might look like. It sets aside the binary of obedience/oblivion which the Prophecy/Weird Route operates under, and instead posits a radical embrace of the present. It promises that there's a place for your 'being' in the social and spiritual world, even if it doesn't look like the cultural mould-- everybody is some kind of contradiction, after all. It embraces the weird, inconvenient, and uncertain impulses of the body and spirit, and promises that they can be something very, very real if just allowed to flourish. It doesn't wait for the day you will be redeemed or perfected or returned to what once was: it assumes that you've got it all in you today.
I don't know if any of this really makes any sense, but I've been thinking about the place of faith in Deltarune for a long time now, and I couldn't help but try and express those lingering suspicions in a mini-essay. The long story short is that I freaking love Susie and Noelle with all my heart, and I hope they live happily ever after. Even after whatever the hell Toby's about to put them through in Chapter 6/7. (six seven anybody....?????)
*(at least I'm pretty sure that's what it means. don't quote me on that I'm just a wee little religious studies undergraduate student).
