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'The Night Circus' by Erin Morgenstern: A Unique Young Adult Novel

 The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: A Unique Young Adult Novel

- Juhi Desai


Sometimes, we come across books that leave such a deep impact on us that we are helpless in  resisting their charm. These are books that seem to colour our every thought and emotion, so  much so that after reading them we seem to find ourselves lost in them still, the fantastical  characters and lands etched so firmly in our imaginations that they resist any attempt to allow  us to move on. For me, The Night Circus is one such novel. 

The novel tells us the story of two magicians who often try to pit their protégées against one  another in order to determine the stronger of the two. The two students, Celia and Marco, are both young adults who possess extraordinary powers, and are forced to compete with each  other against the backdrop of the enigmatic Night Circus. As the name suggests, this Night  Circus is one that seems to appear almost instantaneously overnight and disappears in the  morning. Set in the Victorian era, we see the circus as being almost a portal between the  mortal plane and this magical, enchanted place, one that is beyond the reaches of time. Encased in enchantments and magic, within the circus the two competitors create  increasingly complicated spells for the visitors to marvel at. The two competitors, rather than battling head-on, must instead outperform one another with increasingly complicated and difficult spells until one ultimately dies.  

What is truly remarkable about this book is the way that the abstract concepts of time and  mortality are treated. Time is a convoluted concept in the circus, and doesn’t quite travel linearly. Each character seems to face time differently while in the circus. Some seem to age  far more slowly, while others speed towards a sudden and even a catastrophic death. The  uncertainty of the future is a basic fear of most, and the reader will find themselves constantly questioning and trying to redefine their own mortality. The age old question of mortality versus immortality is explored extensively and almost poetically by Morgenstern, which will  leave readers wondering if they would prefer to feel their mortality every day, or suffer the  crippling isolation that comes with living forever.  

The theme of the circus also embodies the idea of freedom. As it is set in the stifling Victorian era, where complicated rules and norms dominated every aspect of society, the circus symbolises a sort of haven from such norms, where ‘freaks’ and outsiders have their  differences celebrated rather than shunned. They are no longer ostracised but instead are welcomed into this mismatched familial structure. 


The author also juxtaposes the aforementioned ideas of liberty with those of imprisonment.  Our two protagonists are bound together against their will, and whatever ideas of freedom  that they, as well as the circus members, may entertain are, in the end, merely illusionary.  


These themes showcase how this novel is fully capable of allowing the provocation of  philosophical debate. The great artistic depth present in this novel is testament to its  distinctiveness and is, in my opinion, what makes this novel unique. 

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