So many toes to step on (and crush with good reason) and so little time.
This book so far has tossed me around in an ouroboros of “I hate the lot of you.” “Oh, never mind is this character development??” “Nope, I still hate you.”
There is a grand theme of sexism, which I supposed is to be expected of these times. However, you can only hide behind that excuse for so long before it stops excusing trogolodyted behaviour. This is directed at Esteban more than anyone else. He views women as less than valuable until he needs to be please and alongside that he doesn’t find it necessary to woo a woman or to court them. Rather he takes whatever he sees fit by “any means necessary” or by visiting a brothel. For him women are merely tools used to fulfil his own sexual desires and wishes. He has moments where he makes progress and takes two steps forward but then he falters, falling back 30 steps. When it comes to my darling Clara he does decide to put away his animalistic tendencies (for the time being) and actually court her for a year before they publicly announce their engagement.
A heavy theme/idea strewn throughout the reading so far is “if you’re different than what’s expected of someone/something you are worthless and undesirable”. Good examples of this would be Blanca, Barrabas, and Ferula.
When Blanca came out of the womb, Esteban and Férula seemed her ugly, and only later did they say she was “growing to be somewhat pretty”. Up until then she had no value whatsoever.
No one knew what kind of dog Barabbas was or even if he would stop growing. Although he barely made any sounds or showed and signs of aggression, everyone feared him as though he were going to go mental at any moment. This was merely because of his different appearance. The author made sure to describe his demeanour as innocent, child-like, and similar to a playful kitten. But somehow everyone else saw a monster. Ni’vea failed in attempting to poison him, but someone succeeded in killing him with a butchers knife. I shan’t forgive or forget the way they needlessly treated him like a monster.
I commented on AnnaKate’s and Eliza’s posts.
This book so far has tossed me around in an ouroboros of “I hate the lot of you.” “Oh, never mind is this character development??” “Nope, I still hate you.”
There is a grand theme of sexism, which I supposed is to be expected of these times. However, you can only hide behind that excuse for so long before it stops excusing trogolodyted behaviour. This is directed at Esteban more than anyone else. He views women as less than valuable until he needs to be please and alongside that he doesn’t find it necessary to woo a woman or to court them. Rather he takes whatever he sees fit by “any means necessary” or by visiting a brothel. For him women are merely tools used to fulfil his own sexual desires and wishes. He has moments where he makes progress and takes two steps forward but then he falters, falling back 30 steps. When it comes to my darling Clara he does decide to put away his animalistic tendencies (for the time being) and actually court her for a year before they publicly announce their engagement.
A heavy theme/idea strewn throughout the reading so far is “if you’re different than what’s expected of someone/something you are worthless and undesirable”. Good examples of this would be Blanca, Barrabas, and Ferula.
When Blanca came out of the womb, Esteban and Férula seemed her ugly, and only later did they say she was “growing to be somewhat pretty”. Up until then she had no value whatsoever.
No one knew what kind of dog Barabbas was or even if he would stop growing. Although he barely made any sounds or showed and signs of aggression, everyone feared him as though he were going to go mental at any moment. This was merely because of his different appearance. The author made sure to describe his demeanour as innocent, child-like, and similar to a playful kitten. But somehow everyone else saw a monster. Ni’vea failed in attempting to poison him, but someone succeeded in killing him with a butchers knife. I shan’t forgive or forget the way they needlessly treated him like a monster.
I commented on AnnaKate’s and Eliza’s posts.
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