a miniature revelation...
Oct. 12th, 2010 07:45 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
reader-marie.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
queensthief ...occurred to me while I was rereading QoA this week. Probably some of you have noticed this before, but I hadn't, and I thought I'd share. It concerns this passage, after Eugenides' plot to capture Attolia has been forcefully interrupted by Nahuseresh:
"As he opened his mouth to say more, Nahuseresh reached the queen's shoulder, and the queen struck again, this time boxing Eugenides' ear hard with her cupped hand. Eugenides staggered, slipped on the slick ground, and fell backward onto his bound arms...She hoped the fall would shut him up but considered kicking him to be sure." (301)
This moment has always bothered me a little. Of course, we know that Attolia is liable to hit Gen when she's angry (KoA, anyone?). No doubt that's most of her motivation. BUT (the revelation at last) throughout this sequence, one of Attolia's purposes is to keep Nahuseresh in the dark about her potential alliance with Eddis. (We see this later when Nahuseresh is talking to her about Moira alerting him to Gen's "goal," the Pricas Spring, and Attolia snaps, "His goal?"--worried, I think, that he's guessed.)
So while she is angry and lashes out, her hitting Gen at this point also serves a political purpose: keeping him quiet so that Nahuseresh doesn't guess what he had been trying to do.
Any thoughts?
More proof, not that we needed it, of how rich these books are, furnishing new thoughts every time.
"As he opened his mouth to say more, Nahuseresh reached the queen's shoulder, and the queen struck again, this time boxing Eugenides' ear hard with her cupped hand. Eugenides staggered, slipped on the slick ground, and fell backward onto his bound arms...She hoped the fall would shut him up but considered kicking him to be sure." (301)
This moment has always bothered me a little. Of course, we know that Attolia is liable to hit Gen when she's angry (KoA, anyone?). No doubt that's most of her motivation. BUT (the revelation at last) throughout this sequence, one of Attolia's purposes is to keep Nahuseresh in the dark about her potential alliance with Eddis. (We see this later when Nahuseresh is talking to her about Moira alerting him to Gen's "goal," the Pricas Spring, and Attolia snaps, "His goal?"--worried, I think, that he's guessed.)
So while she is angry and lashes out, her hitting Gen at this point also serves a political purpose: keeping him quiet so that Nahuseresh doesn't guess what he had been trying to do.
Any thoughts?
More proof, not that we needed it, of how rich these books are, furnishing new thoughts every time.
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Date: 10/12/10 01:38 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 10/12/10 06:11 pm (UTC)No wonder she and Gen get on so well together--they're both incredibly devious!
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Date: 10/12/10 08:35 pm (UTC)Gen just meant to make a point about how she's been treated in the past, but she might take it as him trying to hurt her in his devious, theif-y way. She is used to being in charge of situations, and since she is considering marriage, she wants to show him that she is still in control, no matter what he says. And of course, it's an act to keep the Mede from comprehending what's really happening.
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Date: 10/12/10 09:27 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 10/12/10 11:44 pm (UTC)Gah, I love this part! So many layers abd interpretations!
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Date: 10/13/10 01:22 am (UTC)I hate to disagree with the estimable checkers, but I think there is more to it than that. She needs to shut Gen up because there is a very real danger that the truth behind his words could shatter that brittle facade she desperately believes she has to maintain, especially now.
It's not just doesn't want Nahuseresh to hear; she is terrified that *Irene* might hear.
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Date: 10/13/10 01:29 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 10/12/10 11:24 pm (UTC)Seems like it... but then I've never hit anyone. 0_o
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Date: 10/13/10 01:27 am (UTC)I think getting boxed on the ear is supposed to be pretty painful (and boxing someone's ear is probably more dignified than punching them in the nose), but you're right that it seems on the surface to be less of a permanent-damage causer than a fist. To us uninitiated, anyway.
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Date: 10/13/10 10:48 pm (UTC)