Angry at Gen

[hershey-fan.livejournal.com]

Has anyone else found themselves angry at Gen for how he manipulated things (Sophos and Sounis) in ACoK? I enjoyed it, and loved that Sophos and Eddis found each other, but was so mad at Gen that it's taken me months to pick it up again.
Are there any recommended therapies? I just can't leave my favourite series untouched for this long!!!

Comments

[spellcoats.livejournal.com]

Not really. That's what Gen does. And they outright state that half the reason Gen did things the way he did was because he didn't want to charm Sophos into giving him Sounis, and Sophos would have done it gladly. He hero-worshipped Gen quite a lot.

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

I might be angry at Gen if I didn't feel so sorry for the poor screwed up guy.

Sophos fan-girls Gen to the extreme. He would do anything for him, yet Gen still uses his MAD KING SKILLS to push and prod him into position. Why? Our favorite thief feels guilty. Yes, take a deep breath. It did actually happen.

Gen manipulates Sophos to keep him at a distance, rather than be more up-front and involve him in the game. Gen is partially trying to teach Sophos a political lesson about being wary of your fellow members in the local royal club (he did always feel he needed to look out for the younger guy), but mostly he feels guilty about the whole "crown stealing".

Gen thinks he is taking advantage of Sophos's current weakness, past history, and hero-worship part of his character. So, so, so. The king tries to make himself feel better by manipulating Sophos rather than taking the straighter route. Oddly, Gen feels the under-handed method is more honest or at the very least more fair. See what I mean about the screwed up part?

When Sophos hits Gen, he's making a point that Gen's whole issue-avoiding, deliberate emotional distancing, and lack of communication dance feast is really ticking him off. It takes that much for Gen to pull his head out of the emo I-don't-want-to-be-king sand, and remember that if he continues to act this way, he'll lose Sophos's friendship for sure and not because of some future kingy thing.

That brings me back to the whole king conflict. As sovereigns, Gen and Sophos may have to make decisions that will come into conflict with their friendship. It's human nature for a person to try and distance themselves from someone if they think a double-cross is coming. Makes the impact less emotionally debilitating. Gen feels he needs to build an emotional shield for himself as well as Sophos. Do you see that whole If I make you hate me the proverbial falling ax will be less hard on you dynamic? It might be an aww... how sweet moment if is wasn't so screwed up.

Not to mention, Gen doesn't even want to be king - what's making issues with Sophos so complex. The fact that Sophos would serve up his kingdom on a silver platter reminds Gen of his position. Even with his old pal, he can't pretend he is anything other then Attolia's (the country) liege lord. Ouch...

In this light, go ahead and re-read a CoK, and try to see matters from Gen's POV. Really, this whole dynamic is meant to assert how important his relationship with Sophos is to Gen. I want to cuddle Gen throughout this book more than I want to put something nastier than sand in his food. All and all, Gen is simply being human in his own special Gen way.

That turned out to be a lot longer than I expected. Hope it all makes sense.

[alineadrklrdsis.livejournal.com]

Thank-you for this. I was definitely in the "I hate (and love to death) Gen" as far as CoK went but this comment makes a lot of things more clear. I hated hating him. (If that makes any sense at all.)

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

Always glad to help.

We all hate to hate anything that Gen does, because well... he's Gen. What more needs be said? On the upside, he does still have sand in his food, if that makes you feel any better.

[brandy-painter.livejournal.com]

Very nicely explained, Lady Jane. This sums up how I felt about the whole thing very nicely.

It takes that much for Gen to pull his head out of the emo I-don't-want-to-be-king sand,
I loved this.

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Brandy!

That was another moment of snarky metaphor inspiration. Also, the sand. The sand makes things happen.

Okay...

[hershey-fan.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this. If I had read this book as many times as the others, I would have rememembered the nuances, but as it was, I could focus only on the very real feeling of dislike towards my favourite fictional character! It felt very strange being angry at him. Eddis' comment "I'm always willing to forgive him anything-until he wakes up" comes to mind.

[beth-shulman.livejournal.com]

I see it as Gen having to make hard choices, but he did what he thought was the right thing, and I respect that. Like ninedaysaqueen said, it conflicts with their friendship, but Gen as Attolia is responsible for his country's future and all its lives above all else. I might not like that he has to do what he does, but I understand it.

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

Yay, Beth agrees with me.

*has an I'm smart moment*

[beth-shulman.livejournal.com]

*grin*

*tips hat*

*feels flattered*

:)

[rosalui.livejournal.com]

I was pissed at him for being all stupid and "I MUST DO EVERYTHING ALOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE."

But, you know. That was for his own good.

Seriously, the whole Attolia thing in QoA took so much of my rage that I have none left for subsequent books in the series, especially not for little things like that.

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

Now you know how his family feels.

[amolegere.livejournal.com]

Ahaha, good point!

[amolegere.livejournal.com]

It took me a second read before I got over the anger, definitely. When Sophos knocked him flying that made up for a whole lot. It also helps me to think that since this is being narrated from Sophos' side of things, there's a lot of internal conflict going on with Gen that we only get in snatches. We all know he really cares for Sophos, he's just stressed about being a good king and putting that above his personal interests. He's juggling how to handle that and he's only human so he may not have handled it in the best way possible, but he's inexperienced so it's understandable. And if all else fails, just read the part where he gets knocked on his backside again, YAY SOPHOS!

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

Icon... Yellow... Canary...

Oh gosh...

That's all that needs be said.

[amolegere.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Gen and his clothes amuse me to no end, I couldn't resist!

[tiegirl.livejournal.com]

I feel that I haven't said this in awhile: YOU GUYS IS SMART!

[katecoombs.livejournal.com]

Great explanations, esp. from Lady Jane! I guess this is sort of the same, but I just felt strongly while reading CofK that Sophos was so inclined to wimp out that Gen was really trying to push him into growing up, or manning up. (Um, personing up?) As in, "Being a king/ruler means making tough choices, so we're not just going to sit around toasting s'mores while you hide from your responsibilities, kid."

Ironically, Sophos has to look deep inside and find his evil uncle there to make this work! (I love the bit when he smiles, and his twisted smile takes on a whole new meaning.) Maybe Sophos's odd semi-friendship with or even admiration for the slave trader also reflects the hidden ruthlessness in his own nature. Plus, that dare-anything style is clearly part of what Sophos loves about Gen.

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Kate!

"Being a king/ruler means making tough choices, so we're not just going to sit around toasting s'mores while you hide from your responsibilities, kid."

You are awesome for that. Not that you weren't already. ;)

I do also believe that part of the reason for Gen's behavior is to teach Sophos and make him grow up. The whole thing is just very emotionally complicated.

I too love Sophos's evil smile. All great character have evil smiles. Have you noted?

[katecoombs.livejournal.com]

Heehee. Thanks! Yes, that cunning trickster side lends itself to an evil smile, or at least a diabolically clever one!

And MWT is made of emotionally complicated. Plus she surfs.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Maybe Sophos's odd semi-friendship with or even admiration for the slave trader also reflects the hidden ruthlessness in his own nature.

Huh. I had not considered this. Come to think of it, Sophos does seem to respect decisive, forceful people, even if he doesn't always agree with what they do. And he does appreciate knowing where people stand.

[thesehnsucht.livejournal.com]

It's still hard for me to forgive Gen, but maybe it's just because I like being melancholy. I also feel like Eddis is ending up in the worst position, subordinate (officially, I mean) to both Attolia and Sounis. But then again, she's the one who set Gen to the path he's on. I just feel like things are now going to get much, much worse.

[katecoombs.livejournal.com]

When your country is about to be wiped out by a volcano, it's hard to maintain your previous status as its queen. But Eddis is (in her own quiet way) a piece of work, and Gen (in his own snarky way) looks up to her, so I refuse to lose hope!

[brandy-painter.livejournal.com]

When your country is about to be wiped out by a volcano, it's hard to maintain your previous status as its queen.

So true, but there are some who might try. This is why I love Eddis, her people always come first for her. She would have married Sounis to save them if he hadn't died and Sophos hadn't come back. (Subjugating herself to two other rulers probably looks good to her after contemplating the that).

But Eddis is (in her own quiet way) a piece of work, and Gen (in his own snarky way) looks up to her, so I refuse to lose hope!

I agree with this too. I actually see there being more potential for discord to arise between Eddis and Sophos figuring out how to rule together than between Eddis and Gen with him as Annux.

Thanks

[hershey-fan.livejournal.com]

I've appreciated the input. I'll man (woman) up and give it another read...I'm home with laryngitis, so perhaps this is the ideal time :-)