A Question

[yao590.livejournal.com]

Here is another question I have in KoA. It's after the assassination, in the king's room:

"If he'd been stoic and denied the pain, the entire palace would have been in a panic already, and Eddisian soldiers on the move."

l read the sentence  again and again, but I can't understand why if Gen deny the pain, then the palace would panic? I think that if the king was calm, the palace wouldn't panic.

And then "He'd mean to deceive them, and he'd succeeded."  Deceive them what? I totally can't understand these, so I am all confused about following things as well. May someone explain it for me? But just those two sentences. I'd like to try to figure out the following by myself. Thanks!! 

Comments

[parron.livejournal.com]

I think - I'm probably not the person to explain it, but my impression was always that a) the Attolians were somewhat afraid that the Eddisians would jump on an attack to declare war, like if - oh - the king was assassinated. So if people had known Gen was seriously wounded, they would have been afraid that Eddis as a result would attack.

Which leads to the second part - if Gen had said, "Oh, no, I'm fine" and put on a brave face... no one would have believed it. This is the "cowardly king," and this is a guy who never, ever fails to let people know when he's discomforted. And since he was whining about it, everyone was more, "dude, stfu," no one took him seriously. So in that way, the king was able to trick everyone else - the more he whined about how "gravely injured" he was, the less people would believe him.

I hope that's not too much, or that this isn't total BS, that's just the way I always figured it went.

[(Anonymous)]

It's a play on the idea of the stoic hero. Everyone expects the King to be brave and strong and insist that he's fine even if he's dying. (We have similar expectations of the President here in the US,I think -- if he gets shot, he's supposed to make jokes so everyone will know he's brave) If the King is whining and yelling, he's just being his normal self (as far as they know)and they think, well, he's got enough energy to complain, he's probably fine. Interestingly, this really is a reversal of Eugenides's usual reaction to pain -- there's some line about the resemblance to his father when they're doubled up with pain and insisting they're fine. So you can tell it's a conscious choice on Eugenides's part to be whiney. He thinks Attolia knows him well enough to worry more if he's stoic. If he acts like an idiot, he thinks she'll be reassured that he's okay.

[(Anonymous)]

Sorry, I always forget to identify myself, and I know it bugs people. That was me, Philia.

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

By fussing in an unconvincing way, it seems to be more for show (and thus not taken seriously). Much like a child throwing an unconvincing tantrum, or wailing vs screaming in pain and fear, it tends to be dismissed without much investigation.

They expected him to be injured, and if he had denied it ("No, no I'm fine. Really. It's nothing. Just don't ask me to remove my hand from the gaping slit in my side.") they would have insisted on examining him; the seriousness of the injury would've been very difficult to hide under close examination.

And he didn't want Attolia to know, because 1) she was already so consumed with guilt over the injury she inflicted on him, and 2) she already did not think he took reasonable precautions to protect himself, and she was very afraid of him being seriously injured or killed. She loves him, and values his life probably above her own.

[rain-ing.livejournal.com]

imagine this, (after i am nearly killed)
me: no im not in pain *wince*
them: omg! stop trying to play the hero! you were nearly killed!! call the eddisians!

or this
me: ow! ow! ow! @!$)@ !@#$ !@#$ !@#$ !@# my innards are falling out!! *wince*
them: oh whatever if you have enough energy to curse you are not horrendously injured, you wimpy king!

i think its a reverse psychology thing, people will be concerned if you deny the pain after an attempt on your life, but if you create a racket people would be more inclined to think that you are less seriously injured? and i think its mentioned in the book somewhere that if he had enough energy to pile one foul word on top of the other (although i cant rmb the exact quote) meant that he wasnt in too much pain.

furthermore people didn't exactly know the extent of his injuries so they thought he might have been playing it up since he is perceived as el stupido, el wimpo, etc. by the attolian court.

and about the deceiving bit, eugenides successfully tricked them into believing that his life wasn't in danger, when in fact he could have died. by doing this he was trying to convince attolia that he wasnt in much danger else she would have had everybody slaughtered

i think?

[dannybailey.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with all the very smart people who have added their interpretations, and I just thought I'd supplement with a quote from QofA (which I'm once again in the middle of).

Eddis is thinking about Eugenides:
"She never worried about his complaints. She worried only when he was quiet. Either he was plotting something so outrageous it would bring her entire court to her throne howling for his blood, or he'd been fighting with his father, or on very rare occasions it meant he's been seriously hurt."

Attolia, who would also know Eugenides well by now, would have probably come to the same conclusion (she saw how silent he was when she cut off his hand). Eugenides, who didn't want her to worry, made it seem as though he was not seriously hurt.

[chocolatepot.livejournal.com]

I think - and I haven't read KoA in a while, I still don't have my own copy - that it's because he's got the whole palace thinking that he makes a big deal over nothing. So if he goes on about how bad it is, that's usual and nobody will make a fuss; they'll just roll their eyes and complain about how he's a whiner. But if he does the thing that men are "supposed" to do - deny that it's bad, say it's just a scratch - they'll know it's a bad wound.

I feel like I'm leaving something out ...

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Wonderful comments. *sigh* I love that part. So complex. Funny and serious at the same time.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

me: ow! ow! ow! @!$)@ !@#$ !@#$ !@#$ !@# my innards are falling out!! *wince*

:D

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

And then The Kiss.

*sigh*

What a beautiful love scene.

[willow-41z.livejournal.com]

"No, no I'm fine. Really. It's nothing. Just don't ask me to remove my hand from the gaping slit in my side."

I almost spewed water all over my monitor and keyboard at that one...

[(Anonymous)]

How old is Eugenides in _The Thief_? I thought (since he is quite short and clearly hasn't hit any sort of growth spurt yet) maybe about 16-17 or so. And how long a time span do the events of QoA cover? One year or two? At the beginning of the book, Eugenides is still small, but by the end of the book he's gotten a little taller...KoA seems to pick up only a few months after QoA ends...Sorry if these are ridiculous questions that have already been asked and answered.

Also, my pet theory on what "special duty" Eugenides has for Costis: Attolia is pregnant and Costis is going to be Captain of the heir's guard...

~Feir Dearig (a new lurker)

Special Duties

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

I think Costis will be Captain of Gen's Guard. As well as being sent off to deal with the Medes (because Gen cannot strangle N. with one hand...). And I think the visit to Mede Land is the actual "special duty".

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Welcome! There has been discussion on all the characters's ages. Here are a couple of the most recent threads:

http://community.livejournal.com/sounis/43335.html

http://community.livejournal.com/sounis/31764.html

[ceecee44.livejournal.com]

I just remembered the part where Eugenides is beating the crap out of Costis, and Eugenides asked him to serve him and his god and he would never fall unless the god allows it or something like that. Do you think Eugenides will teach Costis "his ways" and send him to Medea.

[jyms.livejournal.com]

everyone's already answered it so well, i have nothing to say =)
*that's my fav. part!*

[yao590.livejournal.com]

Thank you all!!!
Your explanation can't be more clear. And now I just discover how simple-minded I was.

[rain-ing.livejournal.com]

by the way, what was gen's name in chinese? i am dying to know

Howling

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

It just occurred to me, the over-the-top fussing by Gen also serves as a distraction. The observers get so irritated by all his noise, they lose sight of the actual injury. Thus, as soon as Gen quits fussing, while the stitches are being put in, Attolia faints, because she has the peace and quiet to realize just how serious the injury is (or could be).

Time to think about possible outcomes, when dealing with serious situations, is not always a good thing! Reaction and panic may set in...