Jan 23, 2024
To:Mo
hi hello once more! It is nice to see you in this brand new year! *^.^*
Ok with greetings out of the way, it also looks like I now have to finish this novel since you're reading it. I'll get right on that lol.
Life is a very interesting topic in this one, as the concept of 'life' to her is very standardised as you'll see soon. To her, a life of romance, of fleeting pleasure, of the comforts of a home and consistent warm food are what 'living' sounds like. To her who is vilified and experiences none of that makes her feel as if she isn't living, rather like she is some conceptualised form of 'death', or as if that 'human life' she isn't experiencing means she isn't really human. This entire novel is about wanting to find and experience that life- to be a human, and to be a 'normal woman'.
The physical (and also metaphorical struggle) aspect of this novel is the duality between the desire (the monster Leviathan) and the desire, human. Aelem wants to live a normal life, and Leviathan wants to take over her body and bring calamity to the world. That struggle between the two are polarising, as you mentioned, and that conflict is the whole tension of the novel itself. To her, who wants to be a woman, the monster is her only shackle.
There's also an interesting subversion here. 'Beauty' as many would describe is a sunset, a flower, or a starry sky. Yhhm was focused around natural beauty of the world and the lack of it in Aethine. This novel is more about how beauty means nothing when you're surrounded by it. It is all about the grass being wilted on your side of the fence, wanting to experience that other 'beauty' that you see on the other side. In her case, the natural beauty of the world means nothing when she's forced to live a vagrant life, constantly surrounded by it.
There's also an interesting comparison to the two- the monster and the human, being the wolf and the lamb. The wolf represents death, and predation, while the lamb is life, and prey. However, the aspects of the two roles were something I reversed a bit. The docile lamb, the human, is actually a bit brazen. The aggressive wolf, the calamitous monster, is a bit laid-back despite his goals.
As for the meaning of the flower, the hyacinth, both beauty and jealousy are the two main takeaways, so I hope you'll keep those in mind.
I hope you'll continue to enjoy this work, even though I feel like I rushed it a bit,,,
And don't feel the need to keep it short for my sake. I enjoy reading your lengthy thoughts.
Until next time, dearest reader. *^.^*
