Feb-07-2019, 10:58 AM (UTC)
Very beautifully put!
Interesting that Robin Hobb would think much of the suffering of her characters are because of the choices they themselves have made. I see that differently, because I think free choice is much more limited than it seems.
For example, Fitz at the end of Fool´s Fate. Could he really have chosen to stay with the one that completed him, deep down knowing very well this was so? He was subject to all of his human longings and needs, when he indeed accepted the Fool leaving him and go on to make him a life with a family, many different people to be loved, a hetero sexlife etc. He could not erase that and make a different choice. Or think of Beloved. His whole life he was driven by such a strong sense of purpose and high moral, it may have been the only thing that kept him going. Did he ever stop and wonder if he really had to do all the things he did, or if he could opt for another sort of life? I think not. And I think he could not, he would not be the same person otherwise. So even though no external force was pushing Fitz and the Fool to take certain decisions, they were not freely chosing those pathways that made them suffer.
And I think that is something very beautiful that I take from these books. It gave me more compassion for us, human beings, and our suffering. Between big tragedys such as war and famine, there are so many little tragedys because of not speaking our minds, hurting people we love, not being able to do things better. And it is this type of tragedy (as opposed to the torture) that I could really appreciate while reading the books and that gave me a more distant and accepting view of certain things in my own life.
Interesting that Robin Hobb would think much of the suffering of her characters are because of the choices they themselves have made. I see that differently, because I think free choice is much more limited than it seems.
For example, Fitz at the end of Fool´s Fate. Could he really have chosen to stay with the one that completed him, deep down knowing very well this was so? He was subject to all of his human longings and needs, when he indeed accepted the Fool leaving him and go on to make him a life with a family, many different people to be loved, a hetero sexlife etc. He could not erase that and make a different choice. Or think of Beloved. His whole life he was driven by such a strong sense of purpose and high moral, it may have been the only thing that kept him going. Did he ever stop and wonder if he really had to do all the things he did, or if he could opt for another sort of life? I think not. And I think he could not, he would not be the same person otherwise. So even though no external force was pushing Fitz and the Fool to take certain decisions, they were not freely chosing those pathways that made them suffer.
And I think that is something very beautiful that I take from these books. It gave me more compassion for us, human beings, and our suffering. Between big tragedys such as war and famine, there are so many little tragedys because of not speaking our minds, hurting people we love, not being able to do things better. And it is this type of tragedy (as opposed to the torture) that I could really appreciate while reading the books and that gave me a more distant and accepting view of certain things in my own life.
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