Nov-01-2011, 01:11 PM (UTC)
(This post was last modified: Nov-01-2011, 01:22 PM (UTC) by Farseer.)
While I agree that Hap was a secondary matter in comparison to the pull of duty that Fitz experienced when he returned to Buckkeep life (didn't many things tend to come second in his life in this regard though, both prior to and after his period of living in the hut...even Molly, Nettle and his own 'self'?), I find I have to disagree with the thought that Hap has been forgotten or farewelled or that Fitz thought of him as being unimportant.
Hap had lived a sheltered and isolated life for many years in 'Tom's hut' under the care of Fitz. His immersion into life outside of this bubble came at a time, I believe, when he was of a similar age to Fitz when Fitz was first out 'saving the world', and of a similar age to Dutiful when he was out on a quest to slay dragons. Hap wasn't that young, and was even apprenticed far later than he should have been. If anything, it could be said that Fitz had over-sheltered him in this regard, and should have let him go much sooner.
For whatever reasons eg love for Hap, simple desire or need for his or ANY company etc, Fitz kept him by his side...and mourned him somewhat when Hap himself chose to go off and earn his own coin (for his apprentice fee?). It was only when Hap left that Fitz began to feel truly fidgety and suddenly experienced a loss of direction, aside from having already experienced an increasing ‘feeling’ of something waiting to happen or longing for the Skill etc.
While back in Buck, duty once again called to Fitz. He stayed true to his Farseer blood, role of Catalyst and name of Changer but he also did what most parents of a young man such as Hap would do...give guidance and love (and a good talking to when required!) but generally let him make his own choices, be they ending in mistakes and/or successes. Hap was uninvolved in court life, and blissfully unaware of the role Fitz held there, and so therefore possibly seemed to be absent in comparison to others eg Chade, Dutiful etc but wasn't he just busy making his own way in the world? Did he have to be off on a quest, or doing something 'astounding' to achieve something of worth?
As for his becoming a minstrel, I doubt he would ever have even given a thought to becoming a minstrel prior to the time when he actually did it. He was with ‘Tom’ for so long and had all he needed there with him that he probably never truly contemplated life beyond he, Nighteyes and the hut...until age and curiosity, and possibly fate, kind of decreed that he had to. He also later resented Starling for her treatment of Fitz and so he would likely have wanted to distance himself from her and her occupation as much as possible. That he eventually forgave her, gravitated back to her and took up her lifestyle, shows how much he matured over time.
With regard to his character developing even more, isn't that what is already happening with his shift to becoming a minstrel? Did he have to develop as much as a character such as, say, Malta, to show 'enough' development? He has found his footing, his calling and himself, despite the stumbles, and has huge potential for the future. He will travel, he will learn, he will experience. In fact, he is doing exactly what the younger Fitz himself had dreamed and longed to do as a scribe apprenticed to Fedwren. He has choice - the ability to choose for himself. This when he was reared by a man who had long lamented that his life was bereft of choice.
Who is to say what role Hap will play in later events? Maybe it will be significant or maybe it won’t but as Fitz noted at one point, “My boy seemed genuinely happy, and if I was not pleased to part with him, I was pleased that he had found a choice that gave him so much satisfaction.” As a parent who has not long had her eldest son leave the nest, this thought well reflects my own feelings on the matter. I continue to live my life and fulfil the duties and roles that I have within that life, caring for my husband, other son and young daughter etc, but I still think of my eldest son, care for him, worry about him (endlessly!) and am here in every possible way for the times when he needs me. He, like Hap, is not forgotten. I have not abandoned him. He is no less important or no less loved. He just isn’t right here, right now. He doesn’t depend on me all of the time like he used to. Also like Hap, his job is no longer to tend the chickens and his world now expands well beyond the boundaries of our land. That doesn’t mean that I’m not his parent anymore...it just means that his, and my, roles have changed.
As a slight aside, certainly I have put my life on hold to a certain degree over the years but what parent would ever fully pause their entire life to traipse after their older child/children, particularly a single parent like Fitz? As far as that goes, I consider myself very lucky to have a partner in my husband whose presence enables me to drop things to head off and do whatever needs to be done for the benefit of my children. Wherever possible, at least one of us is always there to provide direct support to them. We have each other’s backs and we have theirs. Fitz, however, was not always so fortunate, even with Jinna and Chade’s generosity and supervision. At least, Fitz didn’t always feel that he could ask for help and this was cause for stress for him at times. He worried about Hap but there was not always a lot he felt he could do.
What else could Fitz truly have done for Hap? Hap was always going to make his own mistakes, and learn his own lessons, no matter what it was that Fitz said. He is his own person. Certainly he lived with Fitz for many years but it was ‘Tom’ whom he lived with, not FitzChivalry Farseer. In many ways he lived with, and was raised by, half a person. There is also the fact that Fitz himself had a less than normal upbringing. Certainly he had a father figure in Burrich but no doubt he often felt that he lacked skills and confidence in his ability to be a good father to Hap. Fitz himself stressed that he may not have done well by Hap; that he had realised too late that he had not taught him all of the things that he possibly should have known. He knew the limits of what he had provided in their relationship.
Later in Buck, by not being around as much as he used to be, Fitz also actually allowed Hap to successfully work out his own character. While it may be a parent’s task to help shape a child’s character, it is really up to the child to work out who they want to be. Nobody else can do that for them, no matter how hard they try to.
Did Fitz forget about him or fob him off when he got together with Molly? I just can’t see it. During his ‘courtship’ of Molly, Fitz made mention of Hap and his return visit to Buck with Sawtongue. He’d noted the physical changes that Hap had undergone and proudly stated that he’d completed two of his own songs which had both been well received. Fleeting reference perhaps but no different than what I may relay to someone questioning after my own children?
I know I mentioned this in an earlier post but, later, although Hap went off with his minstrel master and their lord after the wedding of Dutiful to Elliania, he did return to Withywoods to witness Fitz and Molly exchange their own vows. Only those close to Fitz attended the ceremony and Hap was as fully a part of the family circle there as were all of the other people important to Fitz.
It was here where Fitz made mention of Hap and his ‘new sister’ (Nettle). Was Nettle seen as a new sister in Hap’s eyes simply because Fitz, his foster father, had just married Nettle’s mother, or was Hap finally made aware of the fact that Nettle was a blood daughter to Fitz and not Burrich? If it was the latter, no doubt the rest of Fitz and Molly’s story would had to have followed? It is difficult to say for certain what he meant by this term ‘new sister’ but there is the possibility that Fitz later chose to disclose his long-held secrets to Hap, just as he did to Molly and her children. If that was the case then all who are close to Fitz would finally be fully aware of all of his secrets, history, faults and accomplishments. At the very least, Hap would have been very curious as to the presence of Kettricken, Dutiful, Chade and Elliania at the ceremony! Still, for me, his own simple presence there suggests that he remained as much a part of Fitz and his life as ever.
Just like we have not seen the last of Fool (I'll believe it when I see it!), maybe, just maybe, we have not yet seen the last of Hap ‘the hapless’? I must say that I was never a fan of his but he got there in the end and I can't help but cheer for him, and Fitz, that he made it.
Hmm...the minstrels-connected-to-dragons thingy that I have spoken about in the past also casts an interesting light on what Hap's future may hold. Who knows? Maybe one day he will be gifted a piece of wizardwood by a dragon, and asked to shape a rooster's feather...
Hap had lived a sheltered and isolated life for many years in 'Tom's hut' under the care of Fitz. His immersion into life outside of this bubble came at a time, I believe, when he was of a similar age to Fitz when Fitz was first out 'saving the world', and of a similar age to Dutiful when he was out on a quest to slay dragons. Hap wasn't that young, and was even apprenticed far later than he should have been. If anything, it could be said that Fitz had over-sheltered him in this regard, and should have let him go much sooner.
For whatever reasons eg love for Hap, simple desire or need for his or ANY company etc, Fitz kept him by his side...and mourned him somewhat when Hap himself chose to go off and earn his own coin (for his apprentice fee?). It was only when Hap left that Fitz began to feel truly fidgety and suddenly experienced a loss of direction, aside from having already experienced an increasing ‘feeling’ of something waiting to happen or longing for the Skill etc.
While back in Buck, duty once again called to Fitz. He stayed true to his Farseer blood, role of Catalyst and name of Changer but he also did what most parents of a young man such as Hap would do...give guidance and love (and a good talking to when required!) but generally let him make his own choices, be they ending in mistakes and/or successes. Hap was uninvolved in court life, and blissfully unaware of the role Fitz held there, and so therefore possibly seemed to be absent in comparison to others eg Chade, Dutiful etc but wasn't he just busy making his own way in the world? Did he have to be off on a quest, or doing something 'astounding' to achieve something of worth?
As for his becoming a minstrel, I doubt he would ever have even given a thought to becoming a minstrel prior to the time when he actually did it. He was with ‘Tom’ for so long and had all he needed there with him that he probably never truly contemplated life beyond he, Nighteyes and the hut...until age and curiosity, and possibly fate, kind of decreed that he had to. He also later resented Starling for her treatment of Fitz and so he would likely have wanted to distance himself from her and her occupation as much as possible. That he eventually forgave her, gravitated back to her and took up her lifestyle, shows how much he matured over time.
With regard to his character developing even more, isn't that what is already happening with his shift to becoming a minstrel? Did he have to develop as much as a character such as, say, Malta, to show 'enough' development? He has found his footing, his calling and himself, despite the stumbles, and has huge potential for the future. He will travel, he will learn, he will experience. In fact, he is doing exactly what the younger Fitz himself had dreamed and longed to do as a scribe apprenticed to Fedwren. He has choice - the ability to choose for himself. This when he was reared by a man who had long lamented that his life was bereft of choice.
Who is to say what role Hap will play in later events? Maybe it will be significant or maybe it won’t but as Fitz noted at one point, “My boy seemed genuinely happy, and if I was not pleased to part with him, I was pleased that he had found a choice that gave him so much satisfaction.” As a parent who has not long had her eldest son leave the nest, this thought well reflects my own feelings on the matter. I continue to live my life and fulfil the duties and roles that I have within that life, caring for my husband, other son and young daughter etc, but I still think of my eldest son, care for him, worry about him (endlessly!) and am here in every possible way for the times when he needs me. He, like Hap, is not forgotten. I have not abandoned him. He is no less important or no less loved. He just isn’t right here, right now. He doesn’t depend on me all of the time like he used to. Also like Hap, his job is no longer to tend the chickens and his world now expands well beyond the boundaries of our land. That doesn’t mean that I’m not his parent anymore...it just means that his, and my, roles have changed.
As a slight aside, certainly I have put my life on hold to a certain degree over the years but what parent would ever fully pause their entire life to traipse after their older child/children, particularly a single parent like Fitz? As far as that goes, I consider myself very lucky to have a partner in my husband whose presence enables me to drop things to head off and do whatever needs to be done for the benefit of my children. Wherever possible, at least one of us is always there to provide direct support to them. We have each other’s backs and we have theirs. Fitz, however, was not always so fortunate, even with Jinna and Chade’s generosity and supervision. At least, Fitz didn’t always feel that he could ask for help and this was cause for stress for him at times. He worried about Hap but there was not always a lot he felt he could do.
What else could Fitz truly have done for Hap? Hap was always going to make his own mistakes, and learn his own lessons, no matter what it was that Fitz said. He is his own person. Certainly he lived with Fitz for many years but it was ‘Tom’ whom he lived with, not FitzChivalry Farseer. In many ways he lived with, and was raised by, half a person. There is also the fact that Fitz himself had a less than normal upbringing. Certainly he had a father figure in Burrich but no doubt he often felt that he lacked skills and confidence in his ability to be a good father to Hap. Fitz himself stressed that he may not have done well by Hap; that he had realised too late that he had not taught him all of the things that he possibly should have known. He knew the limits of what he had provided in their relationship.
Later in Buck, by not being around as much as he used to be, Fitz also actually allowed Hap to successfully work out his own character. While it may be a parent’s task to help shape a child’s character, it is really up to the child to work out who they want to be. Nobody else can do that for them, no matter how hard they try to.
Did Fitz forget about him or fob him off when he got together with Molly? I just can’t see it. During his ‘courtship’ of Molly, Fitz made mention of Hap and his return visit to Buck with Sawtongue. He’d noted the physical changes that Hap had undergone and proudly stated that he’d completed two of his own songs which had both been well received. Fleeting reference perhaps but no different than what I may relay to someone questioning after my own children?
I know I mentioned this in an earlier post but, later, although Hap went off with his minstrel master and their lord after the wedding of Dutiful to Elliania, he did return to Withywoods to witness Fitz and Molly exchange their own vows. Only those close to Fitz attended the ceremony and Hap was as fully a part of the family circle there as were all of the other people important to Fitz.
It was here where Fitz made mention of Hap and his ‘new sister’ (Nettle). Was Nettle seen as a new sister in Hap’s eyes simply because Fitz, his foster father, had just married Nettle’s mother, or was Hap finally made aware of the fact that Nettle was a blood daughter to Fitz and not Burrich? If it was the latter, no doubt the rest of Fitz and Molly’s story would had to have followed? It is difficult to say for certain what he meant by this term ‘new sister’ but there is the possibility that Fitz later chose to disclose his long-held secrets to Hap, just as he did to Molly and her children. If that was the case then all who are close to Fitz would finally be fully aware of all of his secrets, history, faults and accomplishments. At the very least, Hap would have been very curious as to the presence of Kettricken, Dutiful, Chade and Elliania at the ceremony! Still, for me, his own simple presence there suggests that he remained as much a part of Fitz and his life as ever.
Just like we have not seen the last of Fool (I'll believe it when I see it!), maybe, just maybe, we have not yet seen the last of Hap ‘the hapless’? I must say that I was never a fan of his but he got there in the end and I can't help but cheer for him, and Fitz, that he made it.
Hmm...the minstrels-connected-to-dragons thingy that I have spoken about in the past also casts an interesting light on what Hap's future may hold. Who knows? Maybe one day he will be gifted a piece of wizardwood by a dragon, and asked to shape a rooster's feather...
"I am the Catalyst, and I came to change all things. Prophets become warriors, dragons hunt as wolves."
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