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Trustworthy characters in CHANGEOVER
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From: Kathleen Horning <horning>
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 1995 16:00:00 -600
A while back Robin asked for comments on the trustworthiness of characters Laura confides in/seeks help from. Since we as readers know exactly the nature of Jacko's affliction, the Carlisle family strikes me as a lot more trustworthy and capable of helping than, say, the medical community. The Carlisles are entirely trustworthy as far as Jacko is concerned and as far as finding a solution to the Big Problem goes.
Whether or not they are trustworthy as far as Laura is concerned... that's another question. I think Mahy does an excellent job of making us feel what a risky enterprise her changeover is, in fact, what a risky enterprise life itself is. She does that from the very beginning, with all sorts of images of danger and warnings and risks, eg. when Laura first receives the vague warning that something awful is about to happen, she notes: "The future was not only warning her, but enticing her as it did so." (p. 4) and in describing the subdivision in which Laura lives: "At night its streets became dangerous, but she frequently enjoyed this razor?ge of risk waiting outside their comfortable, family door." (p. 10) At the same time, we are led to feel that Laura is equal to the task because "...when she was frightened, she often grew fierce." (p. 4) Laura also seems to be in control of the situation with the Carlisles from the beginning, simply because she recognizes their power and takes it seriously.
It is actually more often Laura's mother Kate who has doubts about particularly Sorenson's trustworthiness, even though in the beginning of the book she laughs at Laura's discomfort around him: "Isn't that like being warned of Little Red Riding Hood instead of the wolf?"
Actually the biggest breach in trust ends up being that between parent and child (Laura and Kate; Sorry and his two families). Again that gets us back to one of the original questions we addressed about family releationships in Mahy's two books. This is also the central issue in Mahy's "Catalogue of the Universe" in which Angela May seeks out her father and, in the end, feels betrayed by both her father and, even more devastatingly so, by her mother Dido. Has anyone else read COTU to compare to "Changeover?"
KT Horning, CCBC
Univ of Wisc-Madison
Received on Mon 21 Aug 1995 05:00:00 PM CDT
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 1995 16:00:00 -600
A while back Robin asked for comments on the trustworthiness of characters Laura confides in/seeks help from. Since we as readers know exactly the nature of Jacko's affliction, the Carlisle family strikes me as a lot more trustworthy and capable of helping than, say, the medical community. The Carlisles are entirely trustworthy as far as Jacko is concerned and as far as finding a solution to the Big Problem goes.
Whether or not they are trustworthy as far as Laura is concerned... that's another question. I think Mahy does an excellent job of making us feel what a risky enterprise her changeover is, in fact, what a risky enterprise life itself is. She does that from the very beginning, with all sorts of images of danger and warnings and risks, eg. when Laura first receives the vague warning that something awful is about to happen, she notes: "The future was not only warning her, but enticing her as it did so." (p. 4) and in describing the subdivision in which Laura lives: "At night its streets became dangerous, but she frequently enjoyed this razor?ge of risk waiting outside their comfortable, family door." (p. 10) At the same time, we are led to feel that Laura is equal to the task because "...when she was frightened, she often grew fierce." (p. 4) Laura also seems to be in control of the situation with the Carlisles from the beginning, simply because she recognizes their power and takes it seriously.
It is actually more often Laura's mother Kate who has doubts about particularly Sorenson's trustworthiness, even though in the beginning of the book she laughs at Laura's discomfort around him: "Isn't that like being warned of Little Red Riding Hood instead of the wolf?"
Actually the biggest breach in trust ends up being that between parent and child (Laura and Kate; Sorry and his two families). Again that gets us back to one of the original questions we addressed about family releationships in Mahy's two books. This is also the central issue in Mahy's "Catalogue of the Universe" in which Angela May seeks out her father and, in the end, feels betrayed by both her father and, even more devastatingly so, by her mother Dido. Has anyone else read COTU to compare to "Changeover?"
KT Horning, CCBC
Univ of Wisc-Madison
Received on Mon 21 Aug 1995 05:00:00 PM CDT
