Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Literary Luminary

Page 20

The women catapulted into action. The fishwife lunged to strangle the girl, and the crone and the maiden flared up in defense. The finger was dug out of the mire and shoved in an apron pocket, possibly to sew back onto the hand that had lost it. "It's a cock, she just realized she didn't have one," screeched the maiden, and fell on the ground laughing. "Oh, beware the stupid boy first tries to please himself with her! She'll snip his young sprout off for a souvenir!" The midwives crawled back into the clock and dropped the thing at its mother's breast, afraid to consider mercy murder for fear of what else the baby might bite.

Elphaba is unwanted even in infancy. She scares the midwives by biting one's finger off and they ridicule her. She was born shrivled and with green skin. I find even as a baby, she is misunderstood. Her own mother doesn't pay attention to her at all.

3 comments:

  1. Well, in a way, I kind of see where Melena's coming from. I don't think she wanted a baby in the first place, let alone a green sharp toothed baby. Still, she SHOULD have given Elphaba mroe motherly love. :) The story would be totally different if she had.

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  2. I agree. I could understand why Melena acted the way she did because honestly, you wouldn't be too happy with the fact that your baby is green and vicious-looking. I wonder though, how differently Elphaba would have grown up to be if Melena gave her the love that she needed.

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  3. I could see why her mother would be so upset now that you really think about it. However, the question still ponders in my mind if Melena neglecting her daughter turned her into who she was.

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