Have you ever been in the position where you “thought” you knew someone, knew everything about them that was important to know? Perhaps, it’s a relative or a friend, and they’ve always fit a certain way into your world view.
What happens when that individual suddenly does something … extraordinary? For example (speaking from experience here), someone just ups and writes a book (or writes several). Maybe, someone you thought a cowardly politician runs into a burning building and rescues a child cowering in a corner. What happens when you’re walking with a seemingly fragile flower of delicate femininity and, when a mugger steps in your path, she pulls out a “glock” and starts spraying lead – with accuracy, I might add. What do you do? Do you pass it off as a mistake? Does it make you afraid of the other secrets the person may be hiding?
Hylea’s eyes are getting opened to a much larger, more complex, and dangerous world than she’s ever known before, and she’s seeing a side of her sister – extreme confidence and poise in the face of an attacker – that she’s never seen before.
Several of these blog entries deal with this same subject, from different angles, and – to some extent – that’s what the book is dealing with, too. We are faced with looking at the depths in characters – especially how they see one another.
There is a mirror on real life here, of course. We tend to judge on outward appearances not only regarding a person’s background or education, but also their history. Some individuals may well be very surprising! My favorite is this old guy I know from the gym. He’s missing a few teeth, works in custodial, and talks with an accent that would make Larry the Cable Guy look refined. Know what? He’s amazing. He’s a former soldier, airmen, has the hottest car in the city, and builds custom PC’s with ease. People, especially those with a little history are fascinating and have amazing depth, if we’d only bother to search it out in those we work with, those we go to church with, and even among our own family.
We don’t like books or movies with “shallow” characters; why shouldn’t we try to get to know people and learn how rich their experiences and history are. Why do we put up with “shallow” characters in real life? Because not everyone puts forth that effort.
Have you?
Thanks!
JTL