A little while ago we were sitting around a little fire outside in our yard, because it was family night and the kids had asked for a fire. I was just starting a story when Aaer ron yelled, “Everyone get back!”
We live in the land of poisonous vipers, and poisonous centipedes, and all manner of other unpleasantness so we all complied pretty quickly.
It turned out it was just a little scorpion who had crept close to the warmth of our fire.
So Aaron, being Aaron, rather than kill it, caught it and fried it up so the kids could taste it.
Who wants to see the video the kids took of a snake eating a Toukay(big gecko) while hanging in front of the kitchen window?
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4 thoughts on “Scorpion Eaters”
Hermione is also a pagan version of Mary Sue who is always right, has a bunch of guys crushing on her for no sensible reason, can outdo everyone else at any spell. I'm sorry you want your kids to admire this rather than a real role model or, goodness, even their own mother. What about Sara Crewe, Mary and Laura Ingalls, Anne Shirley, Anne Elliot? For boys, Jem and Atticus Finch?
A careful reading would show that I reference Hermione when talking about currently popular female fictional characters.
You would also notice that I conclude by saying that my children will be reading the classics for many years before I let them read modern fiction, for the exact reasons you stated here.
Such a thoughtful and insightful reflection. Thank you.
I recognize that this is an old post, but having just finished the trilogy, I've been looking for different perspectives. I actually thought that Katniss was a strong character, but that her character has to be taken in the context of her dystopian society and desperate family life. Her greatest virtue is that she rises to meet whatever challenge is required to protect those she loves, which remains her central motivation throughout the series. Her love is not self-indulgent in that it is always self-sacrificial. And she does so with absolutely no sense of entitlement to anyone's love, protection or provision. Continually risking legal reprimand to feed her family, going into the games in place of her sister without any reason to think that she would survive, being genuinely concerned about Rue's safety and genuinely grieving for her and her family during the games and afterward, making a deal with Haymitch to save Peeta rather than herself, protecting Gale from being whipped and so forth. Her love is really without limit or condition in that respect. But it is a practical love and not particularly emotional, which in itself is not a fault. Having lived a life of constant deprivation and survival, her love takes the form of sacrificing herself so that those she loves can survive.
One point in particular, though–I don't think that she is narcissistic. In fact, I noted throughout the trilogy that she's really not very self-aware at all. (She does read others well, but not herself) I'm not sure if you ultimately finished the trilogy, but she makes a comment later on that others always seem to know her secrets before she does. Peeta says more than once that she doesn't realize the affect she can have on people. And more than anything, she is not at all taken up with high ideas of herself for being the object of both Peeta and Gale's affections. But a flaw of hers is definitely that she does not see the big picture; she cannot see the forest for the trees, which means that she's not very good at keeping things in perspective. Her world is the tactile present, without much room for ideals or the future. This may account for some of her impulsivity. She often recounts the people who have died "because of her" which could be fairly read as narcissism. But I don't think that this has to do with narcissism as much as it has to do with Katniss being stuck on survival mode and believing that to love someone means that she has to protect them from harm and suffering. So even though they died for a worthy end or for reasons outside of her control, because they were people she cared for and for her to love means to protect, she feels that she failed them.
I suppose whether Katniss is a good example depends on what kind of world we live in. I was impressed by the realness of the characters and Collins' seeming aim to make the story about people who continue to do the best they can with the lives they've been given, no matter how difficult. That alone is a lesson that makes the book worthwhile, imo.
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