K
asked:
I don't know how to describe what I felt about the characters. Like the females either liked to sleep around or followed a stereotype of good/bad/spoiled and males just stood there and were stupid/unquestioning or immoral. When a nice character with some plot behind them was introduced, BAM time skip or they die. Does anyone think this was on purpose to keep the main character so isolated in hate/misunderstandings?
To answer questions about
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,
please sign up.
Christine
I think it was because the book as a whole is an exploration of who 'the Wicked Witch of the West' was, an exploration meant to mimic how history is done/created/agreed upon today. The subject of investigation is dead and cannot speak for him/herself, there's no such thing as an absolute truth of who they were, there's only what other people remember of them and pass on to posterity. The very premise of the book as an alternative telling of the events of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is the same theme on another level - there are objective facts which happened, but what they leave behind is a subjective memory, a tinted narrative. Each section of the book is told through a different person's 3rd person limited point of view, and you as the reader have the benefit of all five, in addition to the WWO story, but even counting those six, your end understanding is just a seventh narrative to throw into the pot. While I think the book presents a sympathetic portrayal of Elphaba (unsurprisingly), I don't think that means we have to (or should) take her as a role model or protagonist. It's not a happy story, in a lot of ways it's pretty unsatisfying. People are complicated. I agree that it definitely leaves a lot of questions and scenes-I-wish-had-been, but I think they were left out intentionally.
Kimberly
Christine's analysis is what I was looking for - thank you!
My greatest disappointment in the book was that Elphaba's motivations were not clearly elucidated, even some of her associates and actions were left a mystery. I cannot clearly explain how she got to the actions/feelings at the end. Maybe that's the point, as C said.
My greatest disappointment in the book was that Elphaba's motivations were not clearly elucidated, even some of her associates and actions were left a mystery. I cannot clearly explain how she got to the actions/feelings at the end. Maybe that's the point, as C said.
About Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
