Wild Children Discussion: Act II (Perhaps less spoilers)

I think this time around I’m not going to do a full review first, if you’re following along up and until now I think you’ve probably decided to read it and you’ll know. I will step directly into the review and relay what I think are the vital points and leave the details to be discovered!

It’s been a bit since the last section, so let us recall the characters we’ve met Bray, Hind, Coo, the Baron and the Baron’s son. In saving coo from execution blame was laid upon Hind and Bray only escaped by dying and being reborn again.

Now to get into the act. It’s wonderful, for the week previous I’ve been listening a lot of “Zaba” by Glass Animals and it reminds me greatly of the world presented here.  Not that the stories are terribly similar, nor the mythology really, but the supernatural world presented is just lush. Zaba’s literal jungle and Wild Children’s medieval jungle are both so filled with life beyond the mundane you just want to get lost in it.

Our protagonist Jinx is definitely lost in it, starting during his human life he read arcane texts and he supposes, like most, that forbidden knowledge was the path into becoming a Cat Child. Beyond that a Black Cat Child, and black cats are obviously the worst, right? And here so much of legends behind cats turn out to be true: ability to steal children’s breath, to disappear into the shadows, to see all those things that normal humans cannot, and to exist on the cusp between realms. Yet, he shares with us the fact that those abilities aren’t so unique, that all Wild Children can do some of these.

The themes of sin and salvation are strong in this chapter too. Jinx is trying to ‘earn’ his salvation by trading things of worth to the Others of the city, we see examples of both pain and a soul to be traded to ‘burn’ away his sin and be that much closer to a judgment to get to Heaven. This at first seems to indicate the doubts raised in previous chapters were unfounded but we’re helped along by Coo saying that even she begins to doubt because Hind is still what and where she is.

The Weaver of Pain is Jinx’s trading partner, and at the end his judge, thusly we meet a third judge, again different from the mechanical angel and the intoxicating brew. Its judgment is keep Jinx upon earth in the form of a plush which is left with Hind.

The Weaver though is not alone, we also run into Ammut, St Peter, and Atropos, all players in the game of judging souls but outrun and bargained with by out fine feline. The last trade is a life for a life, though it appears that once he began the journey to judgment there was no way back, which is true for all the referenced mythologies as well.

Perhaps it’s unfair, but I think that we need to assume that Jinx didn’t really understand the deals he was making with the Weaver, that while it would speak to him in prices to be paid for the sins he committed, that this was merely was he and we were able to understand. It’s abundantly clear that the idea of sins leading to transformation and ideally ultimately to salvation is, at least, no guarantee, and most likely a complete fabrication. Humans, the Wild Children and the Other, are all coexisted in a system that is vastly more than bad children are punished, and our protagonists are learning this by trial and error, and the costs of errors are not a pittance.

Worth mentioning, though I think its more of hint to how different the real system is from what we’ve been told so far is Purgatory; a realm close to the mortal one where pain and pleasure become one, where terrible ordeals are endured but every moment is enjoyed. Which more than anything reminds me of Hell Raiser and the Cenobytes. And the comparison is worth pondering. The Cenobites come when summoned and act on the summoners will to show them the ‘pleasure’ through their ‘torture’, acting out the will of Leviathan whose goal is force order upon the world through the pleasure the Cenobites have experienced. In Wild Children is addicting as well, its dangerous, its cost to Jinx is a mixed of others pain and his own salvation. His salvation from this ever deepening hole is the complex pain and love of Hind, to both her owners and to lost Bray.

Wild Children - Act 1 Scene II: The Discussion Continues! (Such Spoilers!)

Terribly sorry for the long wait, instead of weekly I managed monthly, good thing I'm not getting paid for this or else I'd starve!

---

"Wild Children" Richard Roberts: Morality starts getting trickier when the sin goes into hiding.

THE STORY:

Act I Scene II

Following quickly on the heels of the first act; we find Bray and Mr. Thornback, her teacher cum owner, living in the capital city. Despite her status as a beast of burden, Bray seems fairly happy. It turns out that she’s being treated better than most like her. Being unable to speak is a great impediment, but she can still read and it will turn out that she can even write in her own fashion. Soon enough we’re made aware that there is another variety of wild children - doves. We meet Mourn, a dove boy who, like the other doves of the city is very much convinced that their form is a judgment from God. This idea that donkeys did something to deserve their lot in life was previously hammered into poor Bray but then a new wrinkle is revealed - suggesting that maybe, just maybe, fate could be changed. Next we meet Master Vick, the Baron’s son. Overall he seems to treat Bray quite well, and all things considered, is a fine example of someone who doesn’t hate Wild Children and is susceptible to falling under their sinful influence. Luckily, his relation to the Baron offers a significant amount of leeway. Bray convinces him to escort her to the library and it’s there she finds a book showing that there is a plethora of species of Wild Children and all sorts of theories about what they were.

We are then reintroduced to Hind, who is in many ways the polar opposite of Bray. She has very few donkey features, and is therefore worth a great deal, and was sold to the Baron. She was also very stubborn and obstinate - the exact type of person who would naturally become a donkey! She had taken to her position with aplomb and learned to be the perfect decoration for her master. So, when Bray mentioned to Hind that she had met a dove and was thinking that perhaps she could become something else… Well, it went how you might expect it to ending with a slap from Mr. Thornback. Most certainly a turning point!

In the aftermath, a disconsolate Bray searches for Mourn, though she only finds a dove girl named Egg. Egg leads her to the home of the Doves, in the steeple of a city church! There we meet Coo, leader of the doves of the city. Coo has been assisting those children of the city likely to become doves, like Wolfgang with the wolves. She explains that to become a dove one must be judged by an angel. Yet, the price is steep; for all intents and purposes, one must die. To transition from donkey to dove once again, the old Bray would need die and leave behind Mr. Thornback. This is a cost Bray was unwilling to pay and things slip into passivity for a time; until Mr. Thornback had a heart attack.

With Mr. Thornback on his deathbed he promises to arrange for the Baron to take Bray, it was an act of caring on his part but also the impetus she needed to accept Coo’s offer!

In a predictable wrinkle of the plot, Coo was found to have been captured and taken to the Baron’s, leaving Bray to find a way to get her out. While frightening, it was not  exactly a dangerous adventure, since Bray was already on the ‘inside’ - she was essentially allowed to be there. Meeting up with Hind, they work out a plan to get the key so as to free Coo, which they do. The final escape isn’t any more difficult, but retribution is to be expected.

Once freed, Bray and Coo meet at the chapel where there is a ceremony for choosing the path of the dove, and she is given an elixir to drink, which turns out to be a poison! With mere moments to live, Bray runs to Mr. Thornbacks bedside. She reaches him moments before his death, and after a kiss, collapses.

When she wakes, she is in a city under a city, mechanical and filled with shades of people. Meeting up with Mourn he acts as her guide. Almost despite his guidance she traverses the challenges and gates meant to stop the unworthy, until she came face to face with the clockwork angel. In discussion between Bray and her the angel interlocutor it becomes obvious that it is the angel’s decisions what Bray’s fate will be, it appears the angel is not limited in the fashion the fountain of youth was. Because of Bray’s love for and her innocence she is able to convince the angel to bring Mr. Thornback back as a wild child. The angel examines both their souls represented as glowing balls and goes so far as to crack Mr Thornback’s in its ministrations. They would be lost to one another, but this was a fate she feels is much better than death. After that decision, the angel passes its judgment and renders Bray a phoenix. In passing, the angel imparts the wisdom that nothing that just happened is real, but that the after-effects very much will be.  

Bray then wakes on the floor where she had fallen, hours later…and takes flight.

THE ANALYSIS:

The second scene is barely ten pages longer than the first but I feel like so much more happens here. I suppose that is because the mythos of the world is being given flesh and the first was more about characterizing Bray. This is vital, because if the reader is to accept the clockwork angel’s judgment we need to know Bray for exactly who she is.

Now that we have our base for viewing and judging the other characters, we can dig into what is truly  going on. The first scene revealed the cracks we saw in imposing edifice of the Church’s Wild Children lore. Now, I think its safe to say that its broken entirely. From an outsider’s view we can see how the punishment ethos is not a justifiable explanation for why Wild Children exist. In comparing the clockwork angel and the fountain of youth as passages, we see that one is a trial of sorts and then other just sort of happens. It is vital to the story that ‘judgments’ are not permanent - they CAN be changed by opposing powers! While this view is opaque, I believe that a parallel can be drawn between the major religion described through the cathedrals in this world are is an analogue for Christianity. This means that in this world there are opposing powers above and beyond just the God/Devil dichotomy - there are multilateral powers than can override one another. The paths to access this power that we have seen have involved drinking a cordial and a beer - which is interesting. The former was described directly as a poison, and the beer had the same end result but none of the adventure of the city. Both a cordial and the beer are intoxicants, its heavily implied that its drinking that strong beer that causes the first set of changes, but we its considerably more complex than that with the cordial As the blocks fall into place there are many questions we still want answered, but it is clear that the answers we’d been given up until recently were a convenient fiction as told by the Church - but to what ends?

Let’s dip a bit deeper into mythology here. I’m rather excited that I get to bring up one of those high-scoring words, Psychopomp. A Psychopomp is a being that leads souls/etc to their judgment/afterlife. I am going to argue that both Wolfgang and Coo are just that. They do not judge themselves, but rather, act as guides and conduits in connecting those passing to their destiny. Clearly, no-one is dying when they become a wild child, that is, beyond a metaphorical idea of death. And yet, the “lost” are lead to spots of judgment and given a drink which takes them to their destiny. The best example for now is Hermes and Charon - Hermes would lead the souls to the edge of river Styx and then Charon would ferry them to the underworld. This matches quite well up with Wolfgang, Coo, and the Clockwork Angel. This means that I am considering the long extended life of a Wild Child to be an afterlife of sorts, but if you will bear with me, I think it actually an alternative life. We have seen the phantom cities, the twisted creatures adults become, and we have met the clockwork angel. There is obviously more to this world than what we can easily see. There is a whole world to explore here but we have only the barest peek as of yet.

We’ve not even touched on the new knowledge that some Wild Children are mythical creatures, nor that a Phoenix is immortal and ascribed all sort of powers. We also cannot be sure which of these powers that Bray may possess, but this lends credence to the existence of dragons and other mythics as well, competing demi-gods! I think I must leave these fascinating possibilities alone for now, but I hope your whistle is as whetted as mine!

Wild Children - Discussion/Spoilers

"Wild Children" Richard Roberts starts off with basics of a morality but it grows into so much more.

Act:1 Scene:1

All the townsfolk knew to stay in on Walpurgis Night and not talk to Wild Children but these dire warnings are ignored. Jenny, our first protagonist, who is teacher’s pet and intelligent, perhaps beyond her own good. She is bored and curious being ahead of the class and soon enough she is intrigued with the wolfish Wild Boy. It takes two years for her to be able to run with them but with her first tastes of the wild side she cannot help herself. In a scene reminiscent of Pleasure Island from Disney's Pinocchio, the town's children are running amok. They steal food, yell and harass the town along with Wolfgang and his pack, even going so far as to howl like wolves and feel as if they are running on all fours until they are taken to fountain of youth. The “fountain” is in the basement storage area of the church, which is auspiciously left unlocked. They are told all that is left is to drink a beer and it will be plenty to tumble them to their destiny. The group has dreams of being a wolves like Wolfgang, but it was not meant to be, and the whole group is changed to donkeys instead! The changes ranging from extremely little in Hind, just donkey ears and a tail; all the way to two boys who are completely transformed into animals, one even losing all power of speech. Jenny, now Bray, is more completely transformed having: fur, ears, hooves, a tail, and loss of speech. She is the last to be appraised by teacher in terms of sale because Wild Children are never allowed to remain in the village. In this bestial state all would seem to be lost, if her teacher did not take pity and convince the others he would take her and retire. The others involved are the mayor and the priest, antagonists in their own right, who are soon killed by being fed that transformative beer, the final part of the tales turns out to be true too, that adults cannot become wild children.

A great deal of what is interesting in this story is how the official story and reality don't always coincide. We are told that is sinful and disobedient children that become Wild Children. On the surface that is exactly what happens, naughty children don't listen and are lured out by the wolves. The town folk are frightened and the mayor and priest offer the most dire warnings to ensure that all the wild children are sent/sold away to avoid corruption and temptation. All pretty standard boilerplate for morality tales, well except the whole becoming half-animals but how different is it? Yet, there are cracks.

The first crack is when it is revealed that Wolfgang's previous name was Pepper. We are told that Wild Children get new names and don't know their old names but it is revealed and later followed up with the revelation that his last name was Birch. One guess as to the surname of the town's fire and brimstone preacher's name? The story does not delve into that any further and its enough to make you pull your hair by its roots. It could explain so much, it is the exact story of a disobedient child getting punished, and the wrath and fear of parents who’ve lost everything lashing out; or perhaps the fear or the anger of a brother left behind. Still, it is only implied in a vague way.

The second crack is the revelation that the “fountain of youth” is in the church's basement. Perhaps one could accept ignorance if it was some disused room, some secret passage or the like. Instead its in one of the many barrels of beer the town is storing. Even at that reveal there a chance that this is some secret but then after the donkification we have the mayor-priest-teacher saying at least they know when and where it will occur and the teacher appraising the recently lost children. They even discuss how this happens yearly, and that at least they know where it will occur. At that point its beyond credulous to believe that its a secret. At least, the town leaders are aware of what they have in that barrel.

With just those two cracks I felt that the idea of this being a heavenly punishment was wearing thin. There was a magical draft, and despite the children howling and nearly running on all fours they all became donkeys. Something smelled rotten in the state of Denmark. The villagers knew about Pepper/Wolfgang, they were aware of where and I suspect how the changes occurred, and had cause beyond the simple for wishing revenge on those who changed. Oh yes this is already so much for than a simple morality tale. Like all good lies its built on truth. The children who are changed are disobedient, and they are children. Adults do not change, lest they die. But why donkeys and not wolves? It is hard to believe all of those children, including one we know to have been quite the student at shiftless and lazy as the donkeys are supposed to have been. Its only the end of the first scene, but already we are beginning to see that the whole story is yet to be revealed.