Glorious Stories

Welcome back to Glorious Stories, where we’re jumping right in with our second week of exploration into the themes and motifs from Thief, Witch, & Liar!

If you missed last week’s post, you can read it here to catch up. Any spoilers for major plot points will be marked appropriately, so when you see SPOILER TALK, skip ahead if you like to be surprised. 😉

WEEK TWO THEME

True Goodness

Thief, Witch, & Liar is bookended by another quote from Scripture, this time from Matthew 7:16-20. “By their fruits you will know them.  Can you gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? Even so, a corrupt tree produces evil fruit, yet a good tree produces good fruit… therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

(Incidentally, but not so incidentally–this connects neatly back to the Hunger motif discussed in the first entry in this series; the struggling agricultural community of Casenga has built proverbs around the knowledge of good and bad fruits!)

Throughout the novel, the heroine Daniela, a poor but respectable young woman, is highly invested in maintaining her honor and good reputation. She has been raised to be good, and has always held herself to a high standard. The story begins when her honor is impugned by accusations of theft, which she vehemently (and truthfully) denies. Once in the Witch Iacoma’s house, she serves honorably despite being held captive, in the interest of proving her honor.

SPOILER TALK: (( halfway through the book, Daniela is forced to evaluate the depth of her goodness when she realizes that she has shown hatred and prejudice toward someone who did not deserve it. She comes to realize that pride has crept in alongside her virtues, tainting what ought to be good. Not to be discouraged, she sets about correcting these habits, making sacrifices and humbling herself in an effort to grow beyond her failings.))

Iacoma, conversely, has a kind of morality of her own, showing moments of tenderness, reason, and even wisdom despite her harsh and habitual cruelty. Daniela is dismayed to discover several subtle similarities between herself and her captor, even sharing parallel values that challenge and confuse Daniela’s sensiblities.

SPOILERS: ((Iacoma’s morality is revealed to be more a form of superiority; she compares herself favorably to those she deems as beneath her or “worse” than her, priding herself on superficial values such as modesty, frugality, and charity, rendering herself callused and blind to the depths of her own selfishness and wickedness–not without conscience, yet utterly without repentance.))

Bensiabel is reviled by Daniela and the villagers of Casenga for his association with his mother and her tyranny, for his extortionist habits, and his flirtatious nature, too brazen for the conservative culture of Casenga. He is adored and almost worshipped by his mother in some seasons, and held in contempt by her for his duplicitous nature and inferior loyalty. He makes offers of kindness to Daniela during her captivity, yet has no qualms about using her vulnerable position to his advantage, pressuring her for affection in exchange for his benevolence.

SPOILER TALK: ((Bensiabel’s true nature is revealed through his actions; while he thinks nothing of lying or of using his position of power to intimidate, his conscience is evident in the depths of compassion which Daniela slowly comes to understand.))

Over the course of the book, the results–or fruits–of the choices each character makes prove their quality and reveal the good from the wicked.

WEEK TWO MOTIFS

Knight and Damsel

Throughout Thief, Witch, & Liar, there are excerpts from a fictional epic poem which the central characters Daniela and Bensiabel both enjoy, known as Giado’s Quest. The poem narrates the tale of a young hero, Giado, a man of great honor, prowess, and physical appeal that inspires women to fall for him while he remains oblivious–so devoted to his duties as a knight that he never spares the time for romantic entanglement. Impressed by his devotion and valor, the Fairies bless the young man with a form of immortality and invulnerability which he will keep so long as he never kisses a mortal woman. However, after long years of faithful duty, Giado meets and looses his heart to a maiden named Drusia, who is then abducted and held captive by the powerful wizard king Maczeus. Giado embarks on a quest to save his lost maiden and eventually discovers that the only way to set her free is by True Love’s Kiss, which he gives at the cost of the Fairies’ blessing.

There are parallels between Giado and Drusia and Daniela and Bensiabel. On first glance, Bensiabel would seem to reflect Giado, with his handsome features and valiant spirit, while Daniela seems to be the damsel in distress, abducted from her home by a powerful magic user.

Yet as the story progresses, it is in Daniela that the knight motif manifests itself; she rigidly upholds her own honor, regarding her kiss as something sacred to be guarded at all costs, “armoring” her heart.

SPOILER TALK: ((Meanwhile, Bensiabel reveals qualities that liken him more to Drusia; both renowned and distrusted for his beauty, kidnapped and held captive by a witch, powerless to save himself. Like Drusia, he longs for rescue, even going so far as to hope that True Love’s Kiss might set him free.

Eventually, aware of this strange and upside-down parallel, Daniela sets out on her own quest, not only to save herself but to save Bensiabel, where she must face the question of whether she will give up her chance at freedom in order to restore his autonomy.))

Check in next week for Part III of Themes and Motifs from Thief Witch & Liar –True Family, Captive Bird, and Truth in the Title!