(urth) Sinew

[Charles Gillingham]

To me, Sinew is one of the most interesting characters in Short Sun. How
his character is perceived in the narrative vs what's he's actually like.
And how Wolfe likes to play around show vs tell.

Horn has a low opinion of Sinew, saying how he's always been afraid Sinew
would kill him or the other members of the family. But really, what
evidence in the text leads us to believe that Sinew is a bad dude? Other
than Horn's opinion? Sinew is always out getting food for his family. He
talks about defending them from the Inhumi. He gives his most prized
possession to the father that hates him. Then he builds a boat that's
basically a box, risks his life to cross the ocean to join up and help his
dad. The only thing he does that might be deemed wrong is abandoning Horn
after he's wounded, but that's only logical in their situation. After that
he goes on to become the leader of a village and a probable loving father.

(We all knew this of course just wanted to write it out to prove my point.)

What in the actual story of Short Sun, does Sinew do, that would show us
he's a bad person? Nothing! He's a hero! He's always risking his life to
help others. Even Krait isn't that bad, he saves Horn after all, never
attacks humans, and even betrays his own kind to try and save the people on
the lander. I guess, maybe, Horn's opinion of his son changes over the
novel, maybe influenced by the fact that's he becomes Silk. Silk will
forgive people where Horn wouldn't. Or maybe Horns white washing Sinew's
actions in the storyline just like he did with Auk.

On a personal note, I feel a little bit like Sinew. I'm the oldest son, and
my idiot father (along with idiot teachers) always assumed I was a violent
person, that I was a threat to him or my siblings, when I'm really not.
“People don't want other people to be people.” Its easier to assign a
simple value to people, put them in little boxes, for no reason other than
brevity, laziness, of thought. Perhaps Sinew made some little mistake when
he was a child and had no real conscience control over his actions. To
paraphrase "before he stole Nettle from me". Maybe Horn is just jealous of
a mother's love for her son, so would always jump to the worse conclusion
about Sinew. If the Horn family (lets name them the Scratchy family lol) is
semi biographical of the Wolfe family, maybe the real story is Wolfe
subtlety admitting he wasn't the best father, as all good fathers will do
at some point.

Maybe I'm reading to much into this. Maybe Sinew is just a cruel, one
dimensional bastard who only likes pain and violence. He's the torturer
just like all men. Maybe the best ending to his story is a death where an
Inhumi won't drink his blood and make another Krait.
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