The story follows Gwen and Hugo, Hugo is a member of the Survivor's club who has decided it's time to do his duty to his sister and find himself a wife. On a walk to the beach he find Gwen who has just been injured and can't move herself. He brings her home to the club in Panderris Hall and she is welcome by all. As the story progresses, they find each other loving one another and marry, as these stories go.
There were a few interesting ideas that caught my attention, this is the first story of a main protagonist who was very forward in his physical appetites, and I mean bluntly so. Gwen responds to it with a kind understanding but not with a permissive and indulgent one, that was a rather interesting strategy.
I do believe that it was done on purpose to display the contrast in their backgrounds, she was a proper lady and he was a brute of war who had achieved a title after a forlorn hope. It also works as a way to illustrate our true nature. There's a difference between showing ourselves vulnerably as we are, and stubbornly refusing to see the wrongs in our ways, I think.
There's a difference between saying, this is who I am and where I come from, and demanding other's accept our flaws of character because "well this is simply who I am, deal with it". And the story navigates some of that rather nicely I thought, both Gwen and Hugo sought to bring one another into their worlds, although I do suspect Hugo had to do most of the work as Gwen seemed more integrated overall and more accepting.
There was a lovely quote that was very touching it went something like: " Youthful dreams are precious things, they ought not to be dashed as youthful and unrealistic just because they’re young dreams, innocence ought not to be destroyed from any callous conviction that any sort of cynicism is better. " this was spoke by Hugo as he started to show his vulnerable side to Gwen, as he started to confess to her that he had killed hundreds, and been honored for that, but was never a child to harm a creature and until this day, he was the one to take the spiders out to the yard instead of killing them.
Innocence is probably underrated, or rather... what he calls the cynicism that looks down upon innocence and young dreams is overrated. In the world of today, that innocence is gone too quick and quicker by the day. And once it's gone, it doesn't come back, I personally feel today that I wish I had lived with my innocence for a bit longer on certain topics. And most of us instinctively seek to protect the innocence of our younger family members and people around us.
I think there's a moment for "initiations" and delivering knowledge to children, and when done too late it has repercussions, a man child, when done too early it has repercussions, trauma.
The Survivor's club being what it is, it deals with Trauma in most stories, Gwen herself had a rough story, it illustrates guilt in a lovely manner that wouldn't change until Hugo came along. When her ex-husband died in front of her, the last words uttered from his mouth were her name. Ever since then, her name to her was cursed, loaded with guilt and shame and regret. It wasn't until Hugo started using her name, and share his burdens with her, that she started to change her own view of herself.
And that was a powerful image, someone she felt responsible for commits suicide and burdens her with a curse of sorts, the word kind, her name would be forever tainted by the guilt. Not only reminding her of it, but it buried itself so deeply that whenever someone got close enough to her, intimately to not use her title but use her name instead, she would be reminded of it.
It's also a good way to describe guilt, how it weighs heavy on our identities, a curse that changes the way we know ourselves. If the mere sound of our names is enough to define our lives by the standards of a single moment, we'll forever carry that curse.
In terms of suicide, they talked about it being a selfish act, you leave everyone else with the hurt for the satisfaction of having the last word, it's unkind and selfish, self centered. And in terms of being self centered, they explored several aspects, specially from Hugo's point of view, he was constantly apologizing to Gwen for his middle class world, until she stops him.
They also discuss demons, fighting them, and the sympathy that it creates to share one's burden with someone else. Gwen hadn't told anyone about her marriage to her ex husband, how difficult it had been, how taxing on her soul, and Hugo, knowing the value of networking, offered her the advice that she ought to share it with someone.
It was a very nice story indeed, a lot of concepts were explored and the humor from the rough Hugo and the proper Gwen was actually endearing. The impropriety of their initial interaction could have been a stomping block, but it could also have been an honest way into each other's heart, it wasn't the impropriety that defined their relationship, it was what they had to offer to one another beyond it, their honest self, their own burden and trauma, their nightmares, and their hopes for the future.
By sharing honestly with one another, despite the impropriety, they were able to see one another as they truly were, broken and struggling, but willing to live on. Willing to live beyond their demons and circumstance.
This is actually illustrated in Hugo's enjoyment for being in his land, he had seen so much death that he sought to nurture life in any way possible, with animals and plants. To participate in the exercise of life, despite death. It reminded me of a song in spanish that says something along the lines of "Death never defeated us, because whatsoever dies is because it was born (and lived) at one point"
hehehe.
