#and the real sicknesses they're suffering from their own hubris + bringing along to a vulnerable population | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

itsclydebitches · 11 days ago

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"[Fitzjames'] public demeanor, which was always an easy mix of self-effacing humor and firm command, remained the same, but in private with only Crozier in attendance, Fitzjames spoke less, smiled less frequently, and too often looked distracted and miserable. For a melancholy man like Crozier, the signs were obvious. At times it was like staring into a looking glass, except for the fact that the melancholy countenance staring back was a proper lisping English gentleman rather than an Irish nobody."

The Terror, Dan Simmons

#The Terror #James Fitzjames #Crozier #Simmons' writing is so good but I'm mildly obsessed with this passage in particular #the intimacy of Fitzjames letting his guard down in front of Crozier and only Crozier #the concept of them as mirrors of one another #but it's only shown when the veneer of a “”“proper”“” Englishman is stripped away #which of course Fitzjames isn't (if the original novel follows the show - haven't gotten that far yet)#so they're both outsiders to the Empire they're perpetuating #but Crozier doesn't *know* that #so instead of relating to Fitzjames or trying to help him it just feeds his self-loathing as an “Irish nobody”#the whole description perpetuates the idea #that it's the Artic that is doing this to them rather than an innate sickness #we're blurring the lines between colonizing as metaphorical sickness and depression as a mental sickness #and the real sicknesses they're suffering from their own hubris + bringing along to a vulnerable population #IDK I GOT A JUMBLE OF THOUGHTS #none of which are coherent like the lovely meta others have done on this show #but this passage ~resonates~

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