#i.e. appealing to the hand that feeds to stop it from beating. working w the colonial government as inevitable to stop harsher punishments. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

butcharyastark · 1 year ago

Text

finally got to the max and mrs. guthrie scenes in my rewatch and oh.... wait... i think drowning the cat might mean smth different than max acquiescing finally to the violence of colonial rule and abuse...

#see i thought its obviously abt max's worldview & the necessary evil of accepting standard violence to prevent worse unpredictable violence #i.e. appealing to the hand that feeds to stop it from beating. working w the colonial government as inevitable to stop harsher punishments.#but like. i said once before i think its also important to remember max is very good at telling ppl what they want to hear and its clear #that mrs guthrie wants to hear that max 1. can be ruthless #2. is capable of stopping the cycle in nassau (the cucle of the cat) aka not asking mrs guthrie to finance a worthless investment #and 3. relates to mrs guthrie specifically and she is a woman that casually wields her privilege #she wants max to do all those things and this time around watching i noticed the implications max regrets what happened in nassau #and considers her efforts to appeal to the higher power failed #and like. the way this convo is had w mrs guthries question 'which are you in this cycle?' and max's answer directly situated around where #the dude asks max where her slave laborers r in her accounts and max says she refuses to have any #and it feels rlly pointed #max says drown the cat but we know she HASNT. she passively accepts certain things w her power but doesnt actively step on ppl to get there.#she couldve casually used slave labor in nassau to get more money in her power but refuses unlike jack.#she couldve turned idelle and featherstone over easily when asked to gain her own safety but refused #she couldve killed or turned over silver so easily but said herself she couldnt live with it if she did #im not sure i buy she comes down this hard on the issue of drowning the cat even jaded after the raid & eleanors death & annes neardeath #i think she mightve been just telling mrs guthrie what she wanted to hear. that max was willing LIKE HER to use whatever privilege she had #access to to squash those beneath in favor of 'smart' ambition.#mrs guthrie is an aged eleanor. a rich white woman in the new world who bought her power by acquiescing to the few oppressions laid on her #by becoming the role of silent wife and mother to appeal to her husbands control and violence. and using the leverage she had left #being rich & white to control everything else. its what eleanor did securing her status becoming the colonial governors wife & helping him #w his violence. its what mrs guthrie asks max to do to prove to her that max is right for the investment she wants #and she refuses #idk thoughts full head many im turning max over in my mind in the salad spinner. i need to think more on it #black sails #my post

2 notes · View notes