honestly, as much as i criticize ajw, i really do feel that he’s improving with each book he writes, and i feel like his protagonists reflect that.
benji was raised in a cult, yet is somehow still very accepting of cultures other than his own? he states that he doesn’t know which beliefs belong to him and which were just instilled into him at a young age, which i find very impactful, but his actions don’t reflect this. he’s genuinely so nice to everyone around him, it doesn’t make any sense. as someone who was raised in a very christian family that often punished beliefs that went outside our bubble, if i didn’t have access to the outside world like benji, i wouldn’t have ended up as open-minded as him.
silas is similar, but he has a little more leeway since he’s autistic and has been shown to not understand and therefore not care about social norms. but even then, he doesn’t have as much shame as the average autistic person in the victorian era would. he doesn’t feel comfortable displaying his autistic traits in public, but shouldn’t he be genuinely afraid to do so? for the longest time, i was convinced that something was genuinely just wrong with me, and it took until i got the help i needed to accept myself. silas didn’t get this kind of help, yet he has no issue accepting himself as he is. it’s lovely to see a character like this, it just does make sense in his setting.
miles is where we start to see some change. while he doesn’t have as much internalized ableism as i thought it would, it makes sense as it’s actually explained why he’s so progressive when compared to some of his peers. he actively reads progressive literature and engages in political topics, so his beliefs are more realistic (plus he’s the only MC so far that mentions that racism is A Thing lol). and even then, he still struggles to accept his autism. which makes sense! autism is barely being accepted now, so someone in 2017 would struggle to understand it. even if miles accepts that others have autism, he has a hard time believing that he does due to the stigma around it, which i heavily appreciate!
crane is kinda a special case? he’s never seemed interested in participating in society AT ALL, so even if he’s technically not officially diagnosed, it makes sense that he’s so casual about his autism. he’s sort of accepted that society doesn’t want people like him, so he has no reason to deny these parts of himself. i do think he should’ve been more active in the story, like trying to throw himself down the stairs or something, but that’s an entirely different post
obviously, i can’t say anything about morgan, blythe or gunwyn, but considering how much white has improved, i have high hopes! morgan’s entire story seems to revolve around him struggling to tell where he ends and where his father’s teachings begin, and i think that’s a very nice change of pace. and blythe is stated to be very ableist despite being disabled himself, which not only suits the 1600s setting, but it’ll also mae for an interesting story. plus one of his short stories mentions the surname lopez, so maybe we’ll finally get a nonwhite MC? white’s pretty fond of the book cemetery boys which has a latine protag, so maybe it’ll be similar? only time will tell. all i know is that i’m excited.
i know i think he has some intersexist tendencies, but considering how he’s (allegedly) a fan of multiple intersex people and follows people who occasionally post about our struggles, i’m optimistic that this will change. obviously, i can’t be too sure, but i’ve been told that i’m a very glass-half-full kinda gal
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