Forever thinking about the madness of the writing of novel Ijekiel and how if Plutus changed even just one thing about him, he could be a normal and decent guy but in doing so would remove something so integral to him he wouldn’t even be novel Ijekiel anymore.
Like novel Ijekiel is a jerk who hides behind gentlemanly facades. He doesn’t care for people around him at all, nice princely smiles he doesn’t truly mean, unless it’s of Athy. His responsibilities he doesn’t even seem to show interest or pride in, almost only ever using what little influence he has within the dukedom to court and grow closer to/find Athy, abandoning/neglecting Jennette in the same breath just to pursue Athy.
I talked to a fellow wmmap enjoyer/novel reader and they called novel Ijekiel like that of a poor historical noblewoman grown up into an oppressive society and controlling family—yet the craziest part is, and we both agree, that no one has ever forced him to be this way. There is absolutely no reason, no string of logic or explanation, for his behavior or actions. His Father made it clear to him from an early age that he was the most important, and that he was his Father’s beloved and cherished son. He’s a child genius, a prodigy who chose the opportunity of studying abroad and intermingling with foreign diverse and like-minded peoples. Ijekiel is beloved by all, effortlessly so, by man and woman for his intellect and charisma. Yet he acts like he was coerced into everything, that he had no control, lashing out on Jennette that she’s the privileged one—the girl he knows had been locked up in a stranger’s home for her whole life and could only leave on occasion if accompanied by him. He wished Athanasia was a bird in a cage that he may never let go of in her attempt to reject him—yet his bias doesn’t even let him truly feel anything for the caged bird he already had in his hands. And then he dared to call the caged bird he knew spoilt, privileged—the man who had spread his wings since childhood, wanted and received such, is respected and flocked to by simply existing, all while using his rights and luxuries as the heir to the most prominent dukedom. But the caged little bird he knew was to be thrown away and released into a lion’s den unprepared and unwanted, who can only peck for the ‘luxury’ of food if he’s the one who holds it out towards her—novel Ijekiel behaves like a subservient historical woman in an oppressive patriarchal society, yet in reality he is the most privileged white male in the top percent.
He is complex as he is a hypocrite—one who will never act unless it’s with the encouragement of the one he loves/desires. Even if he may feel a tinge of ~something~, he is internally a stone cold man who will never actually move unless the object of his affections command him to. He is his own undoing, his own curse, and he blames others for it, refuses to accept reality unless it’s fed to him by his bias. Perhaps he is gentlemanly and princely—but one must ask if that’s truly his heart, or if he’s just another privileged coward who cares about nothing and no one but himself.
