thinking about isaac being a sacrifice in both cases.. being treated as though he is inherently worth less than what others want, as though he's disposable. in diseased residents, he's about to be one more kid crystallized and split open by this old priest and left behind in the woods for the sake of his hunger. literally consumed and disregarded by a figure of power in a religious institution he's trying to distance himself from, both despite and because of his parents’ pressure. in empty graves, presuming what the rest of them interrupt is actually a human sacrifice, caleb abrahams wants to offer up isaac's life for his son's. while it's not of his own volition, it's significant isaac's father is the one doing the offering - taking him to the altar, preparing him for slaughter. isaac's father, who has spent years trying to change and control him, is trading isaac's life for another son's. a son who was happy. who loved the snow. who, being only 8 years old, probably still went to church with his father. who hadn’t yet gotten the chance to grow up and discover who he is outside of his father’s orbit. the abrahams’ son gets to live because he is unmarred by the natural process of growing up and away from your parents - isaac, on the other hand, is already a lost cause. his father’s last act of control over isaac will be to put an end to his perceived disobedience forever. but that’s not how it goes. in the end, back in his own control and confronted with what he's done, mr. brooks cuts isaac’s binds, giving him another chance at a life he pleads for. just as he has to kick his way through floorboards in order to get a chance to run from the old church, just as he begs mrs. wisp not to call his parents, just as he desperately tries to get his dad to see his perspective while they’re in the car. isaac has had to claw and push and plead and apologize and try so hard to even start to be seen and treated as someone worthy of respect and care without control, of a real life to call his own. but instead he'll always be the delinquent, the whipping boy. he'll always be brought to the woods to die for someone else.
andulkaphoto
kianamaiart
prguitarman
titsay
dailybridgerton
dededos
gummygunk
