#cotcb re read

[earthschildrenfanstuff]

Starting a re-read for the 173728592th time, as is traditional.

The opening of CotCB is still dramatic and terrifying, even 15 years after my first read through. A 5 year old girl’s life overturned in 5 minutes. A crying, naked orphan alone in an unimaginably large and empty world. I always was a sucker for man vs nature in media, but helpless child vs nature is even more compelling.

[earthschildrenfanstuff]

Ayla is one of my favorite characters because she doesn’t ultimately win. I’ve seen comparisons of her as the original Katniss Everdeen, YA heroine type. I agree that she was inspirational for a generation of young women, but I really appreciate that she didn’t win the day and overthrow the system. She lost, brutally and repeatedly. Her story is about navigating her culture diplomatically, or sneakily, or skillfully but it’s not at all about her changing the world (in this book at least). She won the right to hunt and accomplished her goal of having a child, but she also endured violence and conformed for the sake of survival. Her life with the Clan feels more reflective of what it’s like to live in an abusive and oppressive culture where it isn’t safe to be yourself, which helps the story ring with a heartbreaking feeling of truth. Sometimes you just put your head down and survive.