Story Fifty Hollow Ships Masterlist [here] Analysis Masterlist [here]
Important: In this essay, I will refer to the reader as the Traveler, as other characters do.
While working on my current theory, I noticed an interesting—and maybe coincidental—parallel at the end of Chapter 1: White Florals and Chapter 3: Swift-Footed Achilles.
At the end of both chapters, after the Traveler and Achilles confront their repressed feelings, they both react the same way. In chapter 1: White Florals we see the Traveler’s PTSD and the emotional wall she built around her heart to keep from spiraling after witnessing violence.
“ Your brain was in so much stress that you hadn’t been able to properly think for weeks. Evidence piles up throughout your slumber. Blood, the lock of hair, corpses, fire—
The revelation startles you straight out of sleep.
You figured it out, you know how to escape.
You need to summon a God.” (Poly, ch. 1)
And in chapter 3: Swift-Footed Achilles, Achilles, after he faces his repressed feelings for the Traveler:
“Achilles cannot do anything but stare down at your quivering body. The body who has caused him so much suffering.
And yet, he–
He cannot bring himself to complete such a thought.
[…]
He abandons his tent, as well as your softly wailing body.
[…]
And then, he calls for his Mother God. ” (Poly, ch. 3)
Both of their immediate thoughts are to summon (or call for) a god.
I know both of them make sense in why they would did so, but I still find it a very interesting coincidence.
