Phyles & Today

After class today I started to think about what today's society would be like if we were grouped by phyles. Such as in the book The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer that we are reading in class. When I did my reading, I looked at phyles more as different tribes. They are grouped by shared values, ethnic heritage, common religion, or just simply common interests. So far in the book, it seems rather confusing why there is such a system like this. If it existed today, I feel like our society would be even more so racist. Also, if this were going on, there would be segregation and separate schools/banks/neighborhoods/etc. It may go as far as living with that group of phyles in a designated location. It makes me wonder a lot about what the future will be like after we are gone. I remember back in elementary school when everyone thought in the 2000's we'd have flying cars and what not. I don't think a lot of people think about the possible negatives that could go on in the future.

Anyways, before I get on a long rant, the other things I asked myself was about Nell's character. In class, we determined that she will be the main character of the book (by 2 points). I feel she will be a central character for what happens next with the book/primer she receives. Right now, she does not know the power of that book but I think it'll be able to do some powerful things. My guess is that Nell will become very educated and overcome something that will happen soon. Since Nell is looked at as uneducated at the moment and she lives in a lower standard of living, no one will suspect her to be knowledgeable about whatever is coming next.

Let me know what you think!

A Fulfilled Journey

After finishing this novel, I most definitely had an "awww" moment at the end and then realized how happy I was for Lissar. She has been a consistent strong character throughout the book and I feel like the ending of the book gave her justice and closure at the same time when it came to what happened between her and her father. An added bonus was that she met the person she was destined to be with, Ossin. I believe Ossin's character really proved himself as well at the end of the book. I got the impression that Ossin was just lazy for not going after Lissar the first time so when he stood by her side when she spoke to her father and then ran after her when she fled I thought he fulfilled his duty as being her love interest.

As I thought, Ash ends up bringing both Lissar and Ossin together. When Lissar is torn whether or not to be with Ossin and marry him we get a description of Ash walking over to Ossin and leaning on him.
"And then Ash moved forward from Lissar's side, and leaned against Ossin's leg, and sighed. And they both looked down at her," (372).
Ash, in so many ways, helps Lissar through her journey. Lissar makes it known to Ossin that she has scars and wounds that go deeper than most and he accepts her for that and compares her to Ash who has a visible scar on her side. I loved this moment because it really bonds both Lissar and Ash together because they truly have been through everything together.

One thing I asked myself after finishing the novel was how this story would be different if the main character, Lissar, was a man. This is something I hope to explore when writing my extended response paper.