5.8 KiB
[RT][HF] The Good Student - Chapter Forty
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Author: u/Kynake *
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URL: http://gravitytales.com/novel/the-good-student/tgs-chapter-40
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Score: 50
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Created: 2017-12-04T15:34:52
Post:
Comments:
u/hamberkler [+10] (2 days later)
I love reading too far into things, so I may be wrong, but when the demon says:
“Your Green Demon is no demon at all,”
it's the first time anything that the demon says is in quotation marks, whereas Nic has been speaking in quotes all along.
Nic's response to that is:
“He is as much a demon as you,”
The purpose of this line should be to hint at what Nic reveals shortly. The Green Demon had adapted to human society and become more human. I think it takes things one step further, though. I think the stylistic change shows that it is not only the Green Demon who is becoming more human. The punctuation is showing us that the demon in Nic's mind is losing its divinity.
The story of the Green Demon is probably a direct allegory to what is occurring between the demon and the seeker of knowledge (Nic) in the real world. I think that this line from the beginning of the Green Demon story, referring to the seeker of knowledge is at the core of it all.
“The man insisted he would be patient. He sensed a rare opportunity to improve himself, and he was willing to be restrained, even though it was not in his nature.”
Though not instigated by Nic, this is the same gamble that he is making with the demon in his mind.
Immediately after Nic reveals that the Green Demon had changed to become more human, Nic and the demon fall into this sort of pattern where the demon makes an assertions and Nic replies, "Yes."
This continues until Nic instead replies:
“Yes. You are right, except that the Green Demon failed.”
This is the point where the power shifts completely. From this point on, the roles are reversed. The demon fighting Nic has also failed.
Nic asks the demon a series of questions, to which the demon replies with a simple, "Yes."
Completely ignoring the fact that Nic is literally consuming the demon at this point, the parallelism here hints at the reversal of power. This whole exchange is such a beautiful way of showing exactly what it is telling. Little by little, the demon is becoming more like a human, and Nic is also becoming more like a demon. I think that the line where Nic says that the demon in the story failed is the point where that shaky balance crosses the line.
I don't personally think that Nic will go full demon and lose his quotation marks or anything, but I do believe that he will be stuck in a sort of uncertain state for a while, kind of like the demon who is already human enough to speak in quotation marks.
On the other hand, the whole punctuation thing could be a formatting error. Haha. However, I think that it works nicely with this part of the story, and I'd find it a little surprising if Moody went to the effort to give the demon a specific format to his dialogue and then just abandoned it completely. Regardless, I think that it reads beautifully.
u/mooderino [+2] The Good Student (6 days later)
Well, yes and no. I'd like to take full credit, but sadly I can't. Your interpretation is all bang on and you're right about how I wanted the relationship between them to come across. The only thing not quite right is the switch in format. The reason the demon stopped talking in italics was because I forgot.
I also forgot that Dizzy had been in the secret room in the library back in Ch18 (as someone had to point out to me). Will need to amend that also. This is what happens when you write three different online serials at the same time. A good reason to take a break, I feel.
The switch in format was a nice idea, although I probably wouldn't have used it (even if I had thought of it) simply for the reason that readers might not be sure if it was an accident or not (as I amply proved). In a published book that's been checked over properly it would work much better.
u/hamberkler [+1] (6 days later)
Haha! Well shit. You should just roll with it! It was a really nice stylistic quirk!
u/Gigapode [+11] (8 hours later)
Demons don't lie right? Or am I misremembering that?
First the demon says it can't show Nic out:
“Show me how to leave this place,” said Nic. “I cannot. I will not. You must find your own way.”
But then:
“You wish me to tell you?” said Nic, simply, plainly. “Yes,” said the demon. “If I do, will you be grateful?” “Yes.” “Will you show me the way to leave this place?” “Yes.”
So assuming the demon didn't lie, did Nic's story about a demon changing somehow change what this demon is capable of?
u/Veedrac [+4] (7 hours later)
It could be done just as effectively but inflicting pleasure.
u/mooderino [+3] The Good Student (8 hours later)
Thank you; fixed.
u/Konexian [+2] (2 days later)
I just binged the entire story and found it pretty great. Any recommendations of something similar? I've read Mother of Learning, and really liked that too.
u/talks2deadpeeps [+3] The Culture (4 days later)
Have you read any of Wildbow's works?
Also, the Metropolitan Man and the Dark Wizard of Donkerk are good; both are by Alexander Wales, one of the mods here.
u/VVhaleBiologist [+1] (6 days later)
Worth the Candle and A Practical Guide to Evil are both great
u/mooderino [+2] The Good Student (6 days later)
Just to let you guys know, there won't be a new chapter this week. I'm going on break until January. Will update on my site or you can join my Discord. Cheers.