This monster might not be green or even a proper monster at all in Chime, but Briony fears her own jealousy more than anything else. As much as she hates herself for her wicked witch ways, she hates her jealousy more since she thinks it is the cause of all the evil she has done. On top of the jealousy that causes the wicked witch in Briony to come out though, this story also deals with the more common romantic type of jealousy. The men in Briony's life are jealous of each other, and Briony is jealous of the voluptuous woman who suddenly has her "friend" Eldric's affection.
In other words, though it may not have a home in the swamp, jealousy is a force to be reckoned with in this book.
Questions About Jealousy
- Dis Briony truly feel jealousy in all of the instances she remembers, or did Stepmother only convince her she felt it?
- Does Cecil feel jealousy toward Eldric because he loves Briony, or because he has a sense of ownership over her?
- Briony fears that jealousy will cause her to physically hurt those around her through witchcraft. In what more realistic ways might jealousy cause damage to the people she loves?
Chew on This
Though Briony tries to control her feelings of jealousy for fear of doing evil, her emotions are a natural response to feeling unloved by her parents.
Briony deals with her feelings of jealousy by pretending not to care and forcing herself to feel hatred instead.