How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Does anyone teach girls of the inn to protect themselves?" she asked. "Do you carry a knife?"
"Our father protects us, and our brother," the girl said, simply.
[…] Katsa wondered if other girls in Sunder, and across the seven kingdoms, carried, knives; or if they all looked to their fathers and brothers for every protection. (18.35-37)
Katsa, who has seen so many vulnerable women and girls over the years, is naturally looking at this situation through that lens and seeing how women and girls are short-changed when they are not empowered them to defend themselves. We think that's completely true, but we also wonder how boys and men are shortchanged by this situation.
What kind of pressure is placed on them to serve as the protectors of their mothers, sisters, and daughters? What kinds of rivalries are set up between men because of this situation? And what about the young boy who finds himself just as vulnerable and ill-equipped to defend himself as his sister? How must he feel about his inability to fulfill his duty as a male?
Quote #8
Po stood and turned to Katsa. He spoke in a low voice. "She's afraid of me. You must try."
Katsa snorted. "You think she'll be less afraid of me?"
"She's afraid of me because I'm a man." (24.25-27)
Bitterblue, of course, has good reason to fear men—her father wasn't exactly a positive model of appropriate male behavior. But this general fear of men isn't exclusive to Bitterblue. Unfortunately, because of images we see on news programs and statistics we hear about domestic violence, rape, murder, and other violent crimes, we tend all too often to view men in a threatening light. Not all men, certainly, but many men, and most of them unfairly so.
Or is Shmoop just making that up? What do you think? Do men get a fair shake in the modern world? Do they get unfairly characterized? More often than women? Less often? The same? Go ahead. Talk amongst yourselves.
Quote #9
[…] when Katsa finally looked down at them […] she thought of how Bitterblue had trusted no man when they'd met. And now the girl allowed this enormous sailor to pick her up and hold her, like a father, and the girl's arm was around Patch's neck, and she and Patch laughed up at Katsa together. (33.6)
We're glad that Bitterblue gets a chance to learn that not all men are like her father, which is to say that not all men are intent on harming defenseless (as well as defensible) people and animals. Between her time with Po, Patch, Skye, and Ror, she should be able to piece together a much more flattering picture of masculinity.