Well, unlike the previous book, this book has gender in it. Along with that, gender issues to discuss, but I’ll get into that (maybe) at a later date. For now, Graceling will dazzle me with something else. Something far more interesting than gender roles and all that. Yes, you guessed it, eyes. More specifically Katsa’s eyes. My first impression of them was that they were were preternaturally bright, like a jungle cat’s. After all, who wouldn’t want eyes that glowed in the dark? Well, aside from the people within the book of course. My second notion was based on the color of Katsa’s eyes: one as blue as the ocean and the other as green as the rolling hills. Lovely colors, yes?
Well, they would be if anyone bothered to enjoy such unusual eyes. But in Graceling that’s the last thing people want. It seems to be that the eyes are the most obvious (and perhaps the only) physical sign that a person is different, both blessed and cursed with abilities they were born with. I say cursed because a parent’s worst fear is to see two different colored eyes on their child. Here in this world, it’s unusual and fetching (for example, David Bowie has amazing dual colored eyes). In Katsa’s world, it’s a sign that that person isn’t as ‘human’ as everyone else.
As interesting as having different colored eyes is, it’s also interesting how everyone fears it. Or rather, fear what it means. I can see why though, why love something that’ll turn into a weapon for a possibly unstable king? Or even a stable king! After all, politics is a dirty game…
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