Sometimes Good Girls Wear Black
When Yvette asked me if I’d like to write a post for Caster Girls, I immediately responded, “Yes.” And by immediately I mean as soon as I stopped squeeing and doing my happy dance. But then I needed to come up with a topic. Yikes! What could I write about that wouldn’t sound ridiculous (i.e. Post idea 1: I like Beautiful Creatures. Do you?) or crazy (i.e. Post idea 2: How the reference of Antigone relates to the overall theme of family and death and the importance of rituals and remembrance in BC. Discuss. *crickets chirping*).
Then it occurred to me that there are a whole lot of unresolved issues in this book. This is a good thing, since there are another three books in the making. But it’s also a good thing for me, because that’s an open area I can speculate on. And I thought I’d start off with the idea of Dark Casters and Ridley in particular. But before I delve into that I just want to warn you that if you haven’t read the book, there are some spoilers mentioned below, so proceed with that in mind.
Image Courtesy of VLC Photo
Ridley is a complex character. She was Lena’s best and only friend for most of her life, they were raised like sisters and she’s the person Lena was the most open with emotionally as she grew up. Then Ridley was Claimed. For Dark. And just like that the rug is pulled out from under their relationship and Ridley’s gone, out of Lena’s life forever. Or so Lena thinks. But then she shows up again. At a family get together. On Ethan’s arm. A-W-K-W-A-R-D!!
Just when I’m thinking that Ridley’s going to be our boilerplate Dark Caster for the book, she does some things that surprise me. Like stick up for Lena at the school dance when the in-crowd girls ruin Lena’s night. Like seeming to have genuine affection for Link. Like declining to kill Ethan’s father, even though that’s what she’s been instructed to do. And while all of these things can be explained away as personal whim, and indeed she does try to pass them off that way at the end of the book, there’s something that doesn’t ring true to me about that.
All of which makes me ask the question: is Ridley truly Dark? Can there be some sort of halfway? And if not, can a Caster be a good person and still be Dark? While I feel like the curse on Lena’s family is absolutely in effect when it comes to Ridley and that she is truly Dark, I can’t help but hope that the Claiming only goes so far and some part of the girl Lena grew up with and knew is still inside Ridley, somewhere. We’re given some hope for this to be the case when at the end of 2.11 Lollipop Girl she turns to Link ruefully and says, “Maybe I’m just drawn that way.”
Whether my guess is right or wrong, this topic is something I’m really hoping gets explored more thoroughly in the upcoming books, especially since it has so much bearing on Lena and the choices she’s being forced to make. But while we all wait for Beautiful Darkness to come out this fall, I’m interested in hearing your thoughts. So I’ve opened a thread in the forum, here, to explore just that. Stop by and let me know what you think!
Alannah said:
awesome post =)!
yay!!!