Through their eyes
Feb 10, 2019 23:21:26 GMT -5
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Pyropelt, Thrushmoon, and 4 more like this
Post by ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ท๐พ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ต on Feb 10, 2019 23:21:26 GMT -5
So, this is may just be the psychology and character analysis nerd in me talking, but I thought it'd be interesting if each of us took a character we didn't like and try to see things from their perspective. I believe it's important to understand both sides of a story. Of course, I don't expect anyone to actually change their minds here and this won't necessarily apply to every character either, but I still think it'd be interesting to see things from a certain PoV.
Breezepelt for example is one of my most disliked characters, but I also understand that the circumstances of his upbringing led him down a dark path: here's this cat who has a distant father, dead littermates, and a mother who's trying to raise him on her own.
In Outcast, we see Breezepaw and Crowfeather's unhealthy relationship, and while Breezepaw was rude throughout the book, Crowfeather wasn't doing much to improve the situation, either. Even Hollypaw felt sorry for him at one point. And when Tawnypelt tells the apprentices about Feathertail, Breezepaw is shown to be angry that Crowfeather loved another cat who wasn't his Nightcloud. So when the infamous Gathering comes, I can only imagine what he felt that night: anger, betrayal... After all, his father had had an affair with not just a ThunderClan cat, but a medicine cat.
So then the Dark Forest takes advantage of these feelings and manipulate him. All of this resentment he's had towards Crowfeather had been building up and he now has a way to cope with this, albiet not in the healthiest of ways. Something else to note is that Crowfeather had praised Lionpaw at the beginning of Eclipse, something that frustrated Breezepelt. Before this, he also saved Jaypaw from drowning. Looking at this, he was probably under the impression that Crowfeather at least knew something after the truth came out (even if this wasn't true) and he probably noticed the tension that was between his parents and Leafpool.
Everything made sense now. To Breezepelt, Crowfeather had cared more for cats who weren't even supposed to be born than he did for the son who was in the same Clan as him. And now he wanted revenge, by any means necessary, from threatening Poppyfrost and Jayfeather at the Moonpool to siding with the Dark Forest in the Great Battle. Yet despite this, Onestar still allows him to stay.
In DS, he appears smug by this fact, but as we see in CT, he appears remorseful. Inconsistency aside since CT takes place soon after DS, his behavior at the beginning of the book can be chalked up to reality finally hitting him in the face if we're looking for an in-universe reason, with his only allies being Nightcloud and Heathertail. Over the course of the book, he fixes his relationship with his father and proves his loyalty to even Weaselfur, one of his most outspoken opponents.
In AVoS, we never see his relationship with his kits, but he has shown to still be hostile towards outsiders and has a hypocritical side, like when he says that ShadowClan shouldn't be trusted. The other Clans also don't completely trust him it seems.
So, what does this tell us about Breezepelt? He's reckless, arrogant, and hypocritical. But he also came from a broken family with apparently very little support, it seems. Onestar tried to force them together, but look how well that turned out, when neither father and son were willing to meet each other halfway. And something else I'd like to mention is that he grew up in Onestar's WindClan, which probably wasn't a healthy environment to be in. When the Dark Forest came to him, he took the opportunity to get revenge no matter what, but ended up showing remorse in the end and did what he could to make up for it.
Do I still think that OotS!Breezepelt and CT!Breezepelt are completely different? Yes.
Do I still think he should've been exiled? Yes.
Do I still dislike him? Definitely.
But I also understand why he turned out the way he did, and no matter my feelings on him as a cat, his life was still a tragic one. Of course, Breezepelt is still in charge of his own actions, but no child should have to feel abandoned by their parent. Crowfeather is just as much to blame for how things turned out as Breezepelt himself is and I'm just glad things worked out for the best.
In Outcast, we see Breezepaw and Crowfeather's unhealthy relationship, and while Breezepaw was rude throughout the book, Crowfeather wasn't doing much to improve the situation, either. Even Hollypaw felt sorry for him at one point. And when Tawnypelt tells the apprentices about Feathertail, Breezepaw is shown to be angry that Crowfeather loved another cat who wasn't his Nightcloud. So when the infamous Gathering comes, I can only imagine what he felt that night: anger, betrayal... After all, his father had had an affair with not just a ThunderClan cat, but a medicine cat.
So then the Dark Forest takes advantage of these feelings and manipulate him. All of this resentment he's had towards Crowfeather had been building up and he now has a way to cope with this, albiet not in the healthiest of ways. Something else to note is that Crowfeather had praised Lionpaw at the beginning of Eclipse, something that frustrated Breezepelt. Before this, he also saved Jaypaw from drowning. Looking at this, he was probably under the impression that Crowfeather at least knew something after the truth came out (even if this wasn't true) and he probably noticed the tension that was between his parents and Leafpool.
Everything made sense now. To Breezepelt, Crowfeather had cared more for cats who weren't even supposed to be born than he did for the son who was in the same Clan as him. And now he wanted revenge, by any means necessary, from threatening Poppyfrost and Jayfeather at the Moonpool to siding with the Dark Forest in the Great Battle. Yet despite this, Onestar still allows him to stay.
In DS, he appears smug by this fact, but as we see in CT, he appears remorseful. Inconsistency aside since CT takes place soon after DS, his behavior at the beginning of the book can be chalked up to reality finally hitting him in the face if we're looking for an in-universe reason, with his only allies being Nightcloud and Heathertail. Over the course of the book, he fixes his relationship with his father and proves his loyalty to even Weaselfur, one of his most outspoken opponents.
In AVoS, we never see his relationship with his kits, but he has shown to still be hostile towards outsiders and has a hypocritical side, like when he says that ShadowClan shouldn't be trusted. The other Clans also don't completely trust him it seems.
So, what does this tell us about Breezepelt? He's reckless, arrogant, and hypocritical. But he also came from a broken family with apparently very little support, it seems. Onestar tried to force them together, but look how well that turned out, when neither father and son were willing to meet each other halfway. And something else I'd like to mention is that he grew up in Onestar's WindClan, which probably wasn't a healthy environment to be in. When the Dark Forest came to him, he took the opportunity to get revenge no matter what, but ended up showing remorse in the end and did what he could to make up for it.
Do I still think that OotS!Breezepelt and CT!Breezepelt are completely different? Yes.
Do I still think he should've been exiled? Yes.
Do I still dislike him? Definitely.
But I also understand why he turned out the way he did, and no matter my feelings on him as a cat, his life was still a tragic one. Of course, Breezepelt is still in charge of his own actions, but no child should have to feel abandoned by their parent. Crowfeather is just as much to blame for how things turned out as Breezepelt himself is and I'm just glad things worked out for the best.