Annie's dark side and Surma

[todd]

In thinking more about the latest page of "Gunnerkrigg Court", it's occurred to me that Annie's most morally questionable moments seem to be related to her loss of her mother.

1. There've been several comments about how Annie sticks up for Reynardine against Eglamore in Chapter Seven, focusing on how she's taking the side of the body-stealing demon who tried to possess her against the man who rescued her from him, and the seeming naivete that she displays when she protests about the nature of Reynardine's confinement, overlooking the fact that the confinement was necessary to prevent a dangerous criminal from doing further harm. And it seems likely that the reason why she's doing that is her fear that, if she surrenders Reynardine, she'll never find out what the connection was between him and her mother. Fortunately, Annie is still able to keep Rey under control (indeed, Eglamore decides in Chapter Nine that it's safer to leave him in her custody rather than take him away - meaning that Annie's hold over Rey would be broken and he could leave the plush toy to possess someone else), but there is still something ominous about that.

(This also raises another question: what was Surma doing, making friends with a body-snatching demon? Is it possible that she wasn't as noble as we all thought? I'm even tempted to wonder if this could be one reason why Eglamore and the Donlans took so long to tell Annie about how they knew their mother - they're afraid of Annie finding out about Surma's dark secrets - except that the way that they talk about Surma after Annie leaves doesn't suggest that they were aware of any fall from grace on her part.)

2. Annie is cold (in a polite manner, admittedly) towards Muut (and presumably the other Guides) - most likely over Surma's death. In so doing, she's being unfair to him, since the Guides don't cause death; they merely show up to do their job when someone's dying.

3. Annie has apparently stolen the photograph of her mother from the Donlans, thereby committing both theft and betrayal of hospitality. (To be fair about this, the evidence suggests that she simply kept it when they were showing it to her back in Chapter Seven, rather than going through their drawers and swiping it on a later occasion, but it's still stealing.) The obvious reason for it is because of her mother's presence in it.

Is it possible that Annie's become dangerously obsessed with her mother and her untimely passing - to the point where she's ready to give shelter to a dangerous demon with a criminal record, and steal from her best friend's parents, all to satisfy her longings? If so, it makes one wonder what could come next. Let's hope that it doesn't reach the point where Annie tries kidnapping some of her classmates to use in a dark ritual to bring Surma back from the dead....

[Goatmon]

What makes you think Surma was particularly noble? All we've really been informed about her was that she was quite pretty, was good at getting out of trouble, and that she was a medium for Gunnerkrigg Court.

We don't really know anything about what sort of a relationship she had with Reynardine; It doesn't take an intimate friendship to know someone by their first name.

[Uglyhead]

We're hitting a "don't tell luke his dad's darth vader" vibe right here.

Maybe everyone's keeping mum about Surma to Antimony to protect her from the terrible truth of her mom being evil. For fear of her following in her footsteps? Who knows!

Then again, Surma seemed kind enough in that -one- flashback we saw. But there's no rule saying villains can't be good to their own kids.

[AluK]

Isn't it weird that both Surma and Anthony didn't tell Antimony about their childhood friends at Gunnekrigg? I mean, they sent her to GC, after all.

[todd]

aluk said:

Isn't it weird that both Surma and Anthony didn't tell Antimony about their childhood friends at Gunnekrigg? I mean, they sent her to GC, after all.

Yes, I'd noticed that recently as well.

Of course, ultimately a lot of the secrets are necessary because, if Annie and those around her knew all the details of what was going on at the Court, there'd have been a lot less story.

Good point about how we don't know for certain that much about Surma's moral character. (She doesn't have a bad reputation at the school, judging from what everyone else is saying about her - but then again, a lot of readers find something shady about the faculty and staff.)

[fuzzysocks]

Honestly... I don't think she's evil or good... I just think they do what they do if its the right thing to do or justified by the means of doing it.

[Mezzaphor]

aluk said:

Isn't it weird that both Surma and Anthony didn't tell Antimony about their childhood friends at Gunnekrigg? I mean, they sent her to GC, after all.

Hmm... I'd thought of it from the other side (why didn't Eggers or the Donlans tell Annie prior to chapter 7?) and thought it most likely that they (initially) felt it wasn't their place to tell Annie if her parents hadn't told her. But her parents not mentioning it? That suggests at the least a falling out between the Carvers and the others.

Though I really hope it doesn't come to one or both of Annie's parents being outright evil.

As for Surma's character, Donald did say that Annie's hiding/defending Reynardine was "as if Surma had come back to us."

[todd]

One other thought. Annie currently has no grown-ups in her life that she can turn to. Surma's dead, Anthony's disappeared, she has a definite rift with Eglamore, and she might not feel ready to make even Mr. and Mrs. Donlan confidants. She *does* have a confidante in the form of Kat, but Kat's a kid her age rather than an adult. Could one reason for her being so desperate for links to her mother (such as Reynardine and that photograph) be because of that?

[papaya]

I felt that Annie's defense of Rey, in that situation, was a highly ethical stance. She knew that her ownership of the body he was in neutralized any threat he posed, and wasn't about to send him back to be imprisoned in inhumane conditions. And she was right, as Eglamore points out after the incident on the bridge--if he had kept the toy, the contract of ownership would be nullified, so really, keeping Rey in Annie's custody is the safest thing to do. She's not shy about speaking her mind, but neither was Gandhi.

The only thing she's done which I consider truly morally questionable was taking the photograph, and we still don't know WHY she did that. And come on, how many 12-year-olds, even very intelligent and responsible ones, do you know who never do anything wrong?

She doesn't always follow the rules, but she generally has good reason when she breaks them. She fearlessly investigates the mysteries around her, even if it means picking a few locks or putting herself in danger to do it, and she tries to help those she encounters during her investigations. She helped Shadow 2, rescued Robot's CPU, taught Mort how to be a more effective ghost...Nothing in the story adds up to any looming evil.

Edit after reading todd's last post: That's a great point. Really, she never has had an adult who could be a true mentor to her--the only adult who's ever truly been there for her is her mother, who was ill and is now dead. As I see it, this could largely account for her independent nature and her tendency to do what seems right to her, even if it means breaking rules and defying authority. But yes, it could also make her really desperate for a connection to the only role model she's ever had.

[ethyl]

Isn't it weird that with Surma terminaly ill in the hospital that her friends didn't visit her? Since Annie was there constantly 'n' all it seems improbable that she'd miss it...

[Aspen d'Grey]

It's possible that they did come... just not in the form we think. Remember, it's clear that the Donllan's are powerful mages, and Surma was a medium, it's possible they did some fun phsycic stuff to communicate. Or, Eglamore could have been bitter about Surma marrying Anthony, and the Donlan's kind of went with it.