Well, for me, the picture that Martin painted of Jaime wasn't a surprise at all. Any human being has a capacity for good, and anybody can find humanity in another person, much like a dog can sniff out fear.
And in a realistic setting, no matter how slimy or evil the antagonists appear to OUR EYES, there is always more beyond their hard exteriors. In fact, in a real world tale, there usually are no antagonists or protagonists. ASoIF is very much like that, but not totally.
Anyway, the contrast between the Jaime we saw on the outside, talking to Catelyn in that dungeon, and the Jaime we saw in his first POV chapter, was a rather stark contrast... On the surface, in Kings, Cat and I saw the Kingslayer. But /inside/, there was something very different. Isn’t there always? Just ask the hamster!
And of course, there are many things he did I still can't sympathize with, and many thoughts I still can’t understand. But it’s not our job to understand /everybody/ in a book, for crying out loud... Hey, at least Jaime had his reasons, like any sane individual. Joff, on the other hand...*Grumble*
PS. This is Lord Foul, by the way! Danlo asked me over, and I’m very impressed with this message board and its “inhabitants”. Glad to participate, and also good seeing regulars from the Watch here too. Anyway, I’m not so good at this group reading thing, but experience is my teacher, sooo.... Not a whit, we defy augury: there's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all: since no man has aught of what he leaves, what is't to leave betimes?<i>Edited by: William Smit IV at: 3/7/03 3:28:03 pm </i>
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