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Who comes out looking worst in the Egwene-Suana encounter? Egwene, Suana or B-Sand? Cannoli Send a noteboard - 27/11/2009 04:16:18 PM
Now when Egwene shows up in Suana's rooms, she is stunned by all the plants, and the smell of life. Later Suana tries to recruit Egwene into the Yellow Ajah claiming it has nothing to do with Healing and everything to do with healing. Now there are several ways to interpret this scene.

The first, independent of the other choices, is that Suana is a retard and the worst pick to head the Yellow. "We are channelers who love to fix stuff. Even if you are no good at using the Power to fix people, if you only even wish you could, you should join us." Seriously? What next? Illiterates, who nonetheless, REALLY like knowing stuff, joining the Brown Ajah? Women joining the logic Ajah...oh, wait. Bad example. In any event, this sentiment is completely at odds with the other Yellows' indicated mindset. If Suana is right, any ends whatsoever should be acceptable and justified, when in fact we see that the Yellows are Healing snobs. Variations on Healing, until deomnstrably proven superior in front of a crowd too big to make the controversy go away, are scorned. Herbs are scorned. The Yellows would not have been complaining about being dragooned into the cuendillar project if they like fixing things in general.

Related is the issue of Suana's plants. Egwene phrases her reaction to the room full of plants oddly. “And Nynaeve complained that the sisters in the White Tower ignored the use of herbs! If only she could spend some time with plump, round-faced Suana.” There are two ways to interpret this passage, in addition to noting the oddity of Suana's attitude, completely at odds with EVERY Yellow among the rebels. The first is that Egwene is immediately falling into her old habits of scoffing at Nynaeve. Something on the order of "What IS that crazy bitch going on about? Yellows do too love plants. Just look at this place! A second issue with Egwene's perception is that she equates Suana's vegetables with Nynaeve's medicinal herbs. The only types specifically mentioned are vegetables and spices. There is nothing aside from their common floral nature to tie what Suana does to refute Nynaeve's complaint. In fact, it reinforces Nynaeve's complaint!
Nynaeve: Even if they are not as useful as Healing, herbs are a part of the healing arts and understanding them cannot hurt a sister's comprehension & use of her Talent. All the sisters I know are very resistant to this concept, and even belittle me for making use of herbal medicines.
Egwene: Hah! That's where you're wrong Nynaeve! In her rooms in the Tower, Suana has a garden set up where she grows carrots and radishes.
Nynaeve: :banghead: ...Wow. Nothing like finding out you have just wasted all those years I spent teaching you about medicine.

Of course there is a worse option: SUANA could think they're medicinal. I shudder to contemplate what she prescribes carrots to cure.
Suana: Lonlieness.
Nynaeve: Nice try, but for that, I prefer to give cucumbers...

Anyway, as I was saying, you can interpret that quote as Egwene snarking off against Nynaeve, simply because she has a positive reaction to Suana, or else she is on Nynaeve's side and saying it's too bad Nynaeve could not meet Suana because they have so much in common. However, that quote is just about the worst way to express the latter sentiment and carries a very strong connotation of the former interpretation. Additionally, the oddly place description of Suana in that quote, where it is not at all relevant to the idea of the sentence highlights the awkwardness, IMO.

So what is it? Is Suana a nincompoop? And if she is not, and her positions assserted and implied in this chapter more accurately reflect the Yellow ethos, in complete contradistinction to all of Nynaeve's experiences in Salidar, what does that say about the sort of Yellows who joined the rebellion, and incidentally, chose Egwene as their leader? Is Egwene, once again, bitchily scoffing at or slighting an old Two Rivers friend because she likes a shiny new acquaintance? Or do both or either issues reflect the inability of Sanderson to properly articulate characterizations?
Cannoli
“Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.” GK Chesteron
Inde muagdhe Aes Sedai misain ye!
Deus Vult!
*MySmiley*
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Who comes out looking worst in the Egwene-Suana encounter? Egwene, Suana or B-Sand? - 27/11/2009 04:16:18 PM 1604 Views
I interpreted it as Branderson trying to make the Yellow more believable. - 27/11/2009 07:09:43 PM 763 Views
Re: I interpreted it as Branderson trying to make the Yellow more believable. - 27/11/2009 08:16:48 PM 691 Views
anti-Nynaeve? - 27/11/2009 08:26:54 PM 671 Views
But that is not the connotation of Egwene's comment. - 27/11/2009 08:45:40 PM 749 Views
I disagree - 27/11/2009 09:01:04 PM 636 Views
Cannoli comes out looking like crap. RtDB! - 27/11/2009 07:51:53 PM 684 Views
Re: Cannoli comes out looking like crap. RtDB! - 27/11/2009 08:19:46 PM 593 Views
He's doing a crappy job of that, too. - 27/11/2009 08:37:06 PM 656 Views
Re: Cannoli comes out looking like crap. RtDB! - 27/11/2009 11:06:06 PM 653 Views
Please recall that you have admitted an inferior understanding of American English connotations. - 27/11/2009 08:23:41 PM 657 Views
Yes. I admit to not being fully familiar with a third rate rip off of a language I speak. So? - 27/11/2009 11:18:39 PM 595 Views
How can Egwene know she's unskilled if she's never Healed? - 28/11/2009 12:19:58 AM 587 Views
Simple... - 28/11/2009 01:16:44 AM 603 Views
I can see that for weaves they aren't stong enough - 28/11/2009 01:35:43 AM 555 Views
Nitpicking. - 27/11/2009 08:18:02 PM 674 Views
Actually it's trying to sort who is to blame for various idiocies. - 27/11/2009 08:25:28 PM 635 Views
hrmm - 27/11/2009 11:12:04 PM 531 Views
Re: Who comes out looking worst in the Egwene-Suana encounter? Egwene, Suana or B-Sand? - 27/11/2009 08:27:29 PM 717 Views
Re: Who comes out looking worst in the Egwene-Suana encounter? Egwene, Suana or B-Sand? - 27/11/2009 08:43:42 PM 677 Views
I agree that B-Sand did an excellent job overall - 27/11/2009 08:51:41 PM 650 Views
Re: I agree that B-Sand did an excellent job overall - 27/11/2009 09:12:14 PM 558 Views
Re: I agree that B-Sand did an excellent job overall - 27/11/2009 09:15:01 PM 579 Views
Re: I agree that B-Sand did an excellent job overall - 27/11/2009 09:20:17 PM 528 Views
You are correct! - 27/11/2009 09:21:08 PM 512 Views
Why would I justify obviously right actions? - 27/11/2009 09:25:45 PM 613 Views
This sounds like the descriptions I've heard of The Sword of Truth. - 27/11/2009 10:01:33 PM 539 Views
Have you actually read that? It's so booooooring. - 27/11/2009 09:23:27 PM 550 Views
Well it's the raving of a lunatic - 27/11/2009 09:26:27 PM 550 Views
like the scene at natrin's barrows? - 28/11/2009 05:56:21 PM 596 Views
This line gave me a laugh... - 28/11/2009 12:44:14 AM 583 Views
Nice one, Mr. Chauvinist, but you do make a point, too - 27/11/2009 09:19:33 PM 588 Views
Re: Who comes out looking worst in the Egwene-Suana encounter? Egwene, Suana or B-Sand? - 28/11/2009 01:32:57 AM 616 Views
Yes. A VERY lame joke. - 28/11/2009 11:20:34 AM 762 Views
Lets look at it in perspective - 28/11/2009 02:23:37 AM 625 Views
Deconstruction of failed comprehension - 30/11/2009 10:04:24 PM 531 Views
I was reminded of Elaida's liking for plants - 01/12/2009 07:51:31 AM 530 Views
Silly Cannoli - 01/12/2009 11:41:21 PM 821 Views
You got to admit, reading Cannoli is fun! *NM* - 10/12/2009 02:46:01 AM 239 Views

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