Today Odin1Eye tweeted to me just before I started talking and asked if there was anything I wouldn’t use from my personal life as fodder for my writing. That got me thinking …
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It’s amusing to me to hear or read criticism of the early Ishmael stories that “nothing bad ever happens to Ishmael”. The very first thing we learn about Ish is that one of WORST things that can happen to a kid has happened to him: the death of a parent. Some people take years to recover from that tragedy. And Ish is not left in the care of extended family or even in the uncaring custody of impersonal social services, he’s completely on his own! What more bad stuff do they want to happen to him?!
I have to agree with Joyce on this one. When I read it I understood that the starting point of the story was a tragedy and how Ish deals with the hand he was dealt. It was also obvious that the story is told from his perspective and he is a teenage boy narrowly focused on his own life. I think that is perfectly illustrated by how long it takes Ishmael to understand how the spacer life actually works and other peoples personal relationships such as the “oh, that’s your daughter” scene after he’s been on the Lois almost a year!
I’m not sure I agree about the finding out about someone’s personal life after a year. Especially in a society as closed off as the spacers are, and it *has* to be pretty bad, as Ish’s wife, who lived on an orbital for *years* before marrying Ish, didn’t understand, really.
People are pretty good about just assuming you know things. Ish didn’t know he didn’t know, so he didn’t know what questions to ask, and people around him figured he didn’t ask because he knew.
(That’s one of the things that irks me about the reaction to Rumsfeld’s comments about known and unknown unknowns, is that he was simply making a point most people never actually pay attention to.)
In truth, that “What? EVERYONE here comes from spacer families????” scene was one of the more beautiful ones in the book, and felt so very true to life to me.
It was one of my favorite scenes as well. I can see your point that is was just assumptions compounded. In any case its all a matter of how we view the story in its context.
I think the reason some people say nothing bad happens to Ish may be because his ability to adapt to the situation, and not get caught up in emotional drama are really exceptional. Way beyond average. I think this may also be what makes him a very good leader. The flip side of this seems to be that he’s able to push things out of mind, to deny or compartmentalize them, when he really should be dealing with them. Seeing this aspect in his marrage made me think that his less-than-expected rank at the academy wasn’t really due to a lack of phyiscal dexterity.
Less than expected rank? He came in right about where I figured he would – he’s not a leader, he’s a problem solver. He *can* lead, but it’s really not his forte.
I say “less than expected” because he came in something like 120 out of 400, right? In the first three books, he handled the “book learning” side of things very well, and Ish did a great job of bringing out the best in people. When Captain Giggone mentioned that one year she had a bunch of her people in the top ten at the academy, I felt like she was including Ish in the group she thought she’d see there. Plus her advice about not signing a work/study(?) arrangement with Federated Freight, because he’d have a lot better options.
As third mate on the Tinker, he did an incredible job in a *really* bad situation. Even on the Agamennon he did a great job of bringing out the best in what had been a really disfunctional crew. But in the last two books, as the scope of life and his responcibilies was increasing, I think that the downsides to his abililty to compartmentalize and stand off from (usually emotional) things was becoming more and more of a problem. Basically it seems that, ship-wise, he got promoted beyond his comfort zone, or beyond the point where he was able to function effectively.
As you point out, though, Ish handled the *book side* really well. And yet it’s expected that Pip will make it through the Academy, and book learning *really* isn’t his thing. Leadership training courses, such as ROTC, West Point, the Air Force Academy, and Port Newmarr, do have their book learning requirements, but more than that, they have a requirement for other aspects that are rarer, and that Ishmael never really showed.
Look at Pip, who *got* his idea of doing stores trading actually implemented, whereas Ish’s idea of shipboard hydroponics never did. Look at Ish’s shopping trip to Chez Henri’s, where he never actually did lead the group.
Ish never really was a leader. He was a problem solver, which is a different kettle of fish. In the long run, as I discuss over on the Durandus forums, Capt. Gigonne didn’t really do him any favors in rushing him to the Academy.
You’ve really made me think about this one! Thanks!
By a good leader, I guess I mean that Ish is very effective – he gets the work done and produces results- and he manages people very well. He brings out the best in them, they trust him, have faith in his competence, and are better off for having met him.
His flaws may be in the nature of a tragic flaw, that is, a good/helpful characteristic carried to such an extreme it becomes harmful. I’m thinking this is his ability to compartmentalize and stand back from the emotional soup. He doesn’t get caught up in the drama and the hurt(and so is able to function fairly clear-headed in the midst of it), but at some point this ability also lets him ignore things he really needs to deal with (such as his relationship with Jen), and it may also be alowing him to get away with just focusing on what’s in front of him, and so is preventing/slowing the grow of his self awareness.