What the hells is wrong with Faile?

[Guest Dreadlord]

Are you female? Only a woman could possibly like her and your name also hints towards it.

[BlitzD]

I find her hypocrisy at the start of LoC unbelievably stunning. 

Spoiler

She is sitting in judgement over two women getting into a fight over Will al Seem (of the shapely calves) and she is angry and barely restrained from slapping them at being so silly over a man.  She lectures them on how Men aren't fields or horses and can't be owned or claimed and they shouldn't fight over them. When that's all she did the last two books every time she imagined Perrin was interested in someone else (Imagined cause the boy never did). And this is all at the prologue for LoC well before Berelain pops into the book and Faile absolutely descends into the heights of infantile jealousy to put both women she judged to shame. 

 

Edited August 30, 2022 by BlitzD

[DojoToad]

1 hour ago, BlitzD said:

I find her hypocrisy at the start of LoC unbelievably stunning.  She sitting in judgement over two women getting into a fight over Will al Seem (of the shapely calves) and she is angry and barely restrained from slapping them at being so silly over a man.  She lectures them on how Men aren't fields or horses and can't be owned or claimed and they shouldn't fight over them. When that's all she did the last two books every time she imagined Perrin was interested in someone else (Imagined cause the boy never did). And this is all at the prologue for LoC well before Berelain pops into the book and Faile absolutely descends into the heights of infantile jealousy to put both women she judged to shame. 

ZOMBIE...

 

No one ever pretended that humans were consistent - even fictional ones.

[VooDooNut]

27 minutes ago, DojoToad said:

ZOMBIE...

 

No one ever pretended that humans were consistent - even fictional ones.

14 years, but who's counting amiright

 

Since we are on the topic, I'll add: I like where Faile and Perrin's relationship eventually gets to. I also think Faile is a huge hypocrite.
 

Spoiler

Faile spends all her time livid with Perrin for his non-existent romance with Berelain and fails to ever mention her multiple sexualized encounters, especially a certain torch-lit evening,  with Rolan. nbd.

 

RJ certainly wrote his character well. Warts and all.

Edited August 24, 2022 by VooDooNut

[Stedding Tofu]

20 hours ago, VooDooNut said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Faile spends all her time livid with Perrin for his non-existent romance with Berelain and fails to ever mention her multiple sexualized encounters, especially a certain torch-lit evening,  with Rolan. nbd.

 

RJ certainly wrote his character well. Warts and all.

 

Yes, indeed.  Perrin actually suspects something about Rolan but dismisses it as irrelevant, "women can have their secrets" (sic).  But then Faile has a jealous nature while Perrin does not.  I pity Perrin for that as it means he can't have any female friends - how Faile reacted to Min makes that clear.

[BlitzD]

Sorry for Zombeing!?  When I read these all as they first released ages ago, I never thought to check online to see if OTHER people had thoughts on it. and now that I'm finally rereading them all I'm filled with emotional responses again but this time I have a google search bar and the realization other people share a fandom with me 😛.

 

But yes in general Faile drives me crazy with her treatment and her forcing her ways on Perrin with so little appreciation for his.  In general the girl just loves to Double Standard. 

Spoiler

Then she comes zipping in with an army to the rescue, all afraid he'll be made she didn't leave him to die,

and I get caught up in how much Perrin loves her and get all soft for a second and almost like her again.  Until the next book and she goes off the rails again.  

 

 Faile more than almost anyone other than Egwene and Gawain can get under my skin >_<.  This full series reread has if anything made me MORE emotionally responsive to the characters that grind my teeth. 

 

Spoiler

In FoH book when I had to read Egwene literally using nightmares to torture/assault Nynaeve in part so no one would expose her for being a rule breaker, then browbeating Nynaeve and Elayne so her own AWFUL rule breaking behind her teachers back wouldn't get caught...so high and mighty and such a crappy double standard...and ugh....she was well picked for head of the Tower, and that isn't meant as a compliment. >_>

 

Anywho, thank you all for coming back to this ancient zombie topic to reply!  I'm so glad to know I'm not alone in my frustrations! 

Spoiler

Back to LoC, just got to trudge through everything till "Fire and Spirit" and chappies 29/30 and my favorite moment of the first like half of the series other than Dumais Well.  <3.

 

Edited for proper "spoiler" shielding, as I just realized even 14 years later new people can be entering the fandom with the amazon series. >_<  Sorry!

Edited August 30, 2022 by BlitzD

[DojoToad]

No apologies. There is still plenty to explore and new people to share with…

[Scarloc99]

On 5/18/2008 at 9:23 AM, Harmless Bandit said:

Faile is a hypocrite. She had lived in the Two Rivers for some time, and knew something of their culture (men don't yell at women, unless they want to spend the night outside), and she knew that usually Perrin is a gentle man, not given to shouting at people, most especially those he cares about.

 

Considering Perrin knew nothing (at that time) about Saldean (sp) women wanting, no, needing to be shouted at, I'm forced to conclude that she Failed  😉 to convey that specific element of her culture, and instead expected him somehow to figure it out. Typical. How hard would it have been to put her jealousy aside, and put herself in his shoes for an instant, and see his actions for what they were? She had some perspective to go by.

 

I wonder why she's so insecure. Hmm... her big nose?

I mean it is a consistent thread in RJ’s writing that women never just tell men anything clearly. I do often wonder what it says about the relationship RJ witnessed and experienced in his life. But, pretty much every man in WOT is left constantly confused and bemused by women. Including minor characters like Gaul. 

[DojoToad]

1 hour ago, Sir_Charrid said:

I mean it is a consistent thread in RJ’s writing that women never just tell men anything clearly. I do often wonder what it says about the relationship RJ witnessed and experienced in his life. But, pretty much every man in WOT is left constantly confused and bemused by women. Including minor characters like Gaul. 

Mommy issues?  🤣

[Stedding Tofu]

8 hours ago, Sir_Charrid said:

I mean it is a consistent thread in RJ’s writing that women never just tell men anything clearly. I do often wonder what it says about the relationship RJ witnessed and experienced in his life. But, pretty much every man in WOT is left constantly confused and bemused by women. Including minor characters like Gaul. 

 

It's a reflection of their inexperience as they are mostly teenagers or young men.  And the girls / young women are equally bemused by the men though in different ways.  Though I think this exasperates every reader, regardless of age.

 

Long-married couples like the Basheres, Luhhans adn al'Veres seem to have it worked out.  To be fair though, Deira Bashere seems an absolutely impossible character (she never acknowledges Rand or calls him by name iirc) so maybe Faile just takes after her mother.  Davram Bashere seems as mad as Lan in his choice of partner...

[DojoToad]

39 minutes ago, Stedding Tofu said:

Davram Bashere seems as mad as Lan in his choice of partner...

For real!  🤣

[DojoToad]

2 hours ago, chongjasmine said:

I think Faile is just jealous. Maybe she feels insecure about her relationship with Perrin.

And trying to please her parents 

[JyP]

she is coming from Saldaea, which seems to have a very different culture about relationships. She expects to have conflicts and shoutouts with her loved one - she even thinks "in her heart of hearts" that Perrin does not think she is enough for him, because he never shouts at her - she is below his notice.

 

While this is simply Perrin educated to never shout at women.

 

Seems to me to reflect very well cultures where emotions are inhibited (the Two Rivers, a somewhat WASP culture ?) versus outgoing cultures (Saldaea, some stereotypes linked with Italy for me).