Avienda VS Olver

[Jambo]

I was re-reading the LoC for the upteenth time and I came across the part when Rand sends Mat and the Band to "rescue" Elyane. (This isn't a thread about how much it bothers me that Mat was used by the wonder girls although it could be :P) Anyway, There was one part that stood out for me that I don't remember much about, it was when Mat is riding with Olver and Avienda, after Olver tried to kill her.  It's revealed that Olver doesn't trust her because she's Aiel, and the Shaido killed his father, but Mat observes to himself that Olver also seems to make Avienda uneasy.

 

Was it ever revealed why it is that he makes Avienda uneasy? I thought it could be that she was just taken aback by such hatred in such a young boy, or it could be that she saw something in the Rhuidan rings(sp?),but neither seem right to me.

 

Thoughts?

[stapes2007]

I think she feels guilty about what happened to Olver and his family.  What makes her uneasy is that she is trying to convince herself that she shouldn't be feeling guilty about this, Olver is Cairhienen and it was the Shaido that killed his family.  Some of her strongly held beliefs are being challenged and it makes her uneasy, kind of like when Egeanin befriended Nynaeve and Elayne.

[Guest Dreadlord]

Yea I just thought she felt guilty for him as well. Remember that all the characters develop a lot and Aviendha has begun to understand "wetlander" ways, and she begins to relate to them a bit, just like the others start to understand and respect Aiel ways

[Sabio]

Aviendha has been completly ruined by Nynaeve and Elayne.  She seems more wetlander now then Aiel.

[CUBAREY]

Actually I thought that it wasbecause Olver brought out her "mothering" instinct for the first time. She always thought of herself as Fars de Mai(sp), awarrior, when other Ail girls played with dolls she played with spears. She resisted being a Wise one apprentice for a very long time andeven now her first instinct is to react as a warrior. She now gets thown in to close proximity with a young boy (possibly for the first time since she herself was a child). The child hates her and tries to kill her but its a child and she can understand his reaction. Coming on the heals of being forcefully made a wise one apprentice having to stay close to Rand (which led to her not only falling in love with him but consummating the relationship),she realizes she is changing that things she once never cared for are now becoming the center of her life.

[Kaznen]

I thought it was because he was being raise by his "Mat Daddy" and 10,000 "uncles."  She told him a women needs to be involved.

[algspkr]

There is an Avienda PoV where she states that she does not know why he makes her uneasy.

[trakand_01]

I agree, I think she was feeling a bit guilty, but also assumed that perhaps the 'maternal' instincts she felt towards him unnerved her a little. At the end of the day she was a maiden and we all know she struggles to forget that. Maidens dont have children, as a rule and it would probably be as worrying to her to have maternal feelings towards him, as it would for her to look forwards to a nice hot bath.

[stapes2007]

I agree, I think she was feeling a bit guilty, but also assumed that perhaps the 'maternal' instincts she felt towards him unnerved her a little. At the end of the day she was a maiden and we all know she struggles to forget that. Maidens dont have children, as a rule and it would probably be as worrying to her to have maternal feelings towards him, as it would for her to look forwards to a nice hot bath.

If maternal instincts make her this nervous imagine how she'll be around her children.  I think your right though, just another new thing that she doesn't know how to deal with.

[Jambo]

Maybe she's thinking about her future with Rand :-\ considering how worried about Elayne she was at that point, I think it's possible she was wondering about any children that might be in the future.

[mb]

The context seems to relate to Chapter 38 (A Sudden Chill).

 

It seems to me that both have gotten over their uneasiness about each other.  Trip to Ebou Dar, it tells all of them (which Aviendha was part) helped take care of Olver.

 

[42Bonzo88]

    There are alot of people who even though they like children are still uneasy around them. You might know of a favorite uncle or aunt or other relation who was really cool to you when you were young and maybe wondered why they didn't have kids. It might be that they loved you because they could dote but not have to worry about the responsibility. Some people in my family never wanted kids of their own, but would babysit or play with the kids at first chance.

[trakand_01]

I fit your example. I have no children, but as I move further into the 'childbearing' age range (I'm 26), I start to feel more and more uneasy around other people's children. I believe it stems from my MIND saying "no children this side of 30, live your own life first", but that little teeny tiny voice inside going "But... babies!!" creates quite the mental quandary, I can tell you  ;).

[Fryn]

Maidens dont have children, as a rule and it would probably be as worrying to her to have maternal feelings towards him, as it would for her to look forwards to a nice hot bath.

 

Erm... Maidens do have babies.. they just don't raise them. When they are born they are given to another Aiel couple by the wise ones, and they are never told who their child was (even if they later put down the spear). If Maidens didn't have babies then the prophecy would never have come true. In fact the Maidens are so protective of Rand because he is the first child known to have been born by a maiden.

 

Unless you just meant that they don't raise children.

[trakand_01]

What I meant was that Maidens dont perform a traditional maternal role.

[Fryn]

Makes sense to a point. That said the Aiel live in close knit groups and I doubt Avi has been uneasy about the hundreds of children she has been around, and the maidens to me don't seem like they would be uneasy around children. Maybe thats just my view of maidens though caring and playful with those they know, yet will jump into combat faster than any man.

 

There are also earlier points in the book where Avi was close to children and the reaction was different or non existant (at least I think there was). I would guess something from the rings or something that would take place in the outrigger novels. I do remember thinking there was something fishy going on there though.

[trakand_01]

It also has to be said though, that Olver is quite a pretentious and 'different' 10 year old boy.

 

Quite possibly she sensed something was 'wrong' with him.