Smithy and his sister do seem to have an intimate relationship. Bethany seems to be Smithy's only real friend and companion, and Bethany does not seem to have that much of a social life either (the only social situation we see her in does not end particularly well. Smithy and Bethany share the kind of understanding that occurs only between siblings because they are about the same age and are living and growing up together. Additionally, Smithy knows just about everything about his sister--even if he doesn't entirely understand the voice, he has seen what it makes her do and understands her situation much better than the doctor. It seems like he might understand Bethany better even than their parents because he has often been the one to find her.
Thinking that the love that exists between Smithy and Bethany is "creepy" or semi-incestuous would sort of ruin the book for me, because I want to like Smithy and I do like him for allowing himself to change. I think that Smithy is innately good at heart, and the whole journey in the book hinges on that assumption. If that assumption is false, it kind of ruins the journey. Additionally, I think many of the ways that people used to act towards one another are now branded as "creepy" by the younger generation; many people are very quick to use negative labels to describe things. We should let Smithy love Bethany however he wants to, and Donna should love Carl however she wants to even if he is gay, and we should be careful not to judge their love with limiting terms.
For fun--more words related to love that we don't have in English:
- Forelsket: Norwegian word for the feeling you have while falling in love, opposed to the feeling of actually being in love
- Tokimeki: Japanese word for the bubbly feeling of falling in love
- Gezelligheid: Dutch word for the feeling of comfort felt when at home and among loved ones
- Kilig: Filipino for the feeling of butterflies in the stomach in response to something romantic
- Razlubit: Romanized Russian for the bittersweet feeling of falling out of love
- Mamihlapinatapei: Yagan word for the feeling between two people who are interested in one another but who are afraid to start anything
I agree -- I think the love between Smithy and Bethany is very sweet (I'll say "so far" just in case but I don't really think much is going to change). It's a really nice caring that goes both ways.
ReplyDeleteAlso if we're going to talk about language I also think the different phrases that exist in different languages are interesting -- ex. German has "Ich liebe dich" (the sort of romantic I love you) and "Ich habe dich Lieb" (which is more familial/platonic or a sort of stepping stone to Ich liebe dich). In English we don't seem to differentiate as much with different sayings -- maybe what Isaak was getting at -- you say I love you to both your spouse and your parent.
Some people may not agree with me but I don't believe Smithy is really in love with his sister in any sexual way. I know he comments on his sister's appearance and even states he has a crush on her but I do think that this is merely a young boy going through puberty and he is trying to figure out how he truly values his sister. He feels like he has to look after her and take care of her and this is not normal in most sibling relationships. And like Isaak says, there is only one word for it but in his case it has so many deeper meanings.
ReplyDeleteIt is strange that English only has one word for love, and I find that words that describe other emotions in English are simplified from other languages. When I was in middle school, my friends and I like-liked crushes and then there was the whole LYLAS thing, etc. I think I felt the need to separate objects of different kinds of affection because "love" didn't do a good enough job.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Smithy loves Bethany in a creepy way. I like your point about letting Smithy love Bethany the way he wants to and not putting a label on him or his emotions. We get a very intimate look at Smithy through his honest writing style and also the way he treats others. I don't think it would be fair to restrict his feelings to the words in which he expresses them.