The Pool Scene - Tumblr Posts
I love the angsty bone women
I absolutely live this scene...as everyone does hah. Harrow not having a good time is my favorite snack.
Also idk if this is morally too much text from the book to post jfjdjsj ah well
Great! So the main thing is that I am in literal awe at how well this piece works as a representation of Harrow's memory in the second book, despite the fact that you HADN'T READ IT YET?!?!
Putting the read more here for anyone who hasn't read Harrow the Ninth yet, because the entire rest of this post is major spoilers for that book 💚
Like okay first level, Harrow is suspended in the water of the pool, separated from Gideon only by the surface of the water. As a metaphor for Harrow's memory block, it's a pretty incredible one! All she has of Gideon in that book is an unreachable mirage that ripples and shifts away from her! It would also imply that the innermost parts of Harrow's mind are represented by the pool! (which is breaking my heart into little pieces so we'll move on)
Second level, we compare what's actually happening here to the events of the first book, keeping in mind how Harrow's memory of them is warped by the events of the second. In GtN, Gideon is an active participant in this scene. She's holding Harrow, and she dives both of them beneath the surface. Harrow thinks Gideon is going to drown her, and only panics when she realizes it's a hug instead. Then HtN happens. I don't in a million years believe that Harrow could convince herself that she shared this scene with Ortus Nigenad. Even if she could, he would never have progressed it in the way that Gideon did. So here, Harrow is beneath the surface alone. Gideon only watches from outside the pool (wow kinda like she's doing in Harrow's body in HtN!) and there's no hug to pull Harrow from the water and the drowning that she thinks she deserves.
And finally, the third level. Harrow's upbringing and culture. In the first book's pool scene, it is the first time (literally ever!) that Gideon has seen Harrow without her face painted. It's a very visual reference to the barriers that Harrow puts up to protect herself from others. But that can't be the case in the pool, which (by her family's rituals!) is the vehicle by which you see the absolute truth. And what's the absolute truth in HtN? Harrow's barriers are up the whole time, reinforced by her own blood, and she is drowning. Gideon is kept out by the thinnest of barriers, yet she is separated all the same. All Harrow would have to do is reach out and they would both be destroyed together! But Harrow has ensured that she will not, cannot reach out, and all Gideon can do is watch the part of the scene that she once led.
"I've lived my whole wretched life at your mercy, yours alone, and God knows I deserve to die at your hand. You are my only friend. I am undone without you."
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i finished Gideon the Ninth yesterday, and oh boy. that ending 😠please no spoilers for the rest of the series, i am going in blind and i'm very excited