Dragonsinger - Chapter Five

[kalinara]

So last time, Menolly met the other girls and I kvetched quite a bit about the way the book doesn't seem to want to commit to the sexism of the setting or premise. Likely not for the last time.

But Menolly's first day of school is over. Let's see what comes of her second day.



So Menolly's second day gets off to a rough start. She ends up waking up because of shrieking: both girl, hostess, and fire lizards. Menolly tries to calm her lizards down, but Dunca won't stop shrieking. She eventually has to order them out. Then Dunca shrieks because Menolly is nude. Jesus Christ.

I know I wanted Menolly to face some challenges, but it'd be nice if her adversaries weren't quite so cartoonish. Why on Earth has someone like Dunca been put in charge of anyone?

Anyway, Dunca demands to know where Menolly was all night and how and when she got in. Um, is there a curfew here? If so, then Menolly really ought to have been told about that. If not, then Dunca has no business yelling. Menolly calmly explains that she got in last night, by the front door, directly after supper. Piemur helped her. Dunca wasn't there at the time.

One of the girls at the door (seriously? Do none of you have better things to do) says that Piemur was at rehearsal. Audiva, the token sympathetic girl, does remember that Piemur had gotten to rehearsal out of breath. Dunca says that Menolly must inform her when she comes in. a) why? b) then you should have told her that.

Anyway, Menolly is ordered to wash and dress and come to breakfast. (Audiva at least winks at her as she leaves). She gets there, the food is dry and the klah is cold. She notices that her tunic is stained, but she has nothing to change into.

Again, these are things that should have been seen to. Are Robinton and Silvina completely fucking incompetent? I get that Menolly is the first female student, but surely male students have arrived with very little in terms of belongings. And surely they would have needed rules explained to them too.

Anyway, Menolly senses that the lizards are hungry and asks to be excused to go to Silvina. Dunca demands to know why she'd bother Silvina, who is the headwoman of the entire Crafthall. She starts in on a tirade, that Menolly finally stops by asking to go and suggesting the fire lizards might come search for her.

The rest of the morning is also chaotic. Camo tries to feed the lizards when he's supposed to be delivering cereal. The fire lizards get scared when everyone starts heading to classes. And she doesn't know where to go. On the plus side, her feet hurt less. Finally, she's directed to a class with the other girls.

This goes as expected really: Menolly, as a genuine Harper apprentice, easily outclasses the other girls. Audiva watches fiercely, while Pona and the others glower. The teacher, Talmor, is impressed. I'm not complaining about this, because for once, there's actually a point. Menolly is the first female Harper apprentice, she was directed here because someone made an assumption based on her gender.

Menolly gets an idea of the other girls' abilities. She mistakes Audiva for a new student, and then realizes Briala and Pona are even worse. When it's Menolly's turn, she plays perfectly. Which of course offends the other girls. She backtracks a little, noting that she was the last to play and had a longer time to study it. Talmor agrees hastily, and also demands to know who told her to join the class. Menolly explains.

The practice is interrupted then by the oft-mentioned, but as yet unseen Sebell. He gets a decent description: slender, a hand taller than Menolly, tanned skin, brown hair and eyes. He came because he was looking for Menolly. Apparently, there had been a message sent to her at Dunca's, that Dunca never delivered. She was supposed to go to Master Domick.

Well, as annoyed as I am by Dunca, I am happy to see the first thing resembling a plot. Or at least some kind of conflict. And, even better, Sebell and Menolly discuss Domick's temperament, and Sebell notes that Domick dislikes everyone.

I remember being quite annoyed at the way Menolly seemed to lump Domick's genuine criticism in with the more sexist teacher whose name I don't care to remember or look up. I assumed that we were dealing with another case of Ms. McCaffrey's lack of nuance, but I owe her an apology. It looks like Menolly was meant to be mistaken about him.

Sebell notes that Domick is actually a top rank teacher, and may even be superior, instrumentally, to Robinton. (He lacks Robinton's flare, vitality, or keen perception of matters outside the Craft though) Sebell thinks that Menolly will learn a lot from Domick as long as she doesn't let his manner bother her. He's actually made quite a concession to agree to teach her.

Menolly is, of course, horrified to be late to the lesson. And for once, I am completely sympathetic. But Sebell thinks that he can turn it to Menolly's advantage. He also needs Menolly's help: he has to learn to pass as a seaman. Immediately, Menolly sees a problem with that: Sebell's hands aren't rough enough. But Sebell isn't bothered: that's something that only a real seaman would know. It sounds like he'll need to pass for people who aren't actually seamen. Menolly is intrigued and a little amused, since she thought she'd never need to gut a fish again.

Sebell rather cryptically advises her not to be surprised at anything she's asked to do, since the Harper (Robinton) requires them to "play many tunes for our Craft...not always on gitar or pipe."

The trick of course, will be finding time for lessons, since she has hers and there are eggs to worry about. He asks if she knows what his egg is likely to be and is pretty excited when she says that one might be a bronze. Though really, he'll be happy with any lizard, since he's heard they can be trained to carry messages or sing. He would like to meet hers at some point, but not yet, he needs his lesson after all.

I like Sebell a lot actually. He's the first character besides Menolly that actually feels..."real", if that makes sense. Like, Silvina, Dunca, the teachers and the girls are all in the story to play a role. Piemur and even Robinton are the same. But Sebell actually seems like he has a life and existence beyond the role he plays for Menolly. We don't know why he wants to pretend to be a seaman, but it's clearly some kind of assignment. And he's the first character to actually offer some perspective on what it means to be a Harper, beyond just learning to play music. Even if it's just one cryptic line.

It also helps I think that he gets to play two roles for Menolly simultaneously. He gets to be student as well as teacher. This makes him feel a little more like a (higher-ranked) peer than say Piemur or the girls, who all come across as lesser than Menolly. I don't know exactly how old he's supposed to be, but he seems young enough that I'm not completely squicked at the idea that Menolly and Sebell might get together in a later book.

Sebell takes her to lunch, where of course the girls are resentful. But Menolly's not bothered. She's just spent the morning with a higher ranked peer who respects her a lot. She's riding that high, and I respect that so much more than her earlier pretenses to modesty. Own it, girl.

But then Master Domick shows up, and despite Sebell's reassurances, he's ticked off. Menolly tries to explain that she never got the message, but Dunca apparently told Domick that she did tell her. Domick's anger freaks out Menolly's lizards, and she has to shout them down. Domick at least stands very still, while she calms them down.

Audiva speaks up after things calm down and verifies: Dunca did not tell Menolly, though the other girls knew about it. She says, cryptically, "fair's fair" as she leaves. I feel like maybe the girls ought to actually face some discipline for that? But that'd probably require Robinton to take charge, and it doesn't seem like he's willing to do that. Domick at least seems to be somewhat calmer. He asks how she managed to alienate Dunca, and realizing it's the fire lizards, notes that they don't intimidate him.

Sebell takes this moment to try to intercede as well. Domick acknowledges that she "seems to acquire some champions", and that he'll see her the next morning and they'll see if the end result is worth the effort. He tells Sebell not to hover so protectively, since he's not going to punish her for being the victim of envy.

Honestly, I think I like Domick too. He's clearly meant to be a bit more layered than the other instructors. He had every right to be irked at Menolly, and I like that the fire lizard intercession actually made things worse. But he's not unreasonable either. I get the sense that he'll be a challenging instructor and will actually push her rather than praise her.

After the adults vacate, Piemur appears to play cheerleader. He asks to help feed the lizards tonight, and Menolly agrees. He says Menolly is much nicer than the other girls. But Menolly notes that he just wants to make friends with the lizards. Piemur cheerfully agrees.

So now, Menolly is to go to Master Oldive, who gives her a numbweed salve to treat her hand. Oldive notices that Beauty's skin is patching and Menolly realizes that she's been so caught up in her own problems that she hasn't tended to her lizards. They need to be oiled.

Oldive, happily, has some oil he's made for the Hold ladies and helps with Beauty. Hopefully the other lizards get turns soon! He also checks Menolly's feet, telling her to stay off as much as possible.

Menolly has to disobey a little, because she needs her pipes for her next lesson with Jerint. As she gets to the cot, she hears Pona yelling about how Menolly doesn't belong there: she's an apprentice, they're not, they've got rank to uphold, and Menolly should go where she belongs: with the other apprentices. And I mean, she's not completely wrong. Obviously, Pona is motivated by jealousy. But as we've seen, Menolly has different requirements than the other girls. And well, her host hates her mindlinked pets.

Menolly is upset of course, and starts thinking about how she misses her cave. She's frustrated by the teachers who don't like her, and the students that she's alienated. But then she remembers Robinton apologizing for improving her song, and saying that her songs were what he needed. She remembers that she has music here, and even if there aren't girl-harpers, there could still be girl song-crafters.

Really though, WHERE THE FUCK IS ROBINTON?

He's the Masterharper, which means that he's Headmaster of this fucking school. Where is he? Why isn't he talking to the teachers, and the students, about what to expect? Why isn't he seeing to Menolly's needs? Why is there such a confusion about Menolly's status? Or where she sleeps?

We're supposed to believe that Robinton is not a sexist dick. That Menolly being the first female Harper is not a matter of institutionalized sexism. But it clearly is. And Robinton is not doing his job here. And that would be FINE, if we were meant to see Robinton as failing to do his job. It's perfectly understandable that a male Harper may not appreciate the difficulties faced by a female student.

But at no point in all of this will we ever see any criticism directed toward Robinton. At no point is anyone going to say "hey, dude, if you want female students, you need to fucking accommodate them!" This will continue to be presented as Menolly just being far more talented than the other girls, and all of the other issues are just flukes.

Menolly is still thinking about what to do, when suddenly her pipes smack into her hands: the fire lizards got them. Neat! Menolly is also very impressed by how clever her little friends are. She goes to Master Jerint, who inspects her pipes and seems genuinely interested in her construction process. He asks her to assemble a drum.

So Menolly assembles a drum. We're given a decent sized paragraph about the process, but there's not much to recap. Jerint gives her a "wintry smile" and notes that she does know some of the tricks of the trade. Menolly doesn't comment on this exchange, except to note that she doesn't really know what his opinion of her drum is. That's fair.

Then there's her lesson with Mr. Shonagar. We don't actually see much of it. Apparently it was all standing there and breathing. She was told to sing only single notes at a time. She's exhausted. It sounds pretty grueling.

Then it's Piemur's turn. She hadn't even realized he was waiting. They decide to see if the fire lizards will sing with or for anyone, not just with Menolly. Piemur sings, and he's got an amazing voice. The lizards begin to sing along. Shonagar declares that he'll consider the possibilities of the phenomenon, then seems to fall asleep.

Piemur compliments Menolly's voice, calling it "sort of furry", which he prefers over high, thin, screechy voices like Briala or Pona. Because god forbid Menolly get a compliment that doesn't involve insulting the other girls. Not her fault, but I wish Ms. McCaffrey would knock it off.

They go to feed the lizards. Camo is ready and waiting, and Piemur is a big help. Menolly suggests that she might need him permanently, as long as it doesn't get him into trouble. Piemur is apprenticed to Shonagar, who won't mind. So everyone is happy.

Unfortunately, Menolly still has to sit with the girls. And Piemur isn't allowed to sit opposite from her, because Pona complained to Dunca, who complained to Silvina. He doesn't say what exactly he'd done, but Menolly knows him well enough to guess that it'd have been "down right wicked". She's disappointed, but honestly, it makes her like Piemur more. She realizes that if she's late for meals, she can avoid sitting with them, and that makes her happy enough to eat heartily. She doesn't leave with the other girls, (though Audiva still throws her a wink).

Finally, FINALLY, Robinton shows up. But it's not to do his job, rather, he wants Menolly to check on the eggs. They do chat a bit about her having to teach Sebell about fish, and Robinton almost says something useful:

“No, sir, I didn’t. But then, I don’t think I really knew what does go on in a Harper Hall.”

“Well said, Menolly, well said,” and the Harper laughed as well as Sebell. “The other crafts can jibe that we want to know too much about what is not strictly our business, but I’ve always felt knowledge of matters minor or major makes for better understandings. The mind that will not admit it has something more to learn tomorrow is in danger of stagnating.”

Almost. This would have been a lovely time to tell us what Harpers actually DO, Robinton.

So Menolly judges the eggs: they're hardening but won't hatch today or tomorrow. Robinton asks her to check again tomorrow morning, and notes that while he can't always be around, Sebell will find him as needed. Then Robinton FINALLY talks to Menolly about her lessons. Sort of.

“Now, Menolly, you’ve played for Domick, been thoroughly catechized by Morshal and sung for Shonagar. Jerint says your pipes are quite allowable, and the drum is well-constructed and should dry out sound. The fire lizards will sing sweetly with others than yourself, so you’ve accomplished a very great deal in your first days here. Hasn’t she, Sebell?”

Sebell agreed, smiling at her in a quiet, kind way. She wondered if either man knew how Dunca and the girls felt about her presence in the Harper Hall.

“And I can leave the matter of the eggs in your good hands. That’s grand. That’s very good, indeed,” the Masterharper said, combing his fingers through his silvered hair.

...really dude? That's it? You've got the first female Harper student. Don't you want to know how she's adjusting? How they're treating her? Don't you want to, you know, encourage her? Why DOESN'T Robinton know how the girls feel about her?

THIS IS YOUR FUCKING JOB DUDE.

Menolly realizes that he looks strained and worried. She heads back to Dunca's cot, thinking that she'd never really considered what life would be like at Harper's Hall. She'd fantasized about it, but never considered the reality. She notes that she's in far better circumstances than Half-Circle Hold, so surely she could put up with a little "unpleasantness"

Then of course she gets to the cottage, and immediately Dunca starts ranting about how the lizards are dangerous and unreliable and must behave or Dunca won't tolerate them. Really? What exactly does Dunca think she can do? Also, I feel like Dunca's hatred of fire lizards probably should have come up when they figured out where Menolly would sleep. Dunca also rants about Menolly's behavior, and so on. She asks if she's made herself plain, and Menolly, realizing that nothing she can do will make Dunca like her, just says she did and goes to her room.

Thus the chapter ends.

I'm glad to see some measure of a conflict and plot, but I do wish it was there was a little more depth to it. The girls are two dimensional, and Dunca's not even that. Ms. McCaffrey doesn't even bother to pretend that Dunca might have a legitimate grievance. (Even though, she kind of does. Not every landlady is okay with a tenant bringing nine cats after all.) It could have been interesting if one of the girls could legitimately be a rival to Menolly, someone as potentially musically gifted but with different priorities, but no, none of the girls hold a candle to her.

Domick is at least somewhat promising though. Menolly still equates him with Morshal, a bit unfairly, but he's not someone who can be easily dismissed as just a sexist dick who doesn't want her around. He's not going to be an easy teacher, but I don't get the sense that he'll be an unfair one either. One hopes anyway, considering I had high hopes for Yanus and Mavi once upon a time.

Honestly though, I think the real conflict is Menolly vs. Robinton's complete unwillingness to do his fucking job. But Ms. McCaffrey is never going to admit to that one.