So even though he struggles with the guilt he feels around portraying people he cares about in a negative light, for us as readers, he comes across as a credible source of information. What's important about this isn't so much that Octavian feels conflicted about how to portray his mother, it's that-as our narrator-he can't help showing what really happens.
When she says this, even the College men in the room are stunned into silence by Cassiopeia's harsh words to Octavian. This is markedly different from the woman Octavian portrays earlier, who tells him not to be a child, saying, "'He has never been a child and I see no reason he should begin now'" (1.22.26).
He's reminding himself of her merits, sure, but he's also making sure readers understand that, when all is said and done, his mother is a good woman. Recall how she could draw the birds to her with butter and song. Looks like somebody feels like he's dragged his mama's name through the mud and wishes he hadn't, doesn't it? To set things right, the chapter ends with more pleasant memories of his mother: O vain, treacherous, self-anguishing heart: Recall instead how, on other evenings, she and you chased fireflies, Lord Cheldthorpe clapping. It starts with some serious guilt-tripping:Īnd yet-I malign her. Chapter 23 is three sentences long, and each sentence is devoted to rehabilitating his mother's image (which he thinks he tarnished earlier when he showed her mean side). Octavian the narrator is all about guilt and control, especially control over his mind. He's the main voice in the novel, so you can't miss him, even though you never actually see him, per say. The Rational Storytellerįirst there's Octavian the narrator.
Sound confusing? We promise it isn't-stick with us, and you'll be acquainted with our main man in all his forms in no time.
Okay, not literally-it's just that Octavian grows over the course of this book, and his circumstances radically shift, so in this way it's almost like we get to see Octavian shed identities and step into new ones on more than one occasion. The first thing you need to know is that there's more than one Octavian. Octavian Nothing, aka Octavian Gitney, aka Prince
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