Honor

Roy C. Lackey · 24 Nov 2005, 08:05 · from 2005-November.txt.gz

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From: rclackey at stic.net (Roy C. Lackey)
Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2005 02:05:45 -0600
Subject: (urth) Honor
Message-ID: <000c01c5f0cd$e578fa80$ad3ec6d8 at rclackey.stic.net>

I wrote:
>>That Able is often portrayed as a lout in TWK is no accident. That he
is supposed to be a Hero, also, is no accident. It just doesn't work for
me.<<

People seem to be too hung up on the poor horses. That wasn't my point.
Let's forget the horses and take another example of Able's unconscionable
behavior, one that Wolfe spent far more time on.

>From the moment that Able set foot on the _Western Trader_, he started
pushing people around and generally behaving in an extremely obnoxious
manner. He barged into the captain's cabin, making unreasonable demands and
dictating terms. When the captain objected and ordered him off the ship,
Able resorted to brute force. He and Pouk defeated the captain and mate and
appropriated the cabin. Able had no right, even had he been a knight, to do
what he did. He undermined the legitimate authority of the ship's half-owner
captain. He did what he did because he wanted to and was brute enough to get
away with it. He was a bully and a thug.

After the ship sailed, it was attacked. He acquitted himself well against
the attackers (self-preservation is a great motivator) and was wounded. The
captain took back command of his ship. When Able was well enough he, along
with his magic hound, attempted to take control of the ship again by
intimidating the captain. When the captain dared to resist, he was killed
and his body thrown overboard. Able cleaned up the crime scene and appointed
the mate as the new captain, thus ensuring the new captain's future
cooperation. Able had no authority to do any such thing. His treatment of
the captain was entirely self-serving, criminal, unknightly and
dishonorable.

Surely a man deserves at least as much consideration as a horse. Would
anyone care to defend Able's treatment of the captain?

-Roy

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