Story Analysis: Two Contrasting Fathers

Introduction

​In UNRAVEL, there are two contrasting father figures: a bad father who is thought to be good, and a good father who is thought to be bad. It could be easy to overlook these characters due to the nature of unreliable POVs (their daughters, namely).
Today, we will explore these two purposefully written opposing characters through the perspectives of their teenage daughters.
Enjoy this essay on Judge James vs Timothy Blake from The Forgotten Countrymen series.

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This essay was originally posted on my Patreon. Click the button below to view the post.

See post here

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First off, Judge Mark James

​Margaret thinks her father, the judge of their city, MARK JAMES, as overbearing, annoying, prudish. Always demanding modesty from her. Begging for a quiet, humble life despite being in the elite class—a Class Eight.

Next, we have Timothy Blake

Gina thinks of her father, a Class Four farmer, TIMOTHY BLAKE, as a hardworking, good man. He tills the earth with his own hands. Works sun up to sun down. Always busy. She knows he loves his children dearly, as well as her late mother.

A Closer Look

​Now let’s take a closer look at the subtext of the story.

Since the death of her mother, Gina has taken it upon herself to mother her younger siblings. More than just that, she has taken on all of her mother’s responsibilities. And her father thanks her for it. He is oh-so grateful for her parentifying herself.

(Read more about parentification from the NIH here.)

​Gina also struggles with nutrition. She admits quite plainly to Carson in Chapter 22:
“I had to start spending all my free time sewing clothing for other people just to feed myself.”

And this isn’t even touching on the anxiety that Gina suffers. She even goes to therapy and takes medication for it.

Margaret’s father, Judge James, practically frets over Gina’s well-being. He encourages Margaret to “give her extra” when it comes to food or paying for any service Gina provides. Judge James takes Gina’s official legal request to marry very seriously and personally handles her case instead of delegating the work to his staff, as is the expectation.

We also see through Margaret’s POV Judge James making a comment laced with frustration about Timothy Blake. He says in Chapter 15 of UNRAVEL:
“I worry about [Gina] a lot. Tim refuses government assistance, stubborn fool.”

Judge James obviously believes Gina needs help, and by the context of the story, she does.

So why would Timothy Blake refuse help when it would clearly benefit his daughter, who is suffering the most in his household?

The Contrasting Role to Timothy Blake

Now let’s flip over to Judge James again. Through his actions in the book, we see a man who cares deeply—for his daughter Margaret and for the people of the city. From the context, we can gather that everything he does, every decision he makes, is an attempt to improve someone’s life.

He screws this up a couple of times, as does every character at some point or another (which is the foundational message of the series, just fyi). Starting with promising Margaret’s hand in marriage to a practical stranger and ending with causing a lot of harm to Margaret in the name of protecting her from “worse” (subjective) harm.

Did he handle this in the best possible way?

No. Of course not. And he reaps what he sows.
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But, while his intentions behind --ahem— [a certain action] are not more important than the actual action itself, the intentions are worth noting. Because the heart behind one’s actions is important. Not necessarily excusable, but still important in understanding that person and why they made the bad decisions they made.

Conclusion

​As the author (yes I’m using this card), it is my final analysis that Timothy Blake is a bad father who isn’t recognized as such and has done very little for his daughter’s well-being. Whilst on the other hand, we have Judge James who is just doing his best to be a good father and has made a couple bad decisions within this vein.
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All character viewpoints are unreliable. That was the entire point of writing these two fathers the way I wrote them. Remember to look at the story from ALL angles, not just the viewpoint characters.

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If you're new here, my name is Kaitlyn Deann.

​I’m a Dystopian Romantic Science Fantasy author (click here to read my post on what that means), writing stories for intelligent readers with themes of perseverance through persecution, oppression to freedom, and choosing to love when it feels impossible.

The light doesn't fear the darkest corners.

Deluxe editions of Unravel and Shatter are available here on my online store as well as on my community page (some paid tiers get these ebooks for free as part of their membership).

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