Gabriel

[Randie_CC]

I thought Gabriel was a very hateful person in the beginning of the novel.  By the end, I felt so sorry for him and all that he lost and chose not to experience.  He appears to be more of a victim, and uses anger as a defense against love.

[JerseyAngel]

I can honestly say that after getting to know Eva, Gabriel doesn't seem so bad. At least there is a backstory to Gabriel's unhappiness. His words may be cruel & harsh but Eva tops him by a mile! 

[Bonnie824]

Gabriel is a cruel man. I don't care what his reasons were, being deliberately nasty and hurtful to his daughter was not justified by anything he had been through, or especially by a wife turning cold towards him.

[Adeline79]

I find myself puzzled by Gabriel but I did not strongly dislike him. In fact I found myself trying to look for more evidence of Gabriel's supposed hatred of Meridia. At first it seemed like Merida was overreacting to him or something. Obviously he was not a loving father, but I wonder if Meridia was a sensitive child and took Gabriel too much to heart.

For example on page 13 Setiawan writes, "Gabriel rarely raised his voice, but his words always managed to cut her. It could be as simple as a command to fetch things, open the window, relay a message to Ravenna, but the end result was the same: Meridia would go about the rest of her day shattered and distracted."

Is this a case of a quiet sensitive child living in fear of her gruff unloving father? The scene of Gabriel humiliating Meridia in front of his friends is a lot harsher I will admit. And I certainly feel that Gabriel was really nasty here. But I remember when I was a child being embarrassed in front of guests when any attention was drawn to me, even positive attention. So I just wonder if Meridia is feeling these emotions and interpreting things in her own way based on what she is feeling. It seems like every emotion is exaggerated in this strange home.

Message Edited by Adeline79 on 06-11-2009 07:46 PM

[Tarri]

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rkubie wrote:

What are your first impressions of Gabriel?

Is this man truly so hateful of his own daughter? Do you have any understanding of his awful behavior toward her?

Do your feelings for Gabriel change as the story goes on?

What is Gabriel's relationship with the house and with the mists?

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My first impression of Gabriel is that he was a man who had it all and lost it all.  He is bitter and closed off from everything except his work.   I think the reason he is so hateful toward Meridia is that he has no expectation that good things are going to come his way and is unwilling to risk being disappointed again.  I do not condone or understand his awful behavior toward Meridia, but I can kind of understand not risking getting hurt. 

As far as I am in the book, I have not changed my feelings for Gabriel.  However, that does not mean that in the next chapter I will learn something that will open my eyes to his pain.  

[PiperMurphy]

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Adeline79 wrote:

I find myself puzzled by Gabriel but I did not strongly dislike him. In fact I found myself trying to look for more evidence of Gabriel's supposed hatred of Meridia. At first it seemed like Merida was overreacting to him or something. Obviously he was not a loving father, but I wonder if Meridia was a sensitive child and took Gabriel too much to heart.

For example on page 13 Setiawan writes, "Gabriel rarely raised his voice, but his words always managed to cut her. It could be as simple as a command to fetch things, open the window, relay a message to Ravenna, but the end result was the same: Meridia would go about the rest of her day shattered and distracted."

Is this a case of a quiet sensitive child living in fear of her gruff unloving father? The scene of Gabriel humiliating Meridia in front of his friends is a lot harsher I will admit. And I certainly feel that Gabriel was really nasty here. But I remember when I was a child being embarrassed in front of guests when any attention was drawn to me, even positive attention. So I just wonder if Meridia is feeling these emotions and interpreting things in her own way based on what she is feeling. It seems like every emotion is exaggerated in this strange home.

Message Edited by Adeline79 on 06-11-2009 07:46 PM

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I've been doing a lot of thinking about Gabriel. I'm actually beginning to like him. I think that our reaction to him mirrors Meridia's because we see him through her eyes and from her perspective. She thinks he is aloof and unloving. I think you are right about her feelings. Her reaction to him is based on her relationship with him since she was a baby. Since there was no communication between them, she would have to draw her own conclusions based on what she saw and felt. Possibly those early memories are distorted, but she has continued to build on them. Gabriel doesn't seem to know how to relate to her, or maybe he is afraid to. So their relationship is based on misunderstanding that neither knows how to correct.

[sylvia387]

Gabriel is a man buying time in his own home. 

 I believe he excels in intelligence, though lacks in social skills.

His shortness with the "ladies" in the house might be due to the fact that he has a marital/contractual obligation to be there, but doesn't want to interact with the other occupants.

[LISA-BRYAN]

Hmmm your mention of shortness made me think that perhaps he had shortman's complex which would be conflict with Eva being so tall.  Men who are shorter that their spouses, etc are often tormented souls.

[ponie]

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LISA-BRYAN wrote:
Hmmm your mention of shortness made me think that perhaps he had shortman's complex which would be conflict with Eva being so tall.  Men who are shorter that their spouses, etc are often tormented souls.

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Keith Urban?  Tom Cruise?

[m3girl]

I'm still reading the first half of the book so I still think he's a selfish ass.  He will have to do a whole lot of wonderful things for Ravenna and Meridia in order for me to change my opinion. 

Susan 

[marciliogq]

Gabriel is one of the hardest characters in the book up to now in my reading. He's a kind of reverse angel. I think he represents the transformation the human being naturally cross in their lives: the mix of good and bad side in their own. Firstly a kind of angel hurt and influenced for things from outside home. If we pay attention the wind comes from outside, or been, after that all of the house atmosphere is completely transformed. I see the wind as the influence of people's opinion about Meridia. When Gabriel realizes he is being attacked for the town inhabitants because of his daughter he starts his reign of hate towards her and his wife Ravenna is the responsible for the insistence of having the baby alive. All of his actions are reactions to destroy Meridia. In this way, we can see Gabriel as an egocentrical man who thinks firstly in himself. Being outside home is a form to be far from the "cold" and "unbearable" relationship between him and his daughter.