In the story In The Night Garden, Valente slowly reveals how each character is related to each other. She shows the reader how each of her characters interact and how they are important to each other. Their relationships are abstract which fits into the rest of the stories, yet you are surprised by them constantly. There are several instances where the relationships might be what you would think of as queer especially between Leucrotta and the Marsh King.
The relationship between the Marsh King and the Leucrotta is especially odd. In class we had the discussion on whether or not their relationship was more than just a friendship. In the Marsh King’s reaction to Leucrotta’s love for the Witch you can see that he has feelings for him. He says, “At any rate I think you like her better than me. I don’t recall you ever giving me your skin, even when I wanted to kill that wretched salamander.” You can hear his jealousy because the Leucrotta is in love with the Witch who is a human being and is unnatural. Though the Marsh King has those feelings for the Leucrotta they are not returned in the romantic way. He views their relationship as more of a deal where they take care of each other. He seems to be more willing to keep the Marsh King satisfied by saying things that keep him at bay. When he says things like, “Poppet! You know I like you best of all. I chose to be your courtier.” With the nicknames he throws out he shows that he genuinely cares about the Marsh King. Then he follows up with the statement that he chose to be his courtier, which is a person who is often in attendance in the court. So he views their relationship as more of his commitment to serving him and respecting his rule. There is obviously a difference in their tone of how they view each other.
The relationship between the Leucrotta and the Marsh King is just one of the many that are odd in this book. There are many other instances that you might not expect from an interaction between two people. The Leucrotta and Marsh King was one that especially stood out to me because of their living arrangements and how they react to each other in a bantering way.
I think that Valente intended their relationship to be purposely ambiguous. Honestly, when I read it I'm a bit reminded of Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street. I don't think she expects us to be able to say definitively whether or not they are romantic with eachother, but she wants us to find humor in it.
ReplyDeleteI think it interesting how we define what is normal and typical when everyday I have never found someone who adheres to what is "normal". Unless perhaps what is "queer" or "weird" becomes normal.
ReplyDeleteThe relationship between the two is definitely ambiguous. However, we can also see that a lot of relationships and friendships can be this way. I also think that it is possible that Valente didn't put a lot of thought into the marsh animals relationship, but rather she simply created them as friends and "business partners".
ReplyDeleteIn all honesty, their relationship seems to reflect a lot of close human friendships, which are often ambiguous.
ReplyDeleteThey've got a little bit more than a bromance going on, as far as the Marsh King's side of it goes.
ReplyDeletehey theres nothing wrong with a bromance sam haha... i agree with lauren their relationship does seem to reflect a lot of human friendships
ReplyDeleteI had a hard time figuring out what exactly they were to each other. There was passages where it seemed like they were nothing more than friends and then there would be passages where they seemed more than that so I got confused a lot of time.
ReplyDeleteI think that friendships are different to everyone and they are good for life.
ReplyDeleteI liked the ambiguity, playfulness, and sweetness that I saw in their relationship.
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