I think what I've been finding really fascinating about the Monstrumologist series, now that I've started rereading it, is how open to interpretation it truly is. I mean like, yeah, obviously, but I don't think a lot of people talk about how Will Henry is a very unreliable narrator. The way he interprets Warthrop's behavior in his own words is the only information we have, but there very well could've been more. We never truly see what Warthrop is thinking, just what Will Henry thinks—or hopes—he's thinking. Will Henry is the only source we have on him, so we kinda have to take his word for it, but at the same time all the little behaviors Will Henry noted could've meant something else and we never would have known! For all we know, Warthrop could've been cruel and indifferent, his actions just being red herrings that Will henry desperately latched onto in his isolation. However, as interesting as it is to think that, I believe a fair amount of show-don't-tell does disprove this throughout the book, what with "You're the one thing that keeps me human" and Will Henry being reiterated to have been indispensible to him. And yet, as well as Will Henry knew Warthrop, he wasn't him. Will Henry wasn't in his mind. That's what makes this so fascinating, As much as we as the audience know Warthrop through Will Henry's interpretation of him, it is just that. An interpretation. We never will know who the real Warthrop was.
I mourn the fact that the only piece we have written more or less from Warthrop's perspective (aside from a couple bits in the book that is still Will Henry retelling Warthrop's story) is some interview Rick Yancey did prior to the release of book 3 AS Warthrop. Tho it is oddly enough still kinda insightful on Warthrop's POV, highly recommend checking it out:
An Interview With the Monstrumologist
+ One of my favorite bits from it
