can we talk about how the hydatids make their hosts act so unlike themselves?
tim, throughout the novel, was characterized as very caring and empathetic, in fact this all happened because he couldn’t turn away a sick man. but after he’s infected, he begins to feel this anger and resentment towards the boys he was shown to care deeply about. he even regrets giving the boys the rest of the food
and then with kent, it’s very clear that he harbors this hidden insecurity when it comes to his strength and worrying that he is unable to meet his father’s high expectations for him. then when he’s infected, he begins having these delusions that he’s a godlike figure
finally with shelley, who lacked any kind of sympathy in the extreme and saw all living things as empty meat husks to be used for his interest, felt maternal towards the parasites inside him and was genuinely scared to lose them
idk i just think it’s interesting uhhhh yap yap conclusion paragraph might add more later
