#soc analysis

leigh herself has said that she wrote kaz’s backstory and trauma as a way to isolate him in every way possible. he has spent the last 8 years without true emotional connections AND incredibly touch-starved. he has to give up the hope of ever being normal and becomes extra ruthless as a way of further isolating himself so no one will go near him. sure, there’s probably others in ketterdam who have lived on the streets. there’s definitely other people who have been conned out of their money and who have lost family members. but this particular trauma is so isolating and so unique to kaz that he had probably convinced himself no one would ever understand that particular pain.

Kaz was never mad at Jesper for giving up info or being the reason for the ambush. He was mad that Inej almost died during the ambush. He knew damn well there would be an ambush and he was ready for it.

This is a man who longs to be loved. He longs to be loved and to be allowed to love. This is, genuinely, the first impression of him I got from the books. When Bollinger was revealed as a traitor, Jesper didn't react with anger, as you'd expect from someone who, yknow, had been betrayed. All he said was "Oh, Big Bol... you idiot." And it sounds REGRETFUL. He regretted what Bollinger had done, he regretted being betrayed by someone he saw as his friend. He and Bollinger weren't even that close but he acted so regretful and disappointed

He wants to love. He reaches out so desperately to everyone around him. He reaches out to Kaz so much, everyone's analysed that to death, but he reaches out to EVERYONE. Everything about him is crafted so people will like him. The humour, the flirting, the style, the laid-back personality, it's all a way to present a version of himself that everyone will like. And it takes such a toll on him - we see that with his gambling and his intense self loathing - but he doesn't try to change it. Because he wants people to like him so much

Jesper's childhood was so full of love. His mum loved his dad, his dad loved his mum his mum loved him and his dad loved him. There wasn't a person in that house who didn't feel intensely, completely loved and accepted. Out of all the Crows, Jesper had the healthiest early childhood.

And then his mum died.

And he suddenly didn't feel so loved or accepted anymore. Not because of anything anyone did but because his mum's powers had killed her and her death ripped a huge rift through the family. Colm still loved Jesper but he was afraid for him. Afraid that his zowa would take Jesper from him like it took Aditi from him. So, Jesper learnt to hide that part of himself. He learnt that, in order to be loved, he had to hide parts of himself away. He had to hide his power, the dangerous part of himself, the part his mother had given to him.

Then, when he fell into the Barrel, he had to hide more of himself. I'm fairly certain he was only 15 when he dropped out of uni. He was incredibly young and probably absolutely terrified. And so many of the people around him were strong and apathetic and dangerous. So, again, Jesper learnt and he adapted. He's a master of change, he can create whatever image of himself he wants. He knows how to make people like him.

A lot of people talk about Wylan's character and development as though it's meant to match Kaz's - starting out as a nice kid who the city forces to become amoral, indifferent to violence, and well-versed in crime. These qualities are usually talked about with a weird reverence as an irrefutable symbol of "badassery", as though it's always a positive development for any character regardless of the story's narrative, which annoys me but is not the topic of this post. That's part of the BFWP's job.

Following Kaz's exact development is not the point of Wylan's character. The point is that Kaz and Wylan narrative foils - very similar in many ways, but with a fundamental difference that creates the "broken mirror" effect/shows how they could have turned out if they'd chosen differently. I think that difference is how they respond when they climb out of the harbor after their respective betrayals. Narratively, Ketterdam represents a very harsh system that presents the people struggling there with very few options. You can either choose to ditch decency, play by the Barrel's rules, and live, or you can hold on to decency and die.

When Kaz returns to the streets after Jordie's death, he chooses the first option. He copes with what happened through ideas of revenge, and to survive long enough to see it he quickly turns to thievery and violence. He thinks to himself after he robs a kid for money and food that it was much easier to survive when you've left decency behind. He survived through violence, creating the Dirtyhands persona around himself for protection.

When Wylan has to fend for himself, he choses the second option. He finds "honest work" at the tannery, where they exploit workers and expose them to toxins. He wonders if he'll live long enough to use his savings to leave the city, or if the chemicals would kill him first. He was smart enough to steal and survive, but he chose decency, and with it, he chose death. There are a number of reasons why he chose differently than Kaz despite their similarities - his older age and thus more developed moral code, having no one to avenge but himself when he believed himself worthless, his more privileged upbringing, and his relatively low drive to live. Alone, he would have died.

Then Kaz steps in. Kaz's role in all the crow's lives is that, intentionally or not, his ruthless rule of the Barrel creates a sort of haven that allows them to survive where they would have died had they stayed alone. Wylan is a really clear example of this, and though Kaz's intentions were at least partly self-serving, his involvement both kept Wylan from dying of exposure or street violence as well as prevented him from needing to do the more terrible things that it takes to survive in the Barrel. Throughout the books, we see Kaz kind of taking the brunt of enacting violence in Wylan's place - traumatizing Smeet's daughter, killing the clerk on the lighthouse. Wylan could get by making explosives in the workshop rather than having to shoot or stab or beat the life out of people. And at the end of the series, Kaz sees to it that he never will have to. Of course Wylan did bad stuff to survive when working with the Dregs, it's the Barrel. But the extent is greatly lessened because of Kaz's involvement.

I've been procastinating to write it for so much time...

It's been some time since I read the books and I kind of lost my interest after Crooked Kingdom, that's why it took me so much time to write it. I'm not sure why I stopped being interested in the Crows but I guess it has something to do with Matthias' death and the fact I'm rereading sab.

And I'm sorry because the analysis is messy and just not good overall.

(I'm not able to put quotes because my books are in BR Portuguese)

What I like about their relationship:

I just really like how different they are.

Kaz is an introvert, Jesper is an extrovert.

Kaz doesn't know how to flirt, Jesper flirts with everyone.

Kaz is very cold while talking to people, Jesper is very friendly.

Kaz is a very still and quiet person, Jesper is always moving.

Why their friendship is not good?

One problem is how they are not open emotionally to each other. Kaz doesn't tell Jesper about how he feels about anything and Jesper would problaby be mocked or dismissed by Kaz if he told him about his feeling, especially how hurt he feels when Kaz treats him badly.

Kaz:

Kaz treats Jesper very poorly.

He not only enables Jesper's addiction, but also takes advantage of it by using his addiction to "buy Jesper's forgiveness". And when he is mad he uses it to make Jesper feel bad about himself.

He also takes advantage of Jesper forgiving and easy going nature. Since he knows Jesper won't be mad for much time and won't hold any grudges, he has no problem treating him badly.

He also makes Jesper feels useless, uninportant and constant doubt about their friendship. Kaz shows no real signs that he values Jesper and it makes him feel like their friendship is one-sided.

Kaz is a freaking jerk.

Jesper:

Basically Jesper doesn't stand up for himself and he never holds Kaz acountable for what he does to him. I'm not saying it is Jesper's fault that Kaz treats him, but the way he reacts is not good.

I'm not saying this is his only character flaw but I think this is what affect his friendship with Kaz the most in a negative way.

Some critics about how LB wrote their relationship

My problem with their relationship is that I don't think Leigh focoused much on it. There is some growth in Crooked Kingdom, Kaz finally recognizes that Jesper is important to him and kind of shows it, while Jesper finally stands up to himself.

However I feel that in Soc there is way more focus in the romantic relationships than in the platonic ones. And one example of it is how, at least for me, Kaz was mad at Jesper because Inej ended up in danger and not because he hurt his trust. Of course Jesper's betrayal hurt Kaz, but the book spend a lot of time acting like Inej was the only thing that mattered to Kaz in this situation. Which is ridiculous because Inej and Jesper are equally important to Kaz and I think LB failed to show that.

Jesper's friendship was really important to Kaz, Jesper was the only other person Kaz trusted. Jesper's betrayal should have hurt Kaz more, impacted him more but instead the whole focous was on Inej.

Best regards,

Me.