Ellphant
asked
Kevin Sands:
Would the sheer trauma Christopher Rowe has faced ever be more seriously brought up by one of the mentor figures in his life? I understand that 'mental health' wasn't really a thing back then, but nonetheless, one doesn't just go through the things he has and be fine.
Kevin Sands
No, it wouldn't be seriously brought up, and for exactly the reason you stated. Not only was there no concept of mental health, the expectation of the time—in fact, the expectation of just every time in human history until the last century or so—was that life was hard, and painful, and that death and disaster was guaranteed to happen.
This doesn't mean, of course, that no one felt emotional pain, or that no one cared or sympathized with others over the death of loved ones or other terrible happenings. And communities would certainly band together to support someone whose life was torn apart. But this would not happen in any modern way. What would more likely happen is exactly what you see with Lord Ashcombe and the king and Christopher, Tom, and Sally. They step in to help the children, but in a practical way—including putting them straight to work!
This doesn't mean, of course, that no one felt emotional pain, or that no one cared or sympathized with others over the death of loved ones or other terrible happenings. And communities would certainly band together to support someone whose life was torn apart. But this would not happen in any modern way. What would more likely happen is exactly what you see with Lord Ashcombe and the king and Christopher, Tom, and Sally. They step in to help the children, but in a practical way—including putting them straight to work!
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