Question H

[Lauren]

In the course of his investigation, Sebastian encounters twin dwarf sisters running a particularly nasty establishment. What did you think of their characters and why they were included in the story?

[Veronica]

I gleaned that they had a very rough childhood. I suppose they were included to show how that sort of trauma can come full circle, so that a former victim can become the victimizer, inflicting the same hurts on others.

[Lauren]

Agreed.

I also kept wondering why the one twin (can't remember Grace's sister's name right now), didn't speak. It made me think that perhaps her tongue had been cut out...

[Veronica]

I wondered about that too. That's a good assumption. I read another story where a woman had screamed so much that she damaged her vocal chords. I'm not sure if that's actually physically possible but it worked for the story.

[Lauren]

Veronica wrote: "I read another story where a woman had screamed so much that she damaged her vocal chords. I'm not sure if that's actually physically possible but it worked for the story. ."

It could be possible. I lost my voice over the winter (originally from a nasty cold),but it took almost 4 weeks to come back as I kept talking when I should have been resting - the bane of being a teacher :0)

[Charlene]

I did not think that these twins were technically dwarfs (dwarves? Tolkien, anyone?), but rather midgets.

Recall Sebastian's recollection of dwarfism in men -- that is a more accurate description.

[Lauren]

No, they are not dwarves in the Tolkien sense.

Dwarfism is a medical condition - Dwarfism

The term "midget" is considered derogatory by some.

[Charlene]

I meant no disrespect, Lauren. My issue was that of accuracy and proportions in description. Perhaps dwarfism covers both. I'm seventy years old, so terms that were considered accurate decades ago may have shifted columns in this instance.

[Lauren]

Charlene wrote: "I meant no disrespect, Lauren. "

I never for one moment thought that you did :0)

Yes, the way we refer to things definitely changes over time and what is deemed acceptable in the past is no longer today. I'm reading Pygmalion with my class and Shaw uses the term "narc" to refer to an informer. So many of my students had no idea what that meant and thought it referred to a drug addict, lol!

[Veronica]

LOL!

[Jonetta]

I think I know what Charlene is referring to here. Sebastian made a point of distinguishing them from dwarfism, emphasizing that their features were proportional to their size. They looked like young girls, which probably led them to creating the brothel for survival. I'm not sure what the deal was with Hope, the silent sister. I figured she'd been so traumatized she'd lost the ability to speak, not from a physical trauma.

(FYI, I added the character list.)

[Jonetta]

Forgot to finish my point. I think they were added to illustrate how these men were attracted to children. Though they were adults, they looked young and therein was the appeal. Utterly disgusting.

[Angela]

I think we'll see the twins again. I thought maybe Grace's sister had had her tongue cut out. But it makes sense when it's said that maybe she's damaged her voice from screaming.