Walking off the chessboard: part 5

[amonitrate]

Sorry for the delay in posting. Complicated couple of weeks. Thus ends the main body of this sucker, though I'm noodling with a short conclusion that talks about the traditional/biblical concept of the scapegoat. Sadly I know nothing of the bible, so it will probably be a really shallow isn't this kinda cool thing.

Walking off the chessboard: Sam

Comments

[redrikki]

Around the time I was born, my older sister took her favorite doll, a Dressy Bessy, and cut into strips with the kitchen sheers. When I heard the story of Lucifer and Lilith I immediately thought of the Dressy Bessy story. Like my sister, Lucifer lashed out reacted poorly to his father's newly-divided affections and then spent eons plotting his revenge for being sent to his room to think about what he'd done. Childish is exactly the word for it

*sheepishly holds hand up*

[deiseach]

I was that jealous older sister.

When I was about three, my younger sister(the first younger sibling I had) was about one year old and she became very seriously ill with pneumonia. I remember my father waking me up to tell me they were taking her to hospital, and I remember thinking "Good. All she ever does is cry."

Ouch. Everyone who's ever been four years old can recognise themselves in Lucifer. About time the guy grew up.

:-)

[amonitrate]

Thanks for reading this monster, and I appreciate you telling me that it had personal resonance for you. The show has highlighted, or made me think about again, aspects of my own family as well, and there's a lot of personal experience in these essays even if I don't talk about myself in them.

The most interesting thing to me about these roles (and the scapegoat in particular as it's what I've been focusing on) is how symbiotic the whole system is. But yeah, ultimately each person in a family hopefully has to find their own way and grow up. I really don't think one can fully be an adult until one steps away from this kind of family dysfunction in the way Sam has started to do and Lucifer failed to do; but it's a very, very difficult process, which I think the show is quite eloquent at illustrating.

[etoile444]

Thank you for this meta. Yes, the show really made me think about family dynamics. I'm an only child so I find sibling relationships facinating.

[amonitrate]

Thanks!