I think the Price-Healy ethic is that genocide of a species is, in general, a dangerous thing (see: the unicorn example), and unicorns could be more troubling than ghouls because they might not be capable of being reasoned with. So you have the same problem of any dangerous animal: it serves an important purpose to the ecosystem but also will harm the unwary, which means you have to be clever and active about keeping an eye on things.
(The ghoul didn't bother me much, because of Verity's lack of resources -- she could kick the snot out of him and threaten him, or maim/kill him, but not something like... 'have him trucked off to stand trial' because that would open about a million cans of worms at once. Add in that Verity's ability to be seen as a member of the cryptid community and not a dangerous outsider depends on her ability to be seen as above reproach, so by killing one criminal, she might cut herself off from whatever good she can do in New York if the cryptid population doesn't believe her when she carts in the evidence of 'he was eating people'.
But I think a lot of that was not stated in the text (certainly not in the opening chapter); Verity later talks about how tentative her family's acceptance is among cryptids and that people still hold grudges for things that her grandfather did before he married her grandmother. Or what her great-great grandparents did before they came to America. And that part of the reason she's allowed to be in NYC is to build ties with the community.)
I definitely think there was a lot more going on in that scene than was actually written on the pages. (Seanan has a comment below about what she was going for there as well.)
Even with dangerous animals, if you get one that starts killing people, it's not uncommon to put that animal down.
I trust Seanan as an author to not do this sort of thing without thinking it through. But while it was a deliberate choice, I also get why it didn't work for some people.
(The ghoul didn't bother me much, because of Verity's lack of resources -- she could kick the snot out of him and threaten him, or maim/kill him, but not something like... 'have him trucked off to stand trial' because that would open about a million cans of worms at once. Add in that Verity's ability to be seen as a member of the cryptid community and not a dangerous outsider depends on her ability to be seen as above reproach, so by killing one criminal, she might cut herself off from whatever good she can do in New York if the cryptid population doesn't believe her when she carts in the evidence of 'he was eating people'.
But I think a lot of that was not stated in the text (certainly not in the opening chapter); Verity later talks about how tentative her family's acceptance is among cryptids and that people still hold grudges for things that her grandfather did before he married her grandmother. Or what her great-great grandparents did before they came to America. And that part of the reason she's allowed to be in NYC is to build ties with the community.)
Reply
Even with dangerous animals, if you get one that starts killing people, it's not uncommon to put that animal down.
I trust Seanan as an author to not do this sort of thing without thinking it through. But while it was a deliberate choice, I also get why it didn't work for some people.
Reply
Leave a comment