The question of Hair from Thursday

The discussion for Thursday was asking if hair had any impact on the nature I guess of a character. In the long run hair is only a superficial thing that can be changed whenever, but when you really think about it hair can also be a vital part to any character. For instance the braid that Katniss sported through most of the hunger games, would her character have been as effective had she had long, curly, flowing hair? Keeping hair in a braid, although feminine, definitely has a masculine side.  The idea of needing to keep your hair back and away from the face adds a more mature and serious outlook to the character, especially one that is put in danger all the time. It could be argued that hair and the way hair is styled, heck even the color of hair, has a lot of importance to the character. It can be seen as a source of beauty for the character, or in the event the character dislikes their hair, a source of anger and quirkiness that adds to the flaws making them more “relatable”. Hair is not just a visual tool used by authors, but a part of character development that is essential to how we view things in our mind. 

Does genders importance extend to animals?

While reading Deerskin, I continually was brought back to the idea of not only gender, but of animals and their importance as well. The biggest idea I had was what if Ash had been a male dog? Would the whole experience had been as heartfelt? Ash was the constant companion to Lissar and through Lissar’s troubling times with her father  was always there not only as comfort, but as a friend and a sort of guide to the right path to continue on. This begs the question of whether or  not Lissar would be the same person at the end of the book had Ash been male. It’s not central to the storyline of course, but with her sort of “godmother” watching over her and helping her out, and the caretaker of her as a child being female, one can only wonder if women are the only people who can comfort her during the majority of her life?