In the novel The Raging Quiet by Sherry Jordan, an important relationship is that between Marine and Raven. This relationship helps us to understand the idea that perceived 'outsiders' can be treated inhumanely by a community. Marine is treated as an outsider because of her sex and her ill-defined place in a medieval society. Raven is treated as an outsider because of his disability.
Together, their relationship founded on their similar backgrounds gains the reader's empathy. Jordan is able to use this relationship to portray the importance of being included within a community.Marine is treated as an outsider because of her sex and her ill-defined place in a medieval society. Instead of living within the generic profile of a woman, Marine disregards the idea that women can't work as hard as men, and she spends her days working passionately alongside her father.
"Because her Father had been elected as overseer on the Lord's estate, she could have been given lighter duties, but took no privileges and worked harder than most. " Because of her insistence to step outside the typical profile of a woman, Marine is treated as an outsider by the people of Freight.Raven is treated as an outsider because of his disability. All his life, Raven has been an outcast.
He has never had the opportunity to be accepted for who he is. Growing up as an orphan in Torturer, the villagers began to accuse him of being filled with demons because of his strange behavioral outbursts. Father Brannon attempts to care for him, but whenever he isn't around, the villagers try to beat the apparent 'evil spirits' out of Raven. They are completely unaware that the reason Raven acts the way he does is because he is actually deaf.
The villagers have always ostracizes Raven because of the deceptive lies they believe; that he is filled with demons, rather Han suffering with a mere disability. When they meet in Torturer, Raven immediately touches Mariner's heart. She is wary of the fact that she has Just seen him getting whipped for being controlled by demons, but offers him food despite this. Marine is one of only a few people who have ever accepted Raven, and the reader can distinctly feel the Joy that he would have felt as Marine becomes friends with him.Even as Marine lives in Torturer, she is treated as an outsider. As soon as she arrives, villagers nosily question why she has married a Lord, quite obviously a man of much higher society than herself.
They re dubious about her and 'sake living in the Witch's cottage' and even more apprehensive when 'sake dies suddenly two days later. When they discover that Marine has become friends with Raven, their suspicion increases greatly. Mariner's discovery that Raven isn't actually filled with demons, but has a hearing disability leads their relationship deeper.Marine is no longer afraid of Raven, but has answers for the weird noises he makes, and his inhumane ways of completing tasks.
Marine promises Father Brannon that she will learn to communicate with Raven. This new form of communication, fluttering', or hand signals is a language hat only the two of them understand. When two people share a secret that big, there is no question that it leads them closer. As the story continues, Marine teaches Raven how to do many human things, and Raven teaches Marine how to dance in the moonlight.
This new language does not bring peace for everyone however. The villagers remain suspicious about the hand signals, and accuse Marine of being a witch and cursing both Raven and Father Brannon. Marine is trialed for witchcraft, and Raven attempts to help her recover. Their relationship grows steadily as they travel through triumphs and pain together.
Jordan expresses the idea that perceived outsiders can be treated inhumanely by a community through these characters.She communicates that if two people have similar backgrounds, they are likely to bond because of their sufferings and form a deep relationship. Although Marine and Raven traveled down very different paths of exclusion and being treated as outsiders, the reality is that they suffered similarly in their communities. Jordan also teaches us that if one suffering person Joins another suffering person, despite the pain, there will be much Joy. Raven and Mariner's relationship helps the reader to understand the idea of exclusion room the 'outsider's' point of view.You can see that separately, they suffered greatly and were treated terribly, but their relationship is founded on their similar backgrounds and therefore the idea of inhumane treatment is eased as they are seemingly able to help each other carry their burdens.
Jordan uses the relationship between Marine and Raven to express the deep idea that outsiders can truly be treated in an inhumane way within their community. She invites the reader to look at areas of their own life where they could help other people through. Jordan is able to communicate clearly the importance of being included within a society.
