August's Request

   I just love it when inspiration strikes, even when it happens at the most inconvenient moments. I don't remember what Hunter's exact words were yesterday that inspired me but all of a sudden in the middle of class I got a brain-flash that may (hopefully) lead to a possible project/paper idea for this class. At this point I have no idea if I am even on the right track or off on some tangent that is not related at all.

  We have talked extensively about Little, Big and by extension the character August. This character intrigues me but not for his ability to create so many offspring but for one simple request that he made. " All of them...Anyone I want. Power over them" This was his one request of the Kingfisher. One the surface level it seems that he just wants to have power over the Meadows girls but as we have all learned in this book there is always multiple layers of meaning to almost every single word. 

  The level that I wish to focus on is a deeper one than just sexual power August has over teenage girls in the surrounding areas. Whether consciously or subconsciously  I think that August was asking for power over the women in his family and maybe possibly the fairies. We have established at this point that no prior male relative had been able to converse or have interactions with the fairies of Edgewood. The males of this family had felt this absence consciously as shown by Rev. Bramble and the first John Drinkwater. Both had sought to find a connection to this other realm but could only find it through the women of the family, specifically Violet and Nora Cloud. However, August's wish to have power over  Cloud & Violet is thwarted because they possess even more stronger magic than the Kingfisher. This stronger magic is the knowledge given to them from the Tarot cards. Even though they lose possession of the cards in order for August to gain his power, they still retain the knowledge of the cards. 

  Through August's actions, the future generations would be able to strengthen their connection to the fairy world. It seems almost as if because the children were conceived under the influence of the Kingfisher's magic, they themselves would be able to have a much closer connection to the mythical. As the generations follow August, the relationship to the fairies seems to become more concentrated. John Drinkwater II is able to converse with animals. He is the first male that is able to have direct contact with this new realm. Daily Alice is able to converse with animals as well. Sophie was able to do so as a child and her own child becomes so important that it is actually taken by the fairies. Daily Alice's children come to represent the Three Fates or women who can control destiny. Alice's Auberon searches until he finds himself in a position to be considered to be paralleled to a Midsummer Night's Dream Oberon. A person cannot get much closer to the mystical than to be the king of the fairies. 

  These are the connections that popped into my head during class yesterday. I have no idea if they are right or not but I do think it is interesting to consider. However after putting this together into a cohesive format, I have ended up with more questions than I started out with. It is hard to see all of the symbolism in this book, much less to understand it all. I wonder what the actual role of feminine vs masculine when following the train of thought that August changed the natural path of knowledge through the family? By asking for power over them, did August realize that he was seeking power over his mother and sisters? Or the fairies? Are the two mutually exclusive? Can power and knowledge somehow become more concentrated through the generations? Are power and knowledge one and the same in relation to Little, Big?