Thematic Close Reading: Graceling

                One passage that sets a lot of the groundwork for the thematic resonance of the novel is the scene in chapter seven where Helda gets Katsa ready for a dinner party with king Randa (pages 62- 64). The passage starts with Helda pulling knots out of Katsa’s hair. This is shown as a contrast between Katsa’s actions: she is described as having thrown her party clothing about. Helda looks for Katsa’s shoes while katsa herself does as little as possible to postpone dressing up.

                The first discussion in the passage is about Katsa and Helda arguing about a red dress. When the dress is introduced, it is done so presumably through the opinions of Helda. It is described as “bright as the tomatoes Randa imported from Lienid, the tomatoes that tasted as rich and sweet as his chef’s chocolate cake.” Not only is the description based on food, the metaphor seems to be incorrect, the flavors in the description do not match and it is most likely because Helda has not tasted one or both of the foods.

                Then the conversation switches to the first disagreement between the two: Katsa does not want to wear the red dress. Helda says it’s pretty like the color of sunrise, but Katsa responds “it’s the color of Blood.” This implies not only that Katsa does have some psychological damage from her position as an assassin, but also that Helda is woefully unable to relate to her.

                When Katsa gets her hair washed, she says that she wishes she could cut it off because “It’s not worth the nuisance.” This is an obvious subversion of typical gender standards. But it is important to note that her hair condition is talked about through the context of her role as an assassin. Helda says that she should make herself look pretty for lord Giddon, and he the conversation turns into the final bit of narration. It explains how lady Helda cannot understand how ANY woman could not want to me beautiful and married.

                In this final portion of the passage the reader can see that this embodies one of the main themes of the book, not only is Katsa rebelling, by the end of the novel when she decides to teach women how to protect themselves, she is actively going against what she was taught. She becomes a leader but trains people in the skills that will actually give them power.