It's nice, that you give us insight in Azzam's mind. In "Ransom" I have already seen, that he is a complex charakter, but now I understand his person better. At least I know more, how he tries to "save" Aragorn is... queer (I hope that's the word), but you show us his desperation really good. Who knows what man are capeable of doing, if they fear for their family?
I also liked the mention of his time as soldier. There have been hints before, indicating he didn't like it and doesn't what to think about it or have Hakim facing the same. Reading about Azzam think about this -even thogh it was just a little hint- and his thoghs about not having hurt somebody since than were very well placed and fascinating to read- like generally Azzam's thoghs and actions.
And for some reason I found it great to read about his thoghts of Aragorn (or Dakheel) as "Proud, stubborn Dakheel with his quiet dignity". Azzam is "grumbling" about this foreigner who "made him" do so much things he never wanted, but still Azzam can't overlook Aragorn's dignity.
Reading about Aragorn's decision-making was really exciting. I knew what would come out of it, but I like that you show even Aragorn is struggling with this decision. A really, really hard decision, which I think hardly anybody else would have made and this choise is even more remarkable if you keep in mind, that he finds out how to get himself free and later (with Hakim's help) he even has a commensurate chance to flee and survive and everything without telling anybody his name. (I think doing what you have to do and bearing everything if you are forced or at least commanded to is easier that decide on your own while having other, much more confortable choices and guys around you who try to get you to do something else.) I would have run by firsth chance and never endure all of that, but fortunately for Middle earth that's not how Aragorn is.
Seeing Aragorn as a kind of Messiah was awesome. His "I forgive you" made me shiver and I still do not know if it was because of joy vor Azzam or admiration or love for Aragorn or something different, but it was not just a strong sentece from Aragorn, but also said at the exactly right place in the story and focused with the right extent (absolutely not exaggerate, but still so that you have no chance to not really notice it).
Oh, and before I forget it: Great story!!!
It was deeply moving. Seeing Aragorn's heroism gave me a positive feeling and took the hopless tone out of the story, but all that sad and cruel and desperate thoghts and thinks in the story got me really emotional.... Which is great, but I think Ineed to do or read something gaily now...
[Is there a reason why you called this story "To save or to salvage" and not just "To salvage", respectively "to save"? I am asking, because my English is to bad that I would get the meaning of it, even though I have been googeling for the diffenece between save and salvage, etc.]
Author's Response: Thank you so much for that very thoughtful review!
Regarding your question about the title, I'm glad you asked. It's a subtle distinction, even for native English speakers. Basically, it comes down to a difference in connotation. They have the same denotation (in fact, "to salvage" is usually defined as "to save,"), but they're used in slightly different ways. "Save," of course, can have any number of usages ranging from "You saved my life" to "I saved a dollar on this shirt." In this story, though, when I use the word "save," I'm talking about saving lives. The equivalent word as a noun would be "salvation," which has strong Biblical connotations.
"Salvage," on the other hand, can be used as a verb or a noun. It's most commonly connected with the idea of marine salvage; after a ship wrecks, you can cut your losses by "salvaging" the cargo, though you usually can't get it all back. It therefore means something closer to "to recover." You can save people (or things), but you can only salvage things. "Saving" can be an altruistic act while "salvaging" is usually motivated by profit.
Which brings me to this story. Azzam starts out in Ransom thinking he can "save" Aragorn. He has saved his life, and he thinks he can fix the whole situation by sending Aragorn home and collecting a ransom. Halfway through this story, he is finally forced to give up on that at which point he enters what we might call a "salvage mindset." There has been a disaster and he can't put everything back the way it was. All he can do is salvage the situation and limit the damage. So, in the end, he chooses what seems like the least bad of several terrible options; he protects himself, his farm, and his family while sending Aragorn away to a fate that *maybe* will not result in his death.
But, here's the cool part: Aragorn's character arc in this story is the exact opposite of Azzam's. Aragorn starts out thinking that he's done everything he can do and that his only option now is to limit the damage. But, then he starts to think about all the people who are directly or indirectly in need of salvation--the Gondorian and Rohirric slaves, Hakim and his family, maybe even Harad itself. The way I see it, it's not really in his nature to just give up when people need him--not if there's anything he can do to help. Thus, by the end, he's regained his determination and a sort of internal hope (his "estel," as we might say in Sindarin). Azzam, who started from a place of altruism, is forced to prioritize his own self-interest, but Aragorn, who started out just trying to protect himself, moves into the more altruistic framework of trying to save others.
:) Thanks for tolerating my rambling. I'm so glad you enjoyed this story! I wish I had a nice, happy fic that I could recommend to help you recover. Clearly, I need to write more fluffy fics to help my readers survive my angsty fics!
-Brennan |
