Monday, October 18, 2010

The Clockwork Angel

The Clockwork Angel is a fantasy novel by Cassandra Claire. The story is told primarily from the perspective of a girl named Teresa or Tessa Grey. Tessa travels from New York City to London, England shortly after her aunt and guardian Harriet dies to be with her brother Nathaniel. She meets two women who she calls the dark sisters upon her arrival in London who tell her that they are there to transport her to her brother. They take her to their house and force her to shape-shift or ‘change’. She is held prisoner by the dark sisters until a man named Will Herondale comes to rescue her. He takes her to where he lives with several other orphans at a place called the Institute.
Tessa’s goal throughout the entire book is to find her brother who the dark sisters claimed they were holding prisoner. Will Herondale, who is a superhuman being called a Nephilim (a cross between an angel and a human), is trying to solve a murder of a young girl named Emma Bayliss. Tessa and the other Nephilim that live in the institute all grow very close and help each other through the many conflicts that arise throughout the book.

Questions: Throughout the whole book Tessa forces her friendship on Will. Although they become friends as the book progresses do you think it was beneficial for her to push her friendship on him or do you think that it would have been better if she was less persistant?

Because of her encounter with the dark sisters Tessa becomes very guarded with her emotions and this often pushes people away. Do you think that there should be a limit to how much people guard their emotions?

3 comments:

Sara D. 7-8 said...

I think it would be beneficial for her to push her friendship on him because as a friend, she might ask for his help to find her brother and in return she would help him solve the mystery of the murdered girl, Emma. Otherwise, if they hadn't become friends, he probably wouldn't do such a big favor for her if she asked him to.

Brandon Messner said...

1. When trying to make someone comfortable with you, it is normally not best to be excessively persistent with bringing your friendship upon them. She probably would have been better off if she was more relaxed with Will.

2. I do think that there should be a limit of emotion-guarding. After all, emotional problems are commonly solved by someone talking about them to another person. Tessa probably would have been better off if she was more open with her emotions to other people, it would help solve her emotional problems.

Lisa T. 1-2 said...

Everyone needs human interaction to deal with their emotions. But trusting people can be too easy sometimes, making trust one of the most vulnerable connections you can make with others. After being let down, it's hard to start believing in human nature again. Tessa's emotional well-being would be better off if she could let other people in, but guarding one's emotions isn't always voluntary. It's about taking risks, and whether or not trusting somebody is worth the possibility of disappointment.