Well, her arrogance is her most notable quality in this
great dystopian novel. In addition, you might want to consider the following aspects
about her. She likes to deliver sermon-like orations to explain how she sees the world.
The amount of dialogue that is given to her is amazing, and David variously describes
what she says as an "apologia" and a "disquisition." Her "rhetorical style" is something
that David and the others struggle to keep up with, and, interestingly, we could argue
that the Sealand woman finds a parallel with David's father, as both are passionately
evangelical about what they believe, even though their beliefs are completely
different.
However, in addition to these more negative
traits, she is shown to be sympathetic and compassionate. Note the way that she
carefully explains why they are unable to go to Waknuk and collect Rachel, and what
David says about her afterwards:
readability="11">
There was a pause while we appreciated the
situation. She had made it clear enough, and she sat back, a motionless figure in her
gleaming white suit, her knees drawn up and her hands clasped round them, waiting
sympathetically and patiently for us to accept the
facts.
However, this positive
description of her is then somewhat undercut by her matter-of-fact description of how
she has just slaughtered all of the other people in the Fringes. Thus, although the
Sealand woman is shown to have some positive traits, at the same time perhaps we can
argue that her negative traits are more notable.
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