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captainhurricane) wrote2019-08-12 09:55 am
captainhurricane) wrote2019-08-12 09:55 am
Thoughts on villains: Joseph Kavinsky
masterpost
I go back to Kavinsky in my thoughts once in a while. Kavinsky, at first, perhaps is just your average YA bad boy: on the edge of getting kicked out of his prestigious, awful school, leader of his own pack of rowdy wolves, drug user, possibly a drug dealer at the tender age of 17- except Kavinsky is a dream thief. Except Kavinsky is a mirror to the protagonists of the Raven Cycle, especially to another dream thief, Ronan Lynch.
Magic in the The Raven Cycle-universe is something almost casual, something that simmers below the surface. It is something that just is and that some can wield, if they give themselves to it. I can't talk about Kavinsky's way of magic without talking about Ronan Lynch as well. Because all good villains and antagonists should be mirrors to the protagonists and heroes: villains show where the heroes can go wrong.
Kavinsky is a boy lost, a boy who lives in the night more than the day. Ronan Lynch lives with traumatic memories and a family, both biological and the one he's made, and tries to be better himself.
Kavinsky has no family. Kavinsky has no friends, he only has followers, worshippers, enablers.
Is that where they went into different directions, these two dream thieves? Because especially in your teenage years, you are molded by the people you befriend, the people you hang out with. Maybe more than your family. As the book Dream Thieves only gives us Ronan's side of the story, we only know Kavinsky through his eyes. We only know that Kavinsky comes from a broken home and organizes infamous parties in the night, especially Fourth of July. More than the other villains and antagonists of the Raven Cycle, I think Kavinsky stayed with me because he felt the most human.
Certainly he has his power to bring back things from his dreams, yes. Certainly he has no remorse for his actions, he's as ready to kill Ronan as to kiss him. Kavinsky's obsession with Ronan is shown through Ronan's POV, so we don't know how and where Kavinsky even noticed him- so I can't help but wonder... does Kavinsky recognize that Ronan is what Kavinsky could be if he had people who genuinely cared about him? If Kavinsky too, had a Gansey of his own? Someone who grabbed his arm and told him that this is too much, this is going too far.
Granted, it's been a while since I read Dream Thieves, but Kavinsky remains in my mind like a thief in the night, one with that infamous car of his, more bitterness and anger than just boy. A boy who can be read as being in love with Ronan, being obsessed with Ronan, being jealous of the fact that despite recognizing a kindred spirit in Ronan, Ronan is still higher above than him.
Kavinsky is an explosion in the shape of a boy and the fact that he's just seventeen, gives him a touch of tragedy that I can't quite deal with it. I can't say that Ronan is a good person either: Ronan is a hot mess of his own (that's what seeing your father's bloody, murdered corpse does to you), is often described as a snake, father to a baby crow, wielder of powers that have always been a part of him. But Ronan can be sympathized with, Ronan learns from his mistakes and recognizes his fault. Ronan comes out better for it: a better friend, a better boyfriend, a better... well, spoilers.
Kavinsky is never given the chance to be better. Kavinsky appears to the scene like a ghost and vanishes like a ghost. And sometimes... that's the real tragedy, in real life or in fiction, isn't it? You aren't always given second chances. You don't always find friends who see the real you.
What makes Kavinsky effective as an antagonist to me, personally, is how he mirrors what Ronan could be if Ronan made all the bad, wrong choices: if Ronan pushed away his friends an used his powers for his own gain and lacked empathy. Maybe most of all, if Ronan didn't have Gansey. While Gansey, as one of the main characters and the one that most of the story revolves around, is like a Disney Prince, sometimes a little too perfect to feel real, he serves the most important function to Ronan's story. To me, at least. Gansey is the one who's been friends with Ronan the longest. Ronan is endlessly loyal to Gansey and while they might bicker and banter, it's always clear there is deep trust and love there.
I read another reader's headcanon once that Gansey is the one who shaved Ronan's head and I love that: it feels natural to think that Gansey is the one Ronan would trust that job to. Gansey is a flawed person too, a Disney prince closer to the ground and he recognizes Ronan as his brother, his best friend and pulls him away from letting himself be swallowed up by the dark. The books never go into detail on the darkest times of Ronan's life- straight after his father's violent death- but one can only imagine what something like that does to a growing kid's psyche.
Compare that to Kavinsky: from what I remember, his father's a drug dealer, his mother's a neglicent drunk. Kavinsky is never been cared for like Ronan has and thus, Kavinsky makes himself into a survivor, a lone wolf at the head of his pack- the book literally describes him and his "friends" as a pack of dogs- and clearly thinks he is fine like that. Except. Except his meetings with Ronan show that maybe, somewhere deep down, Kavinsky has that instinctual need for companionship. He thinks he's found a brother in Ronan, someone who would understand where Kavinsky is coming from.
And that's the real tragedy, to me. That in the end Ronan has a home and a family to go back to. Kavinsky has no one..
I go back to Kavinsky in my thoughts once in a while. Kavinsky, at first, perhaps is just your average YA bad boy: on the edge of getting kicked out of his prestigious, awful school, leader of his own pack of rowdy wolves, drug user, possibly a drug dealer at the tender age of 17- except Kavinsky is a dream thief. Except Kavinsky is a mirror to the protagonists of the Raven Cycle, especially to another dream thief, Ronan Lynch.
Magic in the The Raven Cycle-universe is something almost casual, something that simmers below the surface. It is something that just is and that some can wield, if they give themselves to it. I can't talk about Kavinsky's way of magic without talking about Ronan Lynch as well. Because all good villains and antagonists should be mirrors to the protagonists and heroes: villains show where the heroes can go wrong.
Kavinsky is a boy lost, a boy who lives in the night more than the day. Ronan Lynch lives with traumatic memories and a family, both biological and the one he's made, and tries to be better himself.
Kavinsky has no family. Kavinsky has no friends, he only has followers, worshippers, enablers.
Is that where they went into different directions, these two dream thieves? Because especially in your teenage years, you are molded by the people you befriend, the people you hang out with. Maybe more than your family. As the book Dream Thieves only gives us Ronan's side of the story, we only know Kavinsky through his eyes. We only know that Kavinsky comes from a broken home and organizes infamous parties in the night, especially Fourth of July. More than the other villains and antagonists of the Raven Cycle, I think Kavinsky stayed with me because he felt the most human.
Certainly he has his power to bring back things from his dreams, yes. Certainly he has no remorse for his actions, he's as ready to kill Ronan as to kiss him. Kavinsky's obsession with Ronan is shown through Ronan's POV, so we don't know how and where Kavinsky even noticed him- so I can't help but wonder... does Kavinsky recognize that Ronan is what Kavinsky could be if he had people who genuinely cared about him? If Kavinsky too, had a Gansey of his own? Someone who grabbed his arm and told him that this is too much, this is going too far.
Granted, it's been a while since I read Dream Thieves, but Kavinsky remains in my mind like a thief in the night, one with that infamous car of his, more bitterness and anger than just boy. A boy who can be read as being in love with Ronan, being obsessed with Ronan, being jealous of the fact that despite recognizing a kindred spirit in Ronan, Ronan is still higher above than him.
Kavinsky is an explosion in the shape of a boy and the fact that he's just seventeen, gives him a touch of tragedy that I can't quite deal with it. I can't say that Ronan is a good person either: Ronan is a hot mess of his own (that's what seeing your father's bloody, murdered corpse does to you), is often described as a snake, father to a baby crow, wielder of powers that have always been a part of him. But Ronan can be sympathized with, Ronan learns from his mistakes and recognizes his fault. Ronan comes out better for it: a better friend, a better boyfriend, a better... well, spoilers.
Kavinsky is never given the chance to be better. Kavinsky appears to the scene like a ghost and vanishes like a ghost. And sometimes... that's the real tragedy, in real life or in fiction, isn't it? You aren't always given second chances. You don't always find friends who see the real you.
What makes Kavinsky effective as an antagonist to me, personally, is how he mirrors what Ronan could be if Ronan made all the bad, wrong choices: if Ronan pushed away his friends an used his powers for his own gain and lacked empathy. Maybe most of all, if Ronan didn't have Gansey. While Gansey, as one of the main characters and the one that most of the story revolves around, is like a Disney Prince, sometimes a little too perfect to feel real, he serves the most important function to Ronan's story. To me, at least. Gansey is the one who's been friends with Ronan the longest. Ronan is endlessly loyal to Gansey and while they might bicker and banter, it's always clear there is deep trust and love there.
I read another reader's headcanon once that Gansey is the one who shaved Ronan's head and I love that: it feels natural to think that Gansey is the one Ronan would trust that job to. Gansey is a flawed person too, a Disney prince closer to the ground and he recognizes Ronan as his brother, his best friend and pulls him away from letting himself be swallowed up by the dark. The books never go into detail on the darkest times of Ronan's life- straight after his father's violent death- but one can only imagine what something like that does to a growing kid's psyche.
Compare that to Kavinsky: from what I remember, his father's a drug dealer, his mother's a neglicent drunk. Kavinsky is never been cared for like Ronan has and thus, Kavinsky makes himself into a survivor, a lone wolf at the head of his pack- the book literally describes him and his "friends" as a pack of dogs- and clearly thinks he is fine like that. Except. Except his meetings with Ronan show that maybe, somewhere deep down, Kavinsky has that instinctual need for companionship. He thinks he's found a brother in Ronan, someone who would understand where Kavinsky is coming from.
And that's the real tragedy, to me. That in the end Ronan has a home and a family to go back to. Kavinsky has no one..