What is Book Hiding and about River & Simons Parents

POSTED BY: piratejenny
UPDATED: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 02:34
VIEWED: 7130
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PURPLEBELLY

Friday, August 13, 2004 6:17 AM

Let's not forget that Whedon is a Wykehamist.

VERAJAYNE

Friday, August 13, 2004 7:30 AM

My feeling about Book is, that he has got a terrible violence ridden past.

That at some moment in that past he had a "epiphany" and that he WANTS to be a changed man.

I think he was doing ok secluded in his abbey, but out in the real word he is having more trouble with it than he thought he would.

So I wanna know... what was the violence...and what brought about the change?

SHEPHERDQ

Friday, August 13, 2004 10:09 AM

I just thought I would point to things in a slightly new slant.
After the Shindig, Mel and Inara are sitting and talking. Both the conversation and the commentary reveal that they all are misfits. Soon to become a family for each other but still misfits. Shepherd Book is a misfit as well, not really at home in the Abbey anymore. Shepherd book is upset at failing to protect the fed. We see Shepherd Book break a bit during the conversation he has with Inara ( I think I may be on the wrong ship ).When the bounty hunter says .. "He's no Shepherd" he would not know that unless he had seen him before or perhaps worked with him on the "assignment" the feds had OR he empathed more of shepherds past than the present..
He has ID that makes the feds shut up and jump. Perhaps he was " asked" ( forced ) to assist in somthing the feds had done.. and what he saw/did/heard has strained his faith and now aboard Serenity he seeks to regain it and find himself after a time at the Abbey.
"I don't give half a hump if you are innocent or not, so where does that put you?" sounds like something someone would say that has been in Hell and has the man that sent him there at his mercy, and lost his temper. I do not think he was on the ship because anyone else was. In his walk he was looking at ships.. and we see he would have kept walking had Kaylee not spoken to him. If he wanted to be on the ship because someone was, he would have just walked up, no reason to play mystery with Kaylee.
He is an opposite to Mal... during the war, Mal lost his faith when things went south... Forced by his own side to surrender, left by both sides to let thousands more die of wounds waiting for help.
Perhaps Book turned to faith by what caused him an equal amount of stress.. Perhaps he was " asked" ( forced ) to assist in somthing the feds had done.. and what he saw/did/heard has strained his faith and now aboard Serenity he seeks to regain it and find himself. Something he saw, had to do.. and left , went to the Abbey to find peaceand is back in the world a spell. In OOG his new faith is shaken and is hard finding comfort in the book and is afraid as River points out.
He has the strength ( inner ) and skill to act.. taking out the fed and shooting kneecaps as that is protecting, but a far cry from killing which is a no no.
sooo
Forced to work for the feds/alliance
Bad things happen
He becomes a shepherd to find peace in himself
Out in the world, it is not peaceful,
he like the rest, tries to cope.

The Journey is the worthier part.
www.southdownabby.com

DESANGRO

Friday, August 13, 2004 12:20 PM

Myself, I think that Book has an unpleasant past as an Alliance man (possibly a soldier or a secret government agent), and that, driven by guilt, he has taken up the life of a man of God. I believe that his faith is genuine; until he makes a move or says something that convinces me otherwise, I'm going to go with the character as portrayed and not think that he has some hidden, evil ulterior motive.

(Although he could possibly have a connection to the people that got River free from the Academy.)

I definitely think that Gabriel Tam (or Mr. Tam) was in on what the Blue Sun program was doing. I have a hunch that he actively sold his daughter to them for the "good of society", or something like that. He struck me as a person who's willing to compromise the happiness or wishes of another person to satistfy his own honor or prestige, or for some idea of benefit to the Alliance. Mrs. Tam seemed more clueless than sneaky, but since I loaned my DVDs out to my grandfather, I can't watch them again and make sure.

BOOKSWORD

Tuesday, September 28, 2004 8:02 PM

Maybe Book and the Tams are not connected. Maybe he wants to save River in particuler because A)- he stood by while the same thing done to her was done to someone else, because he failed that person by following orders or B)- Maybe with his screwed up past of making victims, saving one victim might seem like redemption or C)- A shepard protects lost souls, whos on Serenity is more lost then River ?

Things that make you go Hmmmm ?

DESANGRO

Tuesday, September 28, 2004 9:24 PM

I don't think that they are connected. It would be or seem too much like a cliche, to me, for Book to be a secretly evil person who is stalking River on some orders from the Alliance, and it would seem like too much of a coincedence for him to be actively watching over her at the behest of the people who helped Simon free her.

I think that Book is just a reformed person who tries to help everyone more or less equally on Serenity.

LIONHEART

Tuesday, September 28, 2004 11:07 PM

Simon's parents, hmm. I can't say whether they knew what was happening, or even suspected. What I can say is that I believe you are all assuming that they think like well-off Americans (or Canadians, Australians etc). Remeber, the Alliance is half Chinese (at least). So I think it is logical to assume that after hundreds of years of exposure, even what we now call westerners would adopt their culture. In the world of Firefly the language, spoken and written, is common enough. Logically ideas of face and honour would be too.
The Tam's react in a way that suggests that they hold those ideas to heart, they are more interested in the staus quo, social and family standing, than individuals or their happiness.
These ideas aren't even exclsively Chinese, plenty of my friends parents are similar and I live in England.
Feel free to disagree, it's only a suggestion.

"Be bloody, bold and resolute..." Macbeth, Shakespeare
Some have said it sums me up.

TRASK43

Wednesday, September 29, 2004 2:31 AM

Some pretty interesting theories, I wonder if river's parents will show up in the film.

www.summer-glau.com

THERON

Wednesday, September 29, 2004 2:34 AM

At the risk of sounding like I am plugging myself, my idea of who and what Shepherd Book is is on this thread. There is another thread in the archives that I cannot seem to find, that has a good many more ideas as well.

http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=7257

As for the Family Tam, I tend to agree with Lionheart. Simon's dad seems more interested in keeping things straight, normal and not rocking the boat. My gut instinct is he either has a clue about what is going on or outright knows, but is keeping it quite so as not to cause trouble. An interesting side note, in the Chinese culture female children are less valued then male children. So he simply may not care.

Just my two bits worth.

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