Ove sam se godine već pronašla u temi progona vještica, čitajući Zagorkinu "Gričku vješticu", te obnoviti sjećanja na ta vremena kada je svaka iole sposobna osoba bila proglašavana vješticom. Samo što moram primijetiti kako je Zagorka taj dio ljudske povijesti opisala na iznimno kvalitetan i detaljan način te nam poprilično približila tu tešku temu.
Užasno mi je pojmiti kako se nečiju kvalitetu i nečiji sjaj te isticanje iz gomile karakteriziralo kao nešto neprirodno i vrijedno prijezira. Koliko se ljudi tijekom povijesti i života ističe nekom svojom posebnošću, znanjem i radom, a sve je to, umjesto da je hvaljeno i iskorišteno za dobrobit sviju, bilo sputano i odbačeno kao nešto neprirodno.
Kad se tako malo zamislim, vidim kako je nekim ljudima duševna hrana pokazivati nadmoć nad nekime, smanjivati njegov životni sjaj umjesto da se tu istu osobu postavi kao sebi ravnu i omogući procvat na svim područjima. Lakše je samog sebe potkopavati kroz drugoga, umjesto da se pruži ruka pomoći i odobravanja te omogući uspjeh. Jer ljudi ne vide kako kroz zatiranje drugoga, zapravo škode sebi samima.
U "Familijarima" pratimo mladu gospodaricu Fleetwood Shuttleworth, sedamnaestogodišnju suprugu koja je već četvrti put trudna, ali još nijednom majka. Iza sebe ima već tri neuspješne trudnoće i već se ozbiljno dovodi u pitanje njezin opstanak u ulozi supruge.
Društvo kaže kako je ženin osnovni zadatak da, donošenjem nasljednika, osigura prenošenje vlasništva nad imovinom. Ali koliko god se ona trudila donijeti nasljednika svome mužu i njegovoj imovini, toliko joj taj pothvat ne uspijeva.
Mlada Fleetwood iz nekog razloga, prilikom svake trudnoće, postaje sve iscrpljenija, slabija i to se odražava na njezinom tijelu. Ispada joj kosa, koža joj je mišje sive boje, ne jede i jednostavno ne živi. Poput duha prolazi hodnicima zlatne palače i moli se da konačno dođe do dugoočekivanog nasljednika koji će joj osigurati opstanak u obitelji.
Osim muža i majke (s kojom ne može voditi normalan razgovor, a da se ne posvađaju), nema nikoga na ovom svijetu i ne može povjeriti svoje boli. Usamljena je i opterećena težinom odredbi društva, a sve se to odražava na njezinoj duši, tijelu i potomku, kojega nije u mogućnosti donijeti na svijet.
Sve se mijenja onog dana kada slučajno upoznaje mladu Alice Gray, djevojku iz susjednog sela, koja joj obećaje pomoći oko poroda, ali i tijekom same trudnoće. Isprva sumnja u njezine sposobnosti i iskustvo zbog Alicine mladosti, ali ipak vidi kako u narednom periodu, postaje sve bolje, kako joj je kosa ponovno gusta, vraća joj se apetit i volja za boravkom u prirodi te općenito volja za životom. Alice joj donosi trave i pripravke koje stavlja u hranu, a kojima joj se vraća snaga u tijelo i na tomu je neizmjerno zahvalna. Čak osjeti pokrete bebe u trbuhu što dosad nije imala prilike osjetiti. Svakim danom sve više cvjeta...
Uza sve to, Alice joj postaje prijateljica. Po prvi put osjeti kako je imati nekoga u životu komu se može povjeriti. Samo što s tim prijateljstvom krši osnovno pravilo društva: Sa poslugom se gospodari ne miješaju. Ali to njoj nije važno i jasno daje do znanja kako joj je Alice dragocjena karika u životu.
Fleetwood živi u tom idiličnom snu do onog trenutka kada Alice optuže da je vještica i odvode ju na suđenje. Pritom se javlja bol zbog gubitka prijateljice, ali i strah kako će preživjeti porod. Paralelno otkriva kako joj muž ima još jednu ženu s kojom čeka dijete. U to je vrijeme bilo pod normalno da muškarci u životu imaju više žena i koje plode samo kako bi bili potpuno sigurni u nastavak loze i prijenos nasljedstva.
Spletom svih tih okolnosti i okupana u boli i nepravdi, svakodnevno se sukobljava sa mužem i majkom te glavnim sucem za vještice Rogerom Nowellom. Prkosi njihovim odredbama, putuje po okrugu, ispituje Alicine poznanike o događajima koji su prethodili optužbi i skuplja dokaze kako bi ju oslobodila. Pritom riskira svoj vlastiti život, ali i život svog djeteta.
Ako ste čuli za suđenje vješticama iz Pendlea koje se odvilo 1612. godine, tada ste, ukoliko odlučite pročitati "Familijare", došli u doticaj sa bliskim dijelom informacija o tom događaju. Moram priznati kako sam dosad, osim Zagorkinog doprinosa toj temi, došla jedino u doticaj sa progonima vještica iz Salema dok mi je ovaj događaj bio krajnje nepoznat.
Dodatna vrijednost proizašla iz čitanja jest ta da sam se odlučila na istraživanje tog događaja kako bih još nešto novo naučila. Ne radi se o događaju koji čovječanstvu ide na ponos, ali ipak omogućuje uvid u prijašnja vremena te služi kao opomena novim generacijama. Samo što ovisi o tim novim generacijama hoće li iz nastalog događaja nešto naučiti.
Mnoge su teme prošle kroz mene čitajući ovo djelo, ali tema prijateljstva je jedna od tema koje ne smijem zaboraviti. Naime, u današnje vrijeme, imati prijatelja je nešto neprocjenjivo. Naravno, imamo životne partnere, obitelj, kućne ljubimce, ali imamo i prijatelje.
Dobrog je prijatelja teško naći. Misliš si kako imaš osobu od povjerenja, a zatim se čudiš što te ta osoba napustila. Imaš nekoga s kime bi se rado našla na kavi ili šetnji ili nečem trećem, a na kraju ostaneš sam.
S druge strane imaš nekoga komu povjeravaš sve svoje tajne, iznosiš brige i daješ savjete. I znaš da ti ta osoba neće zabiti nož u leđa. To su dvije strane kovanice zvane prijateljstvo...
Alice je jedna od onih koja je bila spremna pomoći, ali ne bih dala ruku u vatru da bi, nakon te pomoći, uistinu i ostala uz Fleetwood. Alice je bila svjesna svog društvenog položaja te toga da se ne može držati do kraja života Fleetwoodine haljine. I to je sasvim u redu. Alice je htjela ostvariti svoje želje u životu, a ne živjeti ga kroz Fleetwoodine oči. Bila sam spremna osuditi Alice zbog toga, ali sam pišući ovu objavu, shvatila kako joj time radim krivo.
S druge strane, Fleetwood je ona vrsta prijatelja koja je naivno spremna boriti se protiv sustava, protiv svih, igrati se sa životom, samo kako bi spasila prijateljicu. Ona je toliko nevina i čista u duši te samo vidi misiju u kojoj pomaže prijateljici. Moglo bi se reći kako je Fleetwood neiskvareno dijete, neiskusno i neokaljano životom. Pritom nije razvila svijest gdje treba pustiti drugoga da živi svoj život i kako svojim položajem ne bi trebala držati stražu i čuvati Alice pod svaku cijenu.
Povremeno trebamo neke stvari pustiti kako bismo vidjeli kako će se kockice posložiti... Nije poanta u držanju kontrole već u pokazivanju svojih sposobnosti tako da se uzde povremeno daju drugomu na upravljanje...
Odlučila sam pročitati ovu knjigu na preporuku i drago mi je da jesam. Ne mogu reći kako me oduševila i kako ću je se dugoročno sjećati i spominjati u razgovoru. Ali zato mogu reći kako mi je dodatno približila vrijeme progona vještica, odnosa tadašnjeg društva prema tim "obilježenim i omraženim ljudima". Približen mi je odnos tadašnjeg muškarca i njegova očekivanja vezana uz ženu i suprugu te stavove društva. I posljednje, približen mi je pojam prijateljstva te slojeva prijateljstva jer nisu sva ista.
Ako vas možda zanima dodatno o autorici knjige "Familijari" ili možda informacije o njezinim drugim djelima, na ovom linku možete posjetiti njezinu službenu stranicu: www.staceyhalls.com
Do iduće objave,
Voli vas vaša Goga
This year, I have already found myself in the topic of persecution of witches, reading Zagorka's "Grička vještica", and to renew my memories of those times when every competent person was declared a witch. I just have to notice that Zagorka described this part of human history in an extremely high-quality and detailed way, and brought us closer to this hard topic.
It’s horrible for me to realize how someone’s quality and someone’s brilliance and stand out from the crowd was characterized as something unnatural and despicable. How many people in history and life stand out for their uniqueness, knowledge and work, and all this, instead of being praised and used for the benefit of all, was restrained and rejected as something unnatural.
When I think about, I see how it is spiritual food for some people to show superiority over someone, to reduce their quality instead of making that same person equal to themselves and allow them to flourish in all areas. It is easier to undermine oneself through another, instead of offering a hand of help and approval and enabling success. It is because people don’t see how through the oppression of another, they are actually harming themselves.
In "The Familiars" we follow the young mistress Fleetwood Shuttleworth, a seventeen-year-old wife who is pregnant for the fourth time, but not yet a mother. She has already had three failed pregnancies and her survival as a wife is already being seriously questioned.
The Society says the woman’s primary task is, by bringing in an heir to the family, to ensure the transfer of property ownership. But as much as she tries to bring an heir to her husband and his property, she keeps on failing this task.
Young Fleetwood for some reason, with each pregnancy, becomes more and more exhausted, weaker and this is reflected on her body. Her hair is falling out, her skin is mouse gray, she doesn't eat and she just doesn't live. Like a ghost, she walks through the corridors of the golden palace and prays that she will finally find a long-awaited heir who will ensure her survival in the family.
Except for her husband and mother (with whom she cannot have a normal conversation without arguing), there is no one in this world and she cannot confide her pain. She is lonely and burdened by the weight of the society, and all this is reflected in her soul, body and offspring, which she is unable to bring into the world.
Everything changes the day she accidentally meets young Alice Gray, a girl from a neighboring village, who promises to help her with childbirth, but also during the pregnancy itself. At first she doubts her abilities and experience due to Alice's youth, but still sees how in the coming period she gets better, how her hair is thick again, her appetite and will to stay in nature and her will to live in general return. Alice brings herbs and preparations that she puts in food, which restores strength to her body, and she is immensely grateful for that. She even felt the baby's movements in her belly, which she had never had a chance to feel before. She is blooming more and more every day...
With all that, Alice becomes her friend. For the first time, she feels like having someone in her life to whom she can trust. The only thing on the way to true happiness is that friendship violates the basic rule of society: Masters do not interfere with the servants. But that doesn't matter to Fleetwood and she makes it clear that Alice is a precious link in her life.
Fleetwood lives in that idyllic dream until the moment when Alice is accused of being a witch and taken to trial. There is pain due to the loss of a friend, but also fear of surviving childbirth. She also finds out that her husband has another woman with whom he is expecting a child. At that period of time, it was normal for men to have more women in their lives and to impregnate them just to be completely sure of the continuation of the lineage and the inheritance transfer.
Combined with all these circumstances and rinsed in pain and injustice, she is in daily conflict with her husband, mother and chief witch judge Roger Nowell. She defies their prohibitions, travels around the district, interrogates Alice's acquaintances about the events that preceded the accusation, and gathers evidence to save her. In doing so, she risks her own life, but also the life of her child.
If you’ve heard of the Pendle witch trial that took place in 1612, then if you decide to read „The Familiars“, you’ve come in contact with a close piece of information about that event. I must admit that so far, apart from Zagorka's contribution to this topic, I have only came into contact with the persecution of witches from Salem, while this event was extremely unknown to me.
The added value that came from reading was that I decided to research that event to learn something new. It is not an event that humanity is proud of, but it still provides an insight into the past and serves as a reminder to new generations. It just depends on these new generations whether they will learn something from the event.
Many topics have passed through me while reading this book, but the topic of friendship is one of the topics that I must not forget. Nowadays, having a friend is something priceless. Of course, we have life partners, family, pets, but we also have friends.
A good friend is hard to find. You think you have a person you trust, and then you wonder why that person left you. You have someone you would love to meet for coffee or a walk or something, and you end up alone.
On the other hand, you have someone to whom you entrust all your secrets, express your worries and give advice. And you know that person won't stab you in the back. These are two sides of the coin called friendship ...
Alice is one of those who was willing to help, but I am not sure that, after giving help, she would truly stay with Fleetwood. Alice was aware of her social status and that she could not hold on to Fleetwood's dress for the rest of her life. And that's fine. Alice wanted to make her wishes come true in life, not live it through Fleetwood’s eyes. I was willing to condemn Alice for it, but as I was writing this post, I realized I was doing her wrong.
Fleetwood, on the other hand, is the kind of friend who is naively willing to fight the system, against everyone, to play with her life, just to save a friend. She is so innocent and pure at heart that she only sees a mission in which she helps a friend. One could say that Fleetwood is an unspoiled child, inexperienced and untainted by life. In doing so, she did not develop an awareness of how to let another person live their life and that her position in society should not guard Alice at all costs.
Occasionally we need to let go of some things to see how the dice will be arranged ... The point is not to keep control but to show your abilities so that the reins are occasionally given to someone else to manage...
I decided to read this book on recommendation and I’m glad I did. I can’t say how thrilled I was and how I will remember and mention her in the conversation in the long run. But that's why I can say that the time of the persecution of witches, the attitude of the society of that time towards these "marked and hated people", brought me even closer. I was introduced to the relationship between the man of that time and his expectations regarding his wife, as well as the attitudes of society. And lastly, the notion of friendship and layers of friendship is closer to me because they are not all the same.
If you may be interested in more about the author of the book "The Familiars" or perhaps information about her other books, you can visit her official website at this link: www.staceyhalls.com
Until the next post,
Your Goga loves you
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