The Clave discussion

sunday the 7th of April-day 7 chapter 6

comments, fav. quotes, anything...

So, I wanted to discuss Jessie for a minute. I think she is an interesting character, who plays a larger role later on, but tends to get lost in the Will/Tessa/Jem action. The more I think about her, the more intrigued I become. This is one damaged girl. I wonder about her background. We know that she despises the Shadowhunter world. Tessa first gets an inkling of this when she demonstrates her power by changing into Jessie. But everything she does is aimed and getting away from the Institute and leading a "normal" life.

It makes me think it has something to do with her parent's death. What do we really know? I know that her parents are dead, and that they died in a fire, but what do we really know about her? What was the cause of the fire? Was it something mundane, or did it have something to do with their Shadowhunter past (present?)?

The most informative scenes we get regarding Jessie are early on in this book. We have her discussion with Tessa before they run into the goblin and we have her, I what I would call haunting and possibly most honest moment, when she explains about the dollhouse. I think that is the moment when we see the real Jessie, not this snobbish facade she puts up.

In a way, she is very similar to Will. They each put up this character for the world, a false hood that is meant to push others away, but what they really want is to escape from the tragedies of their past. With Will, we learn what that was later on. Will we learn what makes Jessie hate the Shadowhunter world so much?

Any thoughts?

yeh your right. to be honest I have been thinking about that too. what do we really know about Jessie? she's always so bitter but 'why' is the real question. I hope we find put about her past. that would be interesting. and I wouldn't mind learning about jem and charlottes past also...

To be bonest i never thought about that at all. But now that you mentioned it you can see how mabey there is something big there.

Something happened. She is so desperate to get away. When she says that she will not marry a Shadowhunter and that she will not have this life, the vehemence that comes across in her words is very telling. I want to know exactly how her parents died. I know they say that her parents died in a fire, but is that accurate? I don't remember whether a lot of detail was given about their deaths later on. How old was she when this happened? And if her parents had truly broken with the Clave, how much did Jessie know about this life before her parents died? For somebody who plays a pretty pivotal role later on, she is quite unknown, past the snobbish facade.

I agree. I think that under that hard 'snobbish' shell of hers, there is a bigger picture. I think she has a story, a story that possibly traumatized her to the extent were she vows not to marry a shadowhunter and is always so bitter. hmm interesting...

verry