Personally trying to come up with angst for this omg; Like what if Clemont really was brainwashed by Xerosic after the latter maybe discovers his little trick device? What if he managed to harm one of his friends or even Bonnie? She looked so scared for him - All the possibilities…
The one shot that actually scared me
This is actually true O.O" And I do love some sibling angst… Ack!
One of the things I like most about OFMD is how they manage to discuss the ugliness of inequalities and class relations while still being a comedy. Episode 5 opened the windows of my house to let in clean air and light. There is a lot to play with and analyze in the show: race relations, gender relations… and education, specifically literacy.
So who reads and writes in OFMD?
AtThe Revenge, Lucius states that only Stede and him can read and write. This is confirmed when the crew postpones the mutiny because no one else can read the stories. They are all illiterate… but not to the same degree.
No, I don’t mean Jim. Actually, I posit hat Jim doesn’t write, only Boni does. I will elaborate later.
More interestingly, Frenchie doesn’t read or write but he fakes writing twice (the journal, the pyramid receipts). I theorize that he has some basic literacy skills. He might not be able to read words, but he can tell from context cues what a document should say even if he can’t read the message. i.e.: this is an invitation, this is road sign, this is a notice, this is likely a wanted poster, etc.
AtQueen Anne’s Revenge (the canonical name of Blackbeard’s ship, not stated in the show, omg) there is no definite information one way or the other. Nothing about Ivan and Fang. Izzy is seen holding books, but he focuses on the pictures. Later he tears one off and shows it to Ed, rather than read a description of the fearsome Blackbeard. Mmh…
In episode 9, in a terribly vulnerable moment Blackbeard signs his name with an X (and Stede notices!). He also recognizes that the tricky information is on the small font, “that’s how they get you” he says. This is a devastating line. It shows that Blackbeard knows how written documents can and have been used to take advantage of people. It tells a lot about his background. That’s how they get you, by writing things you cannot read.
AtThe Republic of Pirates there are wanted posters for Bonifacia Jimenez which points at the idea that some people must be able to read them. Later we learn it was a taunt for Boni, so it’s possible that Spanish’s Jackie expectations of a reading public were small. But, in any case, this points that someone out there can write and had access to a printing press. There are some small signs here and there pointing at shops. This location works as a hinge between the ships, where the majority is illiterate, and…
The society at Barbados where we see newspapers, books and leaflets all around. This is a society where the expectation is that everybody is literate and that important information is passed in written form.
Finally,the imperial ships be they British, Spanish or French, function as an extension of the land and thus put a lot of stock into writing.
Why is writing important?
Becauseverba volant scripta manent. That is, the spoken word is made of air and carried just as easily, but the written word stays. Even now, today, we put a lot of symbolic power in the act of writing. We still use weird scribbles as proof of identity even though they are ridiculously easy to forge because the action of writing one’s name is a ceremony on itself. Writing is a promise of permanence.
The difference between speech and writing is underlined in the scene in which we are told about the Act of Grace. King George speaks and his word is law. I, the king, hereby promise and declare… his speech is unnatural and careful but then he stops, amends, changes his mind, and finally tells the scribe to put “act of grace” that’s the best name yes. This shows that, even with a king, the spoken word isn’t as important as the written one. Writing has the power of changing reality in a way speech doesn’t.
(Although sometimes it does. Sometimes the spoken word has magic powers. This is called a perfomative utterance inside the illocutionary acts, the mere fact of saying something makes it so).
And what are they writing?
That’s the thing, dear reader. Themselves. They are writing themselves.
Bonifacia writes to remind herself that she is an orphaned girl masquerading as a pirate and that she has to complete her quest of revenge. There is this line, me sudan hasta los cojones que no tengo (I’m sweating up to the balls I don’t have) that serves to remind herthatsheis not Jim. But once Jim opens up to the crew and develops that identity, the writing stops. Honestly, good for you, Jim. While Bonifacia has to keep a diary so she won’t stray from the revenge path, Jim doesn’t need to commit their identity to paper.
Mary presents herself to society as the The Widow Bonnet. I don’t know what else I can tell you. This is not a name, it’s a marital status and a man’s last name and it is also freedom and Mary grabs it with both hands. This is what she wants to be, even if she has to renounce her name.
Stede writes (or has Lucius write) his life as a pirate. Even though it is a highly let’s say, decorated, version, the fact that it is written makes it real. Lucius immediately realizes the diary can and will condemn Stede. And it does! Badminton refuses to believe the account, but it is there and it’s is damning. This is what Stede wanted to be, what he wrote himself to be, and what he has to pay the consequences of being. Blessedly, the diary also saves Stede’s life. And that’s such a beautiful chain of language acts! The king speaks, the scribe writes the Act of Grace, Stede verbally invokes it, the diary supports it and the whole thing is closed with a drawing and a written signature.
And maybe, maybe, Blackbeard does know how to read (we see him opening books) but he signs with that painful, heart-rending X because he doesn’t know what name to use.
Some relatively vanilla FinnPoe, because I love these good boys~ A patron specifically wanted Poe greeting Finn after he woke up; I hadn’t seen the movie yet or I definitely would have incorporated the water suit ;P
I don’t like thinking of certain characteristics of the signs as “developed” or “undeveloped” because we’re all constantly changing, evolving, and developing. The binary developed/undeveloped language makes it seem as if you’ll one day reach some perfect manifestation of the placements and aspects in your chart when in reality that can never happen. There is always room for improvement.
