#There's a post about the ending of Pearls of Lutra discussing the vermin marooned on Sampetra that I want to talk about too

[neverendingford]

“I know ‘tis a hard thing to say about a babe, even a liddle vermin, but let me tell you, no good will ever come of this one.”

-Redfarl, on first discovering Veil Sixclaw as a babe

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Excuse this cheese fueled attempt at a dive into culture and psychology, but there’s nothing I love more than a good discussion, and I read Outcast of Redwall again because of @wombatappreciator69​ and their post about Veil Sixclaw so here we are. I logged onto tumblr on my computer for the first time in a year because i don’t trust myself to do this coherently on a phone. Buckle up.

uh.. spoilers for Outcast of Redwall if that’s a concern for anyone here.

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   Veil Sixclaw was born to Swartt Sixclaw, a warlord who did not want a son, in a warband that had no time for domestics. Bowfleg’s Horde had families, wives, cookfires, and homes up until the point when Swartt Sixclaw walked in, murdered Bowfleg, and marched them south on his quest for vengeance. During that time, the weak were left behind, tools and utensils were abandoned on the road, and Veil’s nurse was killed, leaving him abandoned in a ditch until he was found by woodlanders, starving after a long and hard winter.

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“Give him a name and leave him awhile,

Veil may live to be evil and vile,

Though I hope my prediction will fail,

And evil so vile will not live in Veil.”

-Bella

  We know basically nothing about how Veil was raised at Redwall Abbey, but from how he is treated during the book it doesn’t seem far-fetched to assume that suspicion was against him from day one. Aside from being a vermin ferret, he also has six claws on one paw, marking him as decidedly different.

   We see him grown up (feels teenage?) and making trouble, unrepentant in lying and stealing. Bryony addresses this in a discussion with Bella, Badgermum of Redwall, saying “I think that others can drive a creature to naughtiness, always accusing and blaming them. After a while it must make the creature unhappy and drive him, er, or her, to be naughty, because nobody expects them to be good”, to which Bella responds by wondering if it was a mistake to accept Veil into the abbey at all.

   Veil was not raised around vermin, but surely he heard stories of what they are like. He has the suspicion of his entire community arrayed against him, assurances of what he’ll grow up to be like, and the possibility of a father out there who is  

a. like him  

and   

b. potentially more accepting

   We’re clearly supposed to see Veil’s easy lies and deceptive charm as attributes inherited from his father, but this behavior could just as easily be learned through stories about what vermin are like, as well as from an entire lifetime of feeling “out” from the group. Deception is easy to learn when your entire community is opposed to your existence (I’m desperately trying to not make this a metaphor for queerness). 

Veil grew up with the curse of inevitable villainy above his head, and while Bryony’s love and attention was certainly important, it alone couldn’t combat the alienation from every other Redwaller we see.

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He then attempts murder, because when nothing you’ve ever done meets with consequences (unconditional forgiveness does not always work) escalation is how it goes. He is then Outcast from Redwall (roll credits) and heads west in search of his father who he hopes to join and finally find somewhere to belong (am I projecting? you tell me). He meets up with and is thoroughly disappointed by a father who didn’t even pretend to go for milk before never coming back. Bryony (the mousemaid who cared for him his entire life and followed him) is then captured by Swartt Sixclaw. Veil attacks his father to let Bryony escape, and when Swartt moves to throw a javelin at her, Veil jumps in front to save her and is killed. Swartt is then killed, Bryony is sad, and denoument (denouement?) happens.

Veil never faced a threat to the things he cared about, and so he never faced the consequences of not-caring until Bryony’s life was in danger, and then he died for it.

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The Worst Part

As wombatappreciator pointed out, the ending is the most dissatisfying part of the book. Abbess Merriam and Bella apologize for doubting Bryony, saying that clearly there was still some good inside Veil since he sacrificed his life for her.

Bryony, the sole defender of Veil up to this point, then responds by saying “Veil was bad, I know that now. Bella was right. Some creatures cannot help being the way they are.” “[I] wondered if he would have saved me if he knew his father was really going to throw that javelin.”

   Veil never stood a chance.

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