The Hunt and the Hunted

Apr 9, 2018

In Ash, one of the aspects in the novel that is not explored very in depth is the hunt. Hunting can have many different metaphorical meanings and usually relates to the situation of the characters, and the relationship between life and death. What’s different about Ash’s portrayal of hunting is that it is not the faeries who hunt, but rather the humans. The scene where Ash accompanies Kaisa on a hunt and Kaisa kills the stag is given some weight to it because of both Ash and Kaisa’s feelings. When everyone is celebrating about their kill, Kaisa is off to the side crying despite the fact that she is the king’s huntress and was the one leading the hunt. When asked why she does it she replies, “It is the way of life. It ends” (177). This is interesting to me because the rest of the hunters and the prince don’t seem bothered by the fact that they have killed and cut open this animal, but Kaisa has a stronger reaction to the stag. Considering that they are operating under the king, they don’t have a real necessity to hunt because the king most likely has all the food he needs, although this is never directly talked about.

Other than the main huntress not enjoying her kills, the other odd thing about this hunt is that like the hunters portrayed at the beginning of the story when Ash was younger, hunting is seen as wild and dangerous, and is something that can be attributed to faeries. Fae/faerie hunts are famous for being wild, free, and ruthless. To see these traits not taken up by the faeries but by the humans in this story, may suggest something about humanity as a whole. This idea is also supported by the fact that Ash was the one willingly going to Sidhead, and by the end getting the upper hand by using his love to gain her freedom, rather than have the faeries be actively trying to kidnap Ash or ruin her life, they are mostly confined to their own world, and Sidhean only intervenes because of his curse. That’s not to say that everything Sidhean did was excusable in a modern context. Although the faeries in this story are obviously not all friendly and helpful, in the end some of the humans ended up being more cruel, thus the ones to cause conflict within Ash’s life, and become the hunters.

Side note- The scene of the feast right after the hunt reminded me a lot of a scene from The Hero and the Crown– where there is a royal feast and dancing but a menacing looking dead animal head in the center of the room. Whether or not the stag had as much spirit as the beast from Hero and the Crown is something we don’t know, but still interesting to think about what could have happened if Lo made the stag more significant.. or was it already?

3 responses to “The Hunt and the Hunted”

sarahweinberg24

April 13, 2018 at 3:23 am

I love the idea that the transfer of focus from the traditional ruthless Wild Hunt of the fairies speaks to some deeper, darker aspect of humanity. Using mythical creatures to explore our own troubling secrets is one of the fascinating parts of fantasy for me. For creatures who have such a rich connection to the hunt, though, I agree and felt it wasn’t explored very much. The faeries themselves didn’t play as big a role as I would have expected, either. Humans were the main focus, and it makes me think about how Lo mirrored typical faerie phenomenons such as parties and extravagant celebrations in humans and how Lo may have leaned on those familiar narratives but in a different context to keep us as readers on our feet and consider it through another lens.
Your comment about Kaisa’s response to the killing also made me wonder if Lo was trying to make a point about the killing. Kaisa believes (and maybe accepts?) that all life ends, yet she says this in the context of the King’s hunt, where he clearly does not need the food supply. It’s possible I’m reading to much into this, but it seems to echoes the justification of violence by the powerful. Anyway, the focus on the hunt/life and death was appropriate for the novel as we saw Ash struggle with the death of her mother, and later a little for her father. I’m trying to think now of the literary significance of Kaisa inviting Ash on the hunt if it symbolically represents this balance between life and death…

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malyschm

May 13, 2018 at 2:03 am

I really like this post because I feel it also addresses a fantasy trope where women are more strongly connected to nature than men are. By showing how Kaisa cries over the death of the deer, despite leading the cause of death, it demonstrates sensitivity to the lives of other creatures, and makes the other characters involved look more brutish and unfeeling by contrast. It also provides another level of contrast among humans between men and women, not just between humans and fairies. I don’t think I would go as far as to say that women are more fae-like than men (particularly Kaisa and Ash), but I definitely think it is implied here.

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hwseo1004

May 14, 2018 at 3:37 am

Wow, I love your point on hunting. When I first read Ash, I thought the hunt had some literary significance, but just couldn’t think of any connection. Your point on hunting being crossing the line of life and death, and your analogy on hunting to the relationship between faeries and humans clarifies all of it so much more for me. I guess it’s not just about another Cinderella, but about the belief in humanity against the belief in faeries.

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