Welcome back to this week's Fowl Day, the hottest Artemis Fowl-themed weekly celebration on the Internet!
Chapter 9: The Prince Frog
Young Artemis has done some nasty deeds up to now. And while he's en route to Fez to deal with a man he despises and seal the fate of an adorable little lemur he is pointedly ignoring, doubt begins to poke through his thoughts. I am swimming with the sharks, he thinks. But the realization goes deeper and startles the young would-be criminal mastermind. He isn't just swimming with the sharks; he's about to become one of them.
And for us, there is an unspoken question here: Is that what Artemis really wants?
Up to now, young Artemis has been portrayed only as cold and, yes, misguided. When Kronski asks about his father, though, we see him react emotionally (by Artemis' standards, anyway) and it really suckerpunched me with the reminder that this is still the Artemis I love -younger, more vulnerable, with less experience handling it all, and two more years -two whole years, guys, of absolute hell- ahead of him.
I suddenly want to give him a huge hug.
Even though he'd hate it.
And probably have Butler do something painful to me.
For as much as I berated Arty for tricking and manipulating Holly, I do rather enjoy seeing him wracked with guilt. Sure, I occasionally enjoy watching favorite characters suffer and grow in painful awkward ways, but this shows how much Artemis has truly grown from that first moment we saw him in Ho Chi Minh City. The fact that Arty is wracked with guilt -that he can't brush it off or justify it, that he knows he has to tell Holly the truth- is a sign of just how far he's come and actually of just how decent a person he's turning out to be.
I like that, for Artemis the elder, Butler's voice keeps popping up in his head. The bodyguard is, after all, not simply a bodyguard and manservant, but Artemis' confidante, his conscience, constant companion, and closest friend. It makes sense that Arty misses Butler by his side (especially when faced with the bodyguard's younger counterpart) and I love that Butler's voice isn't just being used as a voice of conscience or reason, but also for casual, Butler-ish comments and wit, off of which Artemis readily plays.
I've done this. It's not unusual for me to have imaginary conversations with friends who aren't there, because something I know they would say just pops into my head.
...you do that too, right? Arty and I aren't crazy?
Holly is really going to make Artemis pay for his manipulations. I should have made popcorn for this.
Chapter 10: A Fowl Mood
Holly understands why Artemis manipulated her, even if she can't forgive him yet. She does feel she misjudged their friendship and realizes now that all she and Artemis can ever have is what they've only ever had: a grudging respect.
But this is a lie. Holly's wrong. From the events of The Opal Deception to The Lost Colony, they moved out of 'grudging respect' territory and straight into the role of friends and there's no denying it.
Yes, Artemis screwed up. Yes, you should be angry at him, Holly. But you can't pretend you didn't have a friendship.
Commander Julius Root.
...remember when I said I'd forgotten a lot about this book?
Root waxing poetic about throwing in the towel, then grinning over a call from Holly because it's fairies like her -fairies he's trusting and grooming to take over when he's gone- that keep him holding onto his job. Fairies like Holly need him and what he has to teach, and that's why he'll hold onto those Commander's acorns as long as he needs to.
What gets me most of all, though, is that Root thinks of himself as '[Holly]'s doting grandfather', even if he doesn't want her to see it yet. My heart!
Holly getting the opportunity to thank Julius for everything, to show her appreciation and understanding for everything he's done for her, is one of the best moments. Maybe it's fan service. I don't care. It mends and breaks my heart at once.
And just like that, Artemis x Holly is done. YAY!
But at least their friendship is back on track.
THEY NAMED THE LEMUR AFTER JULIUS!
...excuse me while I go cry a little over this and the adorable nickname Jayjay...
Chapter 11: Pigeon Droppings
Kronski just showed up to the meet in a tailored camouflage SUIT.
I'm not sure 'preposterous' does this quite enough justice.
On page 205, when Artemis summarizes the upcoming exchange to Holly, he refers to the lemur as 'it', which is a way of emotionally detaching himself and objectifying the lemur rather than seeing him as a living creature (thanks, I Am Not A Serial Killer!). We've already covered that Artemis holds (and represses) a lot of guilt over his role in the lemur's extinction and, despite the fact he's now trying to save the creature, his calling him an 'it' is an extension of that guilt reaching into the present (future? past? oh never mind).
But Holly won't it. (Literally.) She sees exactly what Artemis is doing and she jumps on it. Him, she corrects, because the lemur is male; 'and his name is Jayjay.'
I love this. Artemis doesn't even try to fight her on it; from here on out, he refers to the lemur as Jayjay and there's no ducking out of an attachment now. Holly has once again helped him kick a bad habit, own up to his actions, and helped him grow.
Young Artemis, it turns out, is a sly little weasel!
Once again, things go nothing like Artemis the elder predicts and this time he and Holly fall right into his younger self's trap -into the clutches of Kronski. I want to strangle the younger Artemis and yet, at the same time, I know that if this story was solely told from his perspective, I would be cheering him on right now.
Bravo, Eoin; bravo.
I rather enjoy the fact that Artemis the elder is consistently underestimating his younger self, especially because that is exactly what he hated that when he was younger but also realized at the time that his age could be an advantage as it would cause people to underestimate him.
And now that Artemis the elder has 'sacrificed his queen for a rook' he finally realizes his younger self is not only as smart as himself, but far more ruthless.
Irony, party of one?
...or is that two?...
Chapter 12: Gone Forever
Okay. I realize I'm about to over-analyze a humorous but ultimately innocuous bit of exposition, but I can't help it!
First of all, Artemis occasionally writes romance novels under the pseudonym Violet Tsirblou (that pun took me a minute, but I knew one was there!). Considering his 13-year-old self will take to writing psychology papers under another pseudonym, obviously the 'rather childish' equivalent the ten-year-old would write is romance.
Second, in the 5-minute reprieve driving to Kronski's compound granted young Artemis for ironing out the plan in the presence of his 'enemy', he's so confident and self-assured of his plan (and however far out it might extend) that he frivolously uses two of those minutes to plot a romance novel.
Third, Artemis plots a romance novel in two minutes.
Kronski says something weird on page 222 that I don't understand yet:
"You ever think it strange, Ah-temis, how a kid like you winds up eyeball to eyeball with an old crook like me?" ... "It delights me...that a boy such as you exists."
Is this foreshadowing something? Or an aspect of Kronski that isn't explored? Or maybe just a random comment?
If you've got a thought on this, let me know! I'm super curious.
"That will be the guilt gnawing at your soul."
Awww, Butler.
Everybody needs a Butler. Always got your back, always the scariest person in the room, always telling you like it is, always giving you that nudge in the right direction (as forceful as he has to), and always on your side -even if it doesn't feel like it.
I remembered that Opal played into this somewhere, but not quite how. She's mesmerizing a human to do her bidding, eh? For as smart as she (thinks she) is, turns out she's rather a one-hit wonder, isn't she?
I was just thinking 'Holly's always so low on magic!' when Artemis said it. But hearing Holly tally up all her magic-uses -yeah, Arty's a lot of the reason she's never got the juice she needs.
Holly and Artemis understand each other, from anticipating each other's reactions, to knowing habits, to playing off each other to sell an off-the-cuff cover story perfectly, and this is one of the many reasons this is one of my favorite friendships.
Thanks for joining me again on the Artemis Fowl Read Along! I'll see you next week for the wrap up of The Time Paradox. Same Fowl Day, same Fowl read along.
March's reading schedule for The Time Paradox:
March 21: Chapters 9-12
March 28: Chapters 13-16
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