Life of a Leper

[[Syl]]

I guess it all depends on how you modify the question. Does my wife and kid leave me like Covenant's did? Do I have no (apparent) family and friends to support me? Do I live in a hick town full of a**holes? I'm not sure how well any of us would do, which is why Thomas Covenant is a hero. So the question is, do you think you're as tough as Covenant? I can only hope so, though none of us can really know until we come face to face with a crisis of that magnitude.

[danlo]

U said it all right there Syl!!!

[Skyweir]

ditto .. really well summised!!

that is exactly the point .. and brilliant of SRD to choose a leper to be his lead character .. what a wealth of issues he has to explore with TC .. being stigmatised .. alienated .. even how institutionalised religion failed to answer his need .. and much more telling how professed christians dealt with TC .. not to mention the townsfolk ..

narrow minded ignorami all .. (sp grmr?) heh lol

how the disease deprived him of sensation .. and rendered his impotent .. cost him his partner .. his son .. any sense of completeness love could offer him ..

a truly brilliant call by SRD ..

[BeTrueUnbeliever]

I have often spent hours contemplating whether or not I would survive in TC's situation. Or how I would have reacted to certain things. I would like to think that I would have survived, or been very gallant or something... but I guess that none of us will ever truly know unless we contract leprosy and are abandoned by everone we've loved and are denied everything we had.... then again, sometimes (at least in my life) it seems like we have contracted a sort of leprosy of the mind in the figurative sense. Some people become strong and have the will to go on. Others have no hope, which leads them to Despair. It's in these moments, that we find who our true selves really are. In this way, we could possibly deduce, whether or not we would have survived all of TC's ordeals. All we have to do to know is this; Be true.

[KaosArcana]

BeTrue

I have often spent hours contemplating whether or not I would survive in TC's situation. Or how I would have reacted to certain things. I would like to think that I would have survived, or been very gallant or something... but I guess that none of us will ever truly know unless we contract leprosy and are abandoned by everone we've loved and are denied everything we had.... then again, sometimes (at least in my life) it seems like we have contracted a sort of leprosy of the mind in the figurative sense. Some people become strong and have the will to go on. Others have no hope, which leads them to Despair. It's in these moments, that we find who our true selves really are. In this way, we could possibly deduce, whether or not we would have survived all of TC's ordeals. All we have to do to know is this; Be true.

You know, to be honest, I think I COULD survive Covenant's
situation.

Covenant had enough money so that he didn't have to worry about
keeping his home or paying his bills. He was a writer so he had
something he liked to do that would give him something to do
which wouldn't threaten his health.

I also like to write, and I'm pretty introverted anyway, so I think
I could handle the isolation. Did Covenant have a television or
radio? I can't remember.

But I think I could find something to do with my time.....

On the other hand, if you had gotten me into the Land, restored
my health, and armed me with white told ... Whoa Nelly! Those
argent flames might have been destroying things a lot sooner.

Not that that would be a good thing, necessarily ...

[Skyweir]

LOL .. hehe ..

but its not that easy .. i agree i could imagine surviving financially .. and materially in TC's situation .. but he craved a lot more .. and i think anyone would ..

maybe you could live out your life as a recluse .. but wouldnt you want to be left alone in peace??

TC wasnt was he? someone set fire to his small cottage where he worked .. put razer blades in his food ..

these people just didnt leave him alone ..

But TC was not ready to surrender to his disease .. and live his life in isolation .. why did he force himself to walk to town to pay his own bills in person ..

He was an active engaged part of that community before he contracted this disease .. and because of IT .. he was alienated from 'polite society' .. lol .. nope from all society ..

and the loss of his wife and son .. has to be factored in to the scenario .. people must abandon you .. even those closest to you .. they must leave you ..

because of your disease .. not because of you per se ..

this would have been a costly loss .. he was abandoned and left without any human contact/association/touch .. whatsoever ..

[KaosArcana]

Skyweir:

LOL .. hehe ..

but its not that easy .. i agree i could imagine surviving financially .. and materially in TC's situation .. but he craved a lot more .. and i think anyone would ..

maybe you could live out your life as a recluse .. but wouldnt you want to be left alone in peace??

TC wasnt was he? someone set fire to his small cottage where he worked .. put razer blades in his food ..

But all that stuff happened AFTER Covenant started going into
town. Not to excuse it, but if Covenant had just stayed off by
himself we don't know if he would have been bothered at all
... and he spends ten years in relative peace.

these people just didnt leave him alone ..

Apparently they did after the end of _TPTP_. I don't think the
people who took Joan were actual townsfolk, either. So at some
point they learned to adjust to Covenant's presence in their
midst.

But TC was not ready to surrender to his disease .. and live his life in isolation .. why did he force himself to walk to town to pay his own bills in person ..

He was an active engaged part of that community before he contracted this disease .. and because of IT .. he was alienated from 'polite society' .. lol .. nope from all society ..

You know, I really don't think he was an active part of the community
before his disease struck. He spoke at some women's gatherings, but
he never makes mention of having any friends in the town before his
leprosy struck. He apparently wasn't a church goer, not a member of
the Moose or Elk Club ...

The impression that I get is that the Covenants moved there so Joan
could do her work with horses. Everything about Covenant screams
"city person" to me.

And once Joan left to take Roger to show him off to relatives,
Covenant apparently sees no one else while she's away while
he's puttering away in his cottage writing.

Covenant just doesn't strike me as the extroverted type, and
I can't see him going down to the local diner and talking politics
or hunting with the Good Ol' Boys who work at the bean canning
plant even before he became a leper.

and the loss of his wife and son .. has to be factored in to the scenario .. people must abandon you .. even those closest to you .. they must leave you ..

because of your disease .. not because of you per se ..

this would have been a costly loss .. he was abandoned and left without any human contact/association/touch .. whatsoever ..

The thing is, Covenant had NO other family or friends other than
Joan, so far as we know. That makes me wonder if pre-leper
Covenant was just such a jerk that no one was willing to stick
around him.

Or ... maybe Covenant drove them away.

In _The Wounded Land_ when Berenford is giving Linden background
on Covenant, he says that after Covenant returned from the leporsaurium, he became different, more approachable, and stable.

Let's face it, Covenant isn't the easiest person in the world to get
along with. He's acrophobic, obsessed with his disease, and seems
to be constantly angry or depressed.

Would YOU want to hang around with that guy?

[amanibhavam]

just for the record, the name of the bacterium is Mycobacterium leprae

[Skyweir]

LOL

But all that stuff happened AFTER Covenant started going into town. Not to excuse it, but if Covenant had just stayed off by
himself we don't know if he would have been bothered at all

We only assume that because our story begins with TC's march into town in an attempt to reclaim some semblance of his self .. I leant out one of my LFB's and cant find the other .. but I recall at the beginning we learn some of TC's pre-leprosy past .. and from the moment he was diagnosed with leperosy .. even the nurse in his local hospital didnt want to treat him .. or something like that .. By virtue of the very nature of his disease .. he was stigmatised and shunned .. even though his threat to anyone other than himself was relatively low to none at all ..

and the very fact that the townsfolk didnt want to deal with him is reason to believe their animosity towards him .. not just after he walked that one day into town .. but they seemed to hate the very fact he resided in their town ..

like they feared catching airborne leperosy germs or something .. irrational like that .. and their fear was irrational and unsound .. as most 'fear' is

He was sent the razor impregnated bun .. just because he was there ..

Even after TPTP .. I very much doubt that the townsfolks attitude changed much at all .. we just hear less of them and more of TC getting back on his feet ..

he never makes mention of having any friends in the town before his leprosy struck. He apparently wasn't a church goer, not a member of the Moose or Elk Club ...

this could also be simply because his friends were not his friends any more .. In the beginning of LFB .. TC describes himself as relatively good humoured .. reminisces when he used to be the one who would laugh over the smallest things .. He describes himself as a happy guy .. who pretty much has it all .. a good life .. a promising career .. happy to have found a woman he loved .. a sizeable piece of property .. with a nice home and a studio where he works ..

Everything about Covenant screams
"city person" to me.

You could be right he certainly doesnt seem to be a small minded yokel natured kind of bloke .. he seems well educated and maybe not a little cosmopolitan ..

to me this is a saving virtue .. because if he was one of the locallers .. it would be more difficult to feel as much empathy for him .. if he was tainted with the same small town mentality and prejudices .. I just dont like these townsfolk much the bunch of self-righteous condemnational hypocrites

And once Joan left to take Roger to show him off to relatives, Covenant apparently sees no one else while she's away while
he's puttering away in his cottage writing.

well if you remember .. he is under strict instructions to stay home and write his next book .. Joan makes that trip with no intention of including TC .. he has work to do!! .. <believed she who must be obeyed .. Rumpole reference here >

Let's face it, Covenant isn't the easiest person in the world to get along with. He's acrophobic, obsessed with his disease, and seems to be constantly angry or depressed.

TC is not the easiest person in the world to get along with but he has compelling reasons for his bitterness .. and his anger .. and his depression ..

and if anyone in his shoes .. would be hard pressed not to end up similar to TC himself ..

Pre-leperosy TC sounds like a good guy .. and sure I wouldnt mind hanging out with him .. Post-leperosy TC is tale of a different kind .. nevertheless even though he drove me nuts throughout most of the series .. he was someone I'd like to invest the time in to know ..

[KaosArcana]

Skyweir:

We only assume that because our story begins with TC's march into town in an attempt to reclaim some semblance of his self .. I leant out one of my LFB's and cant find the other .. but I recall at the beginning we learn some of TC's pre-leprosy past .. and from the moment he was diagnosed with leperosy .. even the nurse in his local hospital didnt want to treat him .. or something like that .. By virtue of the very nature of his disease .. he was stigmatised and shunned .. even though his threat to anyone other than himself was relatively low to none at all ..

But how many of the townspeople knew that? Maybe the doctors and
nurses knew that ... but I'm not even all that sure they did because we
have no idea of how much training they'd ever received on leprosy.

It's easy to sit in judgment on something when you have all the facts,
but we have no way of knowing how much the townspeople knew about
Covenant's condition.

Take the truckdriver that initially befriended Covenant and then punched
him in _The Illearth War_. Did he seem like such a bad guy to you
before he expressed his belief that Covenant was going out to
deliberately create other lepers? He didn't know how leprosy works, so
he was afraid of it. Fear and ignorance make people do stupid things.

like they feared catching airborne leperosy germs or something .. irrational like that .. and their fear was irrational and unsound .. as most 'fear' is

I'm old enough to remember the intial AIDS scare. People were
terrified of it-- even doctors. I recall listening to a radio show of a
nationally syndicated doctor who admitted that once he had to deal
with cleaning up blood from an HIV-infected patient. He wore the
proper protection and waited until it was safe to make the attempt,
but he was still nervous as he did it.

There was a girl who caught AIDS and they couldn't figure out how
she got it as she wasn't a drug addict and was a virgin, and the doctors
were literally panicking over it ... (it turned out that her dentist was HIV
positive and he deliberately infected some of his patients).

Fear is hardwired into our brain, and to expect people to just "get over
it" without first giving them the proper background to explain their fear
is groundless is unfair.

He was sent the razor impregnated bun .. just because he was there ..

As I recall it, he got the razor impregnanted bun after he went into
town. Again, people were reacting out of fear.

this could also be simply because his friends were not his friends any more .. In the beginning of LFB .. TC describes himself as relatively good humoured .. reminisces when he used to be the one who would laugh over the smallest things .. He describes himself as a happy guy .. who pretty much has it all .. a good life .. a promising career .. happy to have found a woman he loved .. a sizeable piece of property .. with a nice home and a studio where he works ..

Ah, but everything was described in terms of Joan and his career. It's
as if nothing else existed for Covenant but Joan and his writing.

Kaos wrote:
Everything about Covenant screams
"city person" to me.


You could be right he certainly doesnt seem to be a small minded yokel natured kind of bloke .. he seems well educated and maybe not a little cosmopolitan ..

I come from a small town, and I've been to college, and I've talked
to people all over the world on the internet, and the conclusions I've
reached is that most people have their own little prejudices and
prejudgements. People from big cities tend to assume that if you
come from a small town you're ignorant and prejudiced and just
this side of one of the "Squeal like a pig guys" from _Deliverance._

to me this is a saving virtue .. because if he was one of the locallers .. it would be more difficult to feel as much empathy for him .. if he was tainted with the same small town mentality and prejudices .. I just dont like these townsfolk much the bunch of self-righteous condemnational hypocrites

And to me, pre-leper Covenant just comes across as being a shallow,
self-centered jerk to me.

Kaos wrote:
And once Joan left to take Roger to show him off to relatives, Covenant apparently sees no one else while she's away while
he's puttering away in his cottage writing.


well if you remember .. he is under strict instructions to stay home and write his next book .. Joan makes that trip with no intention of including TC .. he has work to do!! .. Rumpole reference here >

So you're saying the fact that he's whipped is supposed to make me
like him more?

Kaos wrote:
Let's face it, Covenant isn't the easiest person in the world to get along with. He's acrophobic, obsessed with his disease, and seems to be constantly angry or depressed.

TC is not the easiest person in the world to get along with but he has compelling reasons for his bitterness .. and his anger .. and his depression ..

Sure, but that doesn't mean you'd want to spend time with the guy.
People who constantly bemoan their fate tend to drain even the most
generous-hearted person of all their compassion.

and if anyone in his shoes .. would be hard pressed not to end up similar to TC himself ..

But people have done it, and risen above circumstances equally as
dire. Last year I read an article about a former leper colony, and they
talked about some of the former inhabitants. One of them was a young
man who went off to college and got his degree-- in the 1950s yet.

Pre-leperosy TC sounds like a good guy .. and sure I wouldnt mind hanging out with him .. Post-leperosy TC is tale of a different kind .. nevertheless even though he drove me nuts throughout most of the series .. he was someone I'd like to invest the time in to know ..

Pre-leper Covenant just strikes me as being shallow and self-involved,
and rather weak willed. And in the first series I could barely stand to
read it because the guy annoyed me so much.

Like Berensford, I found post-TPTP Covenant much more likable
than he was in the first series. THAT guy I might have been able
to get to know and appreciate.

[Skyweir]

But how many of the townspeople knew that? Maybe the doctors and
nurses knew that ... but I'm not even all that sure they did because we
have no idea of how much training they'd ever received on leprosy.

thats the point .. the townsfolk didnt need training or a degree in medicine to understand the stigma and label of a disease like leperosy .. their bigotry stemmed from their ignorance ..

It's easy to sit in judgment on something when you have all the facts,
but we have no way of knowing how much the townspeople knew about
Covenant's condition.

thats the point again .. these people saw TC as unclean .. diseased .. untouchable .. these are not notions commonly associated with an educated understanding of the illness. These people were afraid of TC .. afraid to be near him .. afraid of him being on the streets in their small town .. afraid of him living even on the outskirts on Haven Farm .. Joan was afraid to be near him .. not only for herself but also for Rogers sake .. <which at least had some substantive basis> .. but she didnt even take her clothing .. why?? She was afraid of TC's disease .. somehow infecting her or her son ..

The townsfolk .. including Joan were irrational in their response to TC's illness .. this is born of ignorance .. whether we know the level of understanding the townsfolk had or not .. is irrelevant .. they demonstrated the most primitive level of appreciation of TC's condition .. and stigmatised it .. probably from all they knew of leperosy stemmed from that which they'd read in the Bible .. but that is a sweeping generalisation .. i concede .. they were more likely just ignorant ..

Take the truckdriver that initially befriended Covenant and then punched
him in _The Illearth War_. Did he seem like such a bad guy to you
before he expressed his belief that Covenant was going out to
deliberately create other lepers? He didn't know how leprosy works, so
he was afraid of it. Fear and ignorance make people do stupid things

.

exactly .. and the only reason he befriended TC was that he did not know him and wasnt from TC's home town ..

like they feared catching airborne leperosy germs or something .. irrational like that .. and their fear was irrational and unsound .. as most 'fear' is

I'm old enough to remember the intial AIDS scare. People were
terrified of it-- even doctors

. Sure .. and it was fear that caused the townsfolk to act ignorantly towards TC .. not only passive ignorance .. but vehemently abusive of him and his presence in their town.

Fear is hardwired into our brain, and to expect people to just "get over it" without first giving them the proper background to explain their fear is groundless is unfair.

I totally acknowledge this fact .. it is indeed fear that drives irrational behaviours like that exhibited by the townsfolk. then do we say oh its understandable that these people would insert razor blades into his food .. because they are just afraid??? No ofcourse not .. but do we acknowledge that this is purely an irrational response .. an ignorant response .. yes I say so!

As I recall it, he got the razor impregnanted bun after he went into
town. Again, people were reacting out of fear

. And still that does not make that kind of reactionary behaviour acceptable does it?? Its not acceptable to do things like this .. we have criminal laws outlawing resorting to this level of response to an individual.

I come from a small town, and I've been to college, and I've talked
to people all over the world on the internet, and the conclusions I've
reached is that most people have their own little prejudices and
prejudgements. People from big cities tend to assume that if you
come from a small town you're ignorant and prejudiced and just
this side of one of the "Squeal like a pig guys" from _Deliverance.

ok sure .. but if you enacted your prejudices or prejudgements like these townsfolk .. then I would be worried about you to To me these sorts of behaviours reinforce these kinds of labels .. but remember this is a work of fiction .. and it is this particular small town and these particular fictional small townsfolk we are discussing .. it is not a study of small town mentality as opposed to city mentality.

And to me, pre-leper Covenant just comes across as being a shallow,
self-centered jerk to me.

well you are entitled to your opinion ofcourse ..

So you're saying the fact that he's whipped is supposed to make me
like him more?

NO! I was simply addressing your assertion that he was anti-social and did not go visiting with Joan when she took Roger to her parents and why he stayed at home working .. and not painting the town red

And once Joan left to take Roger to show him off to relatives,
Covenant apparently sees no one else while she's away while
he's puttering away in his cottage writing.

But people have done it, and risen above circumstances equally as
dire

. And TC does eventually too .. everyone needs time .. I doubt most people can adjust overnight

Last year I read an article about a former leper colony, and they
talked about some of the former inhabitants. One of them was a young
man who went off to college and got his degree-- in the 1950s yet.

yeah and I think thats what TC wanted .. and he did return to his writing .. but it was a struggle for him .. because of the opposition to his resuming a normal life .. Its good this guy who you speak of .. got a fair go ..

Pre-leper Covenant just strikes me as being shallow and self-involved,
and rather weak willed. And in the first series I could barely stand to
read it because the guy annoyed me so much.

In the first series he was mostly post-leperosy guy .. and he annoyed most people I have ever spoken to too .. and I can understand that .. TC annoyed me royally .. But his pre-leperosy self .. to me seemed like a guy with humour .. he tells of laughing .. and loving life .. he doesnt sound at all annoying then .. His life went downhill .. all the way .. AFTER he contracted leperosy and lost everything ..

Like Berensford, I found post-TPTP Covenant much more likable
than he was in the first series. THAT guy I might have been able
to get to know and appreciate

thats funny .. cos it sounds like you are not comparing pre and post leperosy Covenant .. but 1st and 2nd chrons. Covenant .. moreso ..

but whatever toots your horn ..

[Skyweir]

wheres my post gone?

[Skyweir]

oh cool .. there it is

[danlo]

Kaos wrote:

The thing is, Covenant had NO other family or friends other than
Joan, so far as we know. That makes me wonder if pre-leper
Covenant was just such a jerk that no one was willing to stick
around him.

We don't know enuf 2 make that assertion, writters can b very solitary persons. But SRD does hint that he was just a little arrogant due 2 his fame. Prob the other way around...he was so devoted 2 Joan that he had no need 2 stick around others... Might have had a touch of agoraphobia as I do...I fancy myself 2 b a nice guy...but joining clubs and general socializing either freaks me out or I feel no need 4 it...

TC does acknowledge that his 1st book was "arrogant fluff" and mayb he was somewhat of a shallow person--mayb the Land was his only means 2 expand and grow up, due 2 (self-imposed) isolation--the vehicle just happened 2 b leprosy...

[Skyweir]

well said danlo!! and thats a really positive way to view the journey his leperosy takes him on ..

he may have been an arrogant jerk and he may have been a good humoured achiever that had tickets on himself ..

to me he seems an alright kinda guy before .. and relatively well adjusted .. so you'd think he'd have some semblance of a social life .. but he could be a solitary soul .. and there's nothing wrong with that .. that doesnt make him a jerk ..

on the contrary .. like danlo says .. it makes him emotionally self-reliant .. like he has a sense of completeness ..

[[Syl]]

I think TC-BL (Thomas Covenant Before Leprosy) was, by TC-PL's own account, rather shallow... or at least very naive. It shows in the account TC gives of burning his unpublished manuscript, Linden comparing his first book to Or Will I Sell My Soul for Guilt. I don't get the impression that TC-BL was a bad guy at all, though.

[KaosArcana]

Hoo, Boy. Buncha posts to respond to. *rubs hands gleefully*

Skyweir:

Kaos wrote:
Fear is hardwired into our brain, and to expect people to just "get over it" without first giving them the proper background to explain their fear is groundless is unfair.
I totally acknowledge this fact .. it is indeed fear that drives irrational behaviours like that exhibited by the townsfolk. then do we say oh its understandable that these people would insert razor blades into his food .. because they are just afraid??? No ofcourse not .. but do we acknowledge that this is purely an irrational response .. an ignorant response .. yes I say so!

Berensford admitted to being squeamish about lepers at first. Meg
Roman admitted she was terrified of Covenant's disease. There are
highly educated people.

Yeah, someone burned Covenant's cottage and someone put razor
blades in his food and someone paid his power bill for him ... but we
have no way of knowing whether that was the work of one person or
many.

Even Covenant tends to shout out "Leper! Outcast! Unclean" in the
Council of Lords when he first reveals his white gold.

If enough of the people really wanted to do Covenant harm, they
could have easily done so. It was just a few people in the town whose
fear made them violent, I think.

In the first series he was mostly post-leperosy guy .. and he annoyed most people I have ever spoken to too .. and I can understand that .. TC annoyed me royally .. But his pre-leperosy self .. to me seemed like a guy with humour .. he tells of laughing .. and loving life .. he doesnt sound at all annoying then .. His life went downhill .. all the way .. AFTER he contracted leperosy and lost everything ..

Kaos wrote:
Like Berensford, I found post-TPTP Covenant much more likable
than he was in the first series. THAT guy I might have been able
to get to know and appreciate
thats funny .. cos it sounds like you are not comparing pre and post leperosy Covenant .. but 1st and 2nd chrons. Covenant .. moreso ..

Here's the thing:

Thomas Covenant is a 30 year old man who has no family and no
friends once his wife abandons him.

One possibility is that every single person in his entire life finds
leprosy so terrifying that they cut off all contact with him.

Another is that Covenant never had any friends to begin with.

A third is that Covenant had fair weather friends who abandoned him
as soon as things got bad for him.

A fourth is that Covenant cut off contact with everyone-- possible,
but not likely, since he seems to long for human contact in the 1st
Chronicles.


I just don't find it plausible that a man in this society would have
no true friends at all in this world if the bottom dropped out of his
life without him doing something to drive them away.

And about the 1st and 2nd Chronicles and Covenant's personality.

Berensford said that after Covenant returned from the leporsaurium
he was different-- APPROACHABLE, and COMPASSIONATE.

That implies to me that Covenant was a pretty standoffish kind of
guy ... or at least Berensford found him so ... until after he was
changed by his experiences in the Land.

Berensford and Covenant were friends. Covenant knew that the
doctor had a disabled wife, and he knew that he could trust
Berensford enough to have his help in taking care of Joan. And
Berensford trusted Covenant enough to LET him take care of
Joan ... given the possible legal penalities, that shows that
Berensford was willing to risk a lot for Covenant in the name of
friendship.


Maybe Covenant was the life of the party before he got leprosy,
but I don't think so. Reading between the lines, I think he was too
self-involved to be concerned about anyone's feelings but his own or
Joan's.

[danlo]

Kaos wrote:

I just don't find it plausible that a man in this society would have
no true friends at all in this world if the bottom dropped out of his
life without him doing something to drive them away.

I think it is, it's just relatively rare. I have been quite a loner in my life--at many times not desirous of friends, but I admit it is painful not to have them. I knew an older couple in Los Lunas who hadn't left their house 4 14 years. They didn't have any kids, I never saw any1 visit them. They had some1 deliver their groceries and bought EVERYTHING, even all their clothes out of catalouges. People who live out in the woods and away from towns may live solitary lives. And as I said b4 many writters prefer solitude. As far as TC is concerned, again, we're not given enuf info...

Joan apprears 2 b more social. TC, may, live vicariously through her... Again we don't even kno when TC lost his parents it could have been 5 or 10 years b4 all this. My Dad, 4 instance, completely shut down emotionally and socially 4 10 years when he lost his mother...even I didn't kno him 4 a large period of time when I was growing up. It wasn't that he was a crab, or not there physically--it was just that he wasn't there...

When I organized a Neighborhood Crime Watch, 8 years ago, I found it appalling that 80% of 40 people in my house knew no 1 else in the neighborhood... I guess my point is that u never kno...

I have one or two good friends but I don't seek them out or call them 4 years at a time...(mayb it sounds kinda sad but) most of my best friends r right here on the Watch. I don't xpect u 2 feel sorry 4 me, I don't have much of a prob w/it... it's just how I am... I show up 2 social events and act pleasant but I don't ever attempt 2 socially connect or make friends. I can leave parties w/o even saying goodbye...I kno it's rude...but it doesn't really bother me. Some people are just loners and antisocial. (ps I grew up is the woods)

[Skyweir]

Hoo, Boy. Buncha posts to respond to. *rubs hands gleefully*

lol

Berensford admitted to being squeamish about lepers at first. Meg
Roman admitted she was terrified of Covenant's disease. There are
highly educated people.

this may well be a natural response to a stigmatised disease like leperosy .. but neither of these 2 you cite .. refused their professional services because of TC's condition.

Yeah .. educated people can be ignorant .. Isnt George W. an educated man?? jk LOL ..

but the bottom line is .. that the kind of 'fear' you are talking about .. drove some of the townsfolk to act irrationally and inhumanely .. and some of them did indeed refuse him 'professional services' <meaning - provide disincentives for him presence in the community .. be unwilling to attend to him (ie: accept his money for bills) etc .. etc.. let alone burn his study down and spike his food with sharp pointy objects) >

Yeah, someone burned Covenant's cottage and someone put razor
blades in his food and someone paid his power bill for him ... but we
have no way of knowing whether that was the work of one person or
many.

it doesnt matter what the actual percentage of the townsfolk who alienated TC was .. we are lead to believe there were very few who remained truly accessible to him .. let alone friendly to him.

Even Covenant tends to shout out "Leper! Outcast! Unclean" in the
Council of Lords when he first reveals his white gold.

do you blame him?? clearly this is a conditioned derrogatory response by him .. from the way he has been treated .. if he had been treated supportively I very much doubt he would have made such a declaration!!

If enough of the people really wanted to do Covenant harm, they
could have easily done so. It was just a few people in the town whose
fear made them violent, I think.

.. given what time frame?? remembering a bunch of irrational looneys .. sacrificed him on a cold stone slab .. how much more harm are you thinking could be done??

Thomas Covenant is a 30 year old man who has no family and no
friends once his wife abandons him.

NO WE DONT KNOW ANY OF THAT FOR SURE .. we dont know if his parents had died or if he did have parents and just didnt see them ... SRD doesnt give us that much information about his fictional lead character .. regrettably

One possibility is that every single person in his entire life finds
leprosy so terrifying that they cut off all contact with him.

Clearly .. and therein lies the tragedy

Another is that Covenant never had any friends to begin with

. yes that is possible .. but we do get this feeling painted by SRD that he experiences alienation and abandonment because of his condition .. the abandonment of even those most close to him .. ie: his wife and family <ie:Roger and Joans parents>.

A third is that Covenant had fair weather friends who abandoned him
as soon as things got bad for him

. BINGO .. thats a valid possibility also ..

A fourth is that Covenant cut off contact with everyone-- possible,
but not likely, since he seems to long for human contact in the 1st
Chronicles.

well this is all speculation .. isnt it? It would seem from reading LFB particularly and the rest of the series .. that he would have liked to retain some human contact .. so I dont think this is as sound a possibility .. <ie: he seemed to long for Joan's "forgiveness" (for him getting sick ) .. and return>


I think danlo explains this reallly well in his above post ..

Berensford said that after Covenant returned from the leporsaurium
he was different-- APPROACHABLE, and COMPASSIONATE.

as opposed to the shocked bitter angry man who just discovered he has a terminal socially stigmatised illness who within days of his diagnosis .. has his wife leave him .. and begin divorce proceedings

cool .. the leperorsaurium was good for him .. there he learnt survival skills .. you'd hope he returned a little better for those intensive 3 or more months .. whatever it was

That implies to me that Covenant was a pretty standoffish kind of
guy ... or at least Berensford found him so ... until after he was
changed by his experiences in the Land.

You dont know for sure what time frame Berensford was relating to .. as I think .. TC may not have had much to do with the hospital prior to his getting leperosy .. and Berensford may well be comparing ~ post Leperosaurium TC to moment of diagnosis - TC

If I found out that I had been inflicted with leperosy and the love of my life - my spouse .. was taking a hike .. with my new born son .. because of it .. I'd feel pretty sorry for myself too I'd feel pissed .. and bitter for a while .. and a trip to the leperosaurium .. may assist in altering my negative world view too

Berensford and Covenant were friends. Covenant knew that the
doctor had a disabled wife, and he knew that he could trust
Berensford enough to have his help in taking care of Joan. And
Berensford trusted Covenant enough to LET him take care of
Joan ... given the possible legal penalities, that shows that
Berensford was willing to risk a lot for Covenant in the name of
friendship.

yes good point .. a buddy for TC .. so even though he may have suffered nauseating repulsion to dealing with a leper .. he was intelligent enough to get over it .. and see TC for the man he was .. a good man

I think too often because of that one self-critical moment ..where TC bags his pre-leperosy work as shallow .. we tend to assume that he was a superficial jerk ..

TC truly learned and grew through his disease .. and may well have come to value things in his life that he had not before .. but we all when crisis and tragedy comes .. learn whats truly important in life .. and the wise among us .. refocus our lives accordingly

[Ryzel]

I wonder, if TC was as miserable as he seemed where he was. Why did he not move somewhere else? Why did he not look for other options?

There must have been possibilities for him, other than staying where he was. (I realize that that would have been like giving up, but really.)