Hile Troy as an African American?

[Despiser Dave]

OK, here's a rather oddball first post for me...

I first read the Thomas Covenant series back in the early 1980's. I think I was about 12 when I read the 1st Chronicles, and for some reason I got the notion in my head that Hile Troy is black. I never wondered about it at the time. I just thought he was.

Rereading the series a few years later, I realized that there is nothing in the text that would necessarily make me think this. I'm reading the 1st Chronicles again and still trying to figure out where I got the idea. Maybe it was his name? Does anyone else have any thoughts as to why I would think that Troy is black? I guess there's nothing in the text that explicitly says he wasn't...

I personally think it gives his character a bit more texture, so I'll always think of Troy as African American every time I read The Illearth War.

[Menolly]

No imput on your question, Despiser Dave, but I wanted to welcome you to the Watch.

Be Welcome to the Watch. Be Well Come and True.

[Wyldewode]

Welcome, Despiser Dave! And yours is an interesting question. I look forward to someone answering it soon!

[Despiser Dave]

Thanks for the welcomes.

I think maybe there is no knowable answer 25 (gulp!) years after the fact. Perhaps it's just an idea that my mind subconsciously latched onto because of something/someone that I saw or heard at the time...

[danlo]

It's been discussed a number of times here-I too have always thought he was black-a number of us tryed to find references of the fact, but we never could. We definately "felt" it.

[Wyldewode]

Good. . . I'm not crazy! I might try to get the book out and find out why several of us have that vague feeling.

[Despiser Dave]

OK, wow... It's interesting to hear that others have thought the same thing.

One connection I can think of, if you read the book for the fist time after Star Trek the Next Generation came out, you may make a subconscious link to Geordi because Troy's black sunglasses are referred to often. I read it in the early 80's though. I guess I'll do a search and read some of the past posts.

[danlo]

I first read TIW in '80...no it had nothing to do with the sunglasses...might have had something to do with the uniform.

[SleeplessOne]

how strange; I also imagined Hile Troy to be an African American when I first read TIW, only to realise when I read it again years later that there was no mention of his ethnicity whatsoever in the actual text - spooky !

[Beyondthebreach]

Same here - however, I didn't imagine him as African-American the first time I read the series (I would have been about 13). It wasn't till the 2nd time at around age 19 that I thought this . . . I think that there was some reference or description that I didn't get the first time as a kid as I remember stopping to edit my mental image of Troy.

Of course, I can't remember what it was now . . .

[[Syl]]

"What do you mean, I'm not white? Why didn't you tell me this before?"

[matrixman]

Nope, never imagined Hile Troy as African American.

[Wyldewode]

I read about a third of The Illearth War last night, and so far nothing to lend credence to the Troy as African American theory. I did notice that he seems to have less character-establishing scenes than most characters. Perhaps that is because he is also from the "real world," so SRD assumed that we would establish much of his character from the short monologue he gave about being summoned.

[dlbpharmd]

Nope, never imagined Hile Troy as African American.

Me neither, but now that it's mentioned, I can certainly imagine him being African American.

[MsMary]

Nope, never imagined Hile Troy as African American.

Me, neither. Interesting that so many did, though.

[Ur Dead]

Nope, never imagined Hile Troy as African American.

Me, neither. Interesting that so many did, though.

Same here..

Maybe the vague feelings come from today media. The portrait of Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder. Both being blind, well in the public eye, both musical geniuses and very accomplished entertainters.
Hile Troy connection would be blind and a genius for a think tank.
The connection is vague but people tend to assoicate book characters with public figures. Both Ray and Stevie were in the public's eye during the release of the second book and still are.(RIP Ray) And naturally people tend to gravitate the real person to the character.

[aTOMiC]

I have to echo what others have posted. It never occurred to me that Troy might have had either dark skin or light skin. I read the First Chrons around 1979 and even then race never crossed my mind. I only reacted to the information provided to me. Either the cover artwork of each book or SRDs descriptions. When describing Stonedowners or Ramen I recall he mentioned that they were tanned due to constant exposure to the sun or whatever. Woodhelven, spending time in amongst trees it would follow that they would be less tanned. There were yellow wolves, green Illearth stones, blue Lord's fire and obsidian skinned ur-viles but I don't remember SRD spending any time explaining Hile Troy's skin color or referencing his heritage so there's really no reason why he can't be thought of as African American if a reader's imagination fills in that missing information. I have to assume that SRD probably has some idea what his characters are like why doesn't someone just ask the guy if you are curious?

[Damelon]

I can't say I've ever thought about it. I don't recall an indication one way or another.

[MsMary]

Agreed, Damelon. I can't remember any indication one way or the other, either.

[Wyldewode]

He really isn't described--not in the part I read. It talked about his smooth-skinned sockets, but nothing about his features, build or skin color. I'll read the rest and see if there's anything further about descriptions.