Kevin's Watch

I can't help but notice that TC's halfhand is hardly even mentioned in the second chrons.

Also there is not alot of emphasis on his numbness (there is far more in the first chrons, even though he is cured for the first two)

It is so little mentioned in the second chrons that I find myself forgetting evan that he has leporasy at all...

while its true that less emphisis was drawn to covenant's lost fingers and his leperosy, he lost the heath sense... and was as such more disabled...

he could stand infront of gibbon and not know he was a raver, for some considerable time...

he gained the use of the white gold, but coudln't use it because he had no health sense...

he often had to ask people's condition rather than know instinctivly.

i gtta go now, but thast just a small list...

I'm 80 pages in2 TWL on a reread and so far all SRD talks about is his leprosy, numbness and halfhand-LA has to make up for what he lacks--in TOT he's sorta a zombie anyway...I don't know if I know what you mean... I'd say much more disabled...

I don't believe that's true at all Hierachy. It's mentioned quite frequently. In fact, the Clave call him "Halfhand". Anyone in the Land who sees him at first calls him "Halfhand."

We start right away hearing about his leprosy in TWL. Berenford says he sees himself as "Thomas Covenant, the leper." The first few chapters in the Land itself we hear about how he has not regained the "Land-sense" and his numbness seems more pronounced to him. Then of course he's bitten by Marid and he's infected with that venom. It goes on and on.

Maybe what you are meaning is that he's not using his leprosy this time to "disbelieve" or "deny" the Land's existance. Because, that's what he did in the 1st Chrons. "Nerves don't regenerate." and "Belief in such things is a leper's suicide." and so forth. There is none of that in the 2nd Chrons.

Ok, that's true, it is very big in the wounded land, I'd forgotten how big; but in TOT there is deffinantly not nearly as much about his disabilities as in the prievious books.

Also, I didn't mean literaly less disabled (as in he grew his fingers back), it's just his disabilities seem to cause him fewer day-to-day difficulties in the land.

Leprosy is, of course, a major factor in the second chrons but not in the same way it was in the first.

My point is that in the second chronicals Covanants disabilities are switched from physical to mental (kinda like the land, I s'pose).

deft cover! copisetic!

Well, you add that venom and I think he becomes even more "disabled" if you want to put it that way. His leprosy, as the books go on becomes mentioned less, as the venom takes over. I see your point there. More attention is placed on the fact that he can't control the wild magic, and it becoming corrupted with the venom until his "caamora" of sorts in the banefire when he becomes "fused". Gibbon throws it in his face tho, as does Foul at the end.

He's just as disabled. He just doesn't seem to focus on it as much in the Second Chronicles. I realize the venom and worm of the worlds end factor is key but its just more of the same just different.. sort of.

I think he focuses less on his disabilities in the Second Chronicles because first, he's upset about his health-sense disability and isn't as into his leper defense mechanisms, and second because instead of wanting to do nothing, this time around he's trying to do to much, instead of letting Linden use the white gold. He feels so responsibile that he wants to fix the Land himself, so he's more focused on the health-sense...which actually was an extension of the lepers' numbness, I believe.

So I vote for "just as disabled," but differently. Definitely wanting to take action instead of wanting to have no part is a big difference, and I think it makes it seem that he's less disabled in the Second Chronicles. I had the feeling, I think, that Covenant had more agency--ability and will to act--in the Second Chronicles than in most of the First Chronicles, but when actually analyzing his diabilities, that's a deceptive impression.

...unless you count an unwillingness to act when one *could* act as a disability because then he may be more disabled in the First Chronicles. Argh! Time to sleep.

I think it's all relative. In the first series, Covenant has the roughly same amount of problems, but most everybody else is doing much better in comparison to him. Also, he hasn't come to terms with the land, or his early crime in the first series.

In the second series, TC doesn't have the hardest time, Linden does. So naturally, the focus is more on her.

Furthermore, at the beginning of TWL Covenant has had 10 years to get used to living as an eight-fingered leper. The opening chapters make it plain that he's more or less adjusted to the day-to-day difficulties, though often in some pretty warped ways.

Probably he no longer thought about his missing fingers at all, except when there was something specific to remind him. (Besides, five completely numb fingers aren't that much more useful than three!) And his leprosy was so much a part of his daily routine that not even the Land could jar him out of, for example, doing his VSE.