OKAY so apparently people are awaiting my ramblings SO UH. I HOPE THEY ARE GOOD.
One of the things that I find the most fascinating about Marco is that he's got these combinations of personality traits that you just do not expect together. He's the comedian and the jokester and the comic-relief, and you do not expect that kind of character to be the most ruthless. You don't expect them to be one of the most intelligent. And you don't expect them to be as controlled as Marco is (although perhaps 'repressed' is the better word here :P). He's always calculating his own responses.
And this makes lisacharly's comment about how Marco has some of the biggest meltdown's interesting. It certainly gives weight to the idea that Marco is repressing stuff - you have to wonder, what he always like this, or did it come about after Eva's "death?" Peter was the one who had the major breakdown (which actually indicates a history of mental illness when you think about it...), and so in a way, Marco wasn't given that option. He was this 11 year old kid who couldn't fall apart like you normally would in that situation, because suddenly his dad was falling apart and Marco had to keep it together to look after him. He obviously didn't get much in the way of support from Peter, so perhaps at this point Marco learned that the only way to deal was to just keep in control, keep joking, and try to not fall apart. And it works for the most part, but every now and then you get something that tips him over. (And really, who wouldn't have gotten tipped over the edge?)
Which brings me to the notion of Marco and family, which is a related note. Even with Peter as a screw-up Dad, it's clear that family is incredibly important to him. And if Eva had not disappeared, I suspect he would have grown up to be a fully blown Mama's boy. She probably did the bulk (if not all) of the parenting, and it's clear that she was a massive influence. And she was probably Marco's 'favourite' parent. But even towards Peter, Marco's got a very strong sense of familial responsibility. He's the only one to consider what effect his involvement in the war could have on his family, and to think that his family is more important.
Marco might be good at seeing the big picture, but he tends to hold the people important to him tight and goes to insane lengths for them. I think this is a more general trait he has, because you see it with people outside his family - Jake being the most prominent example. The only reason Marco goes down to the pool in the first book is because of Jake. He's not doing it for any other sake. And you see through the rest of the series that Marco looks out for Jake. Hell, even at the end he's still keeping an eye on him. And this ends up extending to the other Animorphs too - Tobias is the one he's the least close to, and yet he still fights like hell to try and save him from Taylor.
And I find it interesting that while you think of Jake as the one with the the family issues, with Tom being a controller...it's Marco who's really defined by his family. Jake's family kinda stays in the background, and we don't ever really find out that much about who they are, when they're not being infested. We see a lot of more Marco's family, and almost every one of his books has some kind of plot relating to his family (with Jake? not so much).
Aaaaaaaaaaand I think that's enough rambling from me for now, orz
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-09-13 08:48 am (UTC)One of the things that I find the most fascinating about Marco is that he's got these combinations of personality traits that you just do not expect together. He's the comedian and the jokester and the comic-relief, and you do not expect that kind of character to be the most ruthless. You don't expect them to be one of the most intelligent. And you don't expect them to be as controlled as Marco is (although perhaps 'repressed' is the better word here :P). He's always calculating his own responses.
And this makes
Which brings me to the notion of Marco and family, which is a related note. Even with Peter as a screw-up Dad, it's clear that family is incredibly important to him. And if Eva had not disappeared, I suspect he would have grown up to be a fully blown Mama's boy. She probably did the bulk (if not all) of the parenting, and it's clear that she was a massive influence. And she was probably Marco's 'favourite' parent. But even towards Peter, Marco's got a very strong sense of familial responsibility. He's the only one to consider what effect his involvement in the war could have on his family, and to think that his family is more important.
Marco might be good at seeing the big picture, but he tends to hold the people important to him tight and goes to insane lengths for them. I think this is a more general trait he has, because you see it with people outside his family - Jake being the most prominent example. The only reason Marco goes down to the pool in the first book is because of Jake. He's not doing it for any other sake. And you see through the rest of the series that Marco looks out for Jake. Hell, even at the end he's still keeping an eye on him. And this ends up extending to the other Animorphs too - Tobias is the one he's the least close to, and yet he still fights like hell to try and save him from Taylor.
And I find it interesting that while you think of Jake as the one with the the family issues, with Tom being a controller...it's Marco who's really defined by his family. Jake's family kinda stays in the background, and we don't ever really find out that much about who they are, when they're not being infested. We see a lot of more Marco's family, and almost every one of his books has some kind of plot relating to his family (with Jake? not so much).
Aaaaaaaaaaand I think that's enough rambling from me for now, orz