He had one older brother, Brandon, and two younger siblings, Lyanna and Benjen. History YouthĮddard was born at Winterfell as the second son of Lord Rickard Stark and Lady Lyarra Stark. Lord Stark wields sword and dagger, although he uses Ice, a Valyrian steel greatsword, for ceremonial purposes. Ned's cloaks are grey with white, as well as black wool. His surcoat is fine white velvet with a direwolf badge over the heart. Ned also wears silk and linen tunics and a belt of heavy silver links. While riding his great warhorse in the north, Ned wears furs and leathers. Among his enemies, Eddard has the reputation of having cold, judgmental eyes thought to reflect his frozen heart. He is fiercely protective of his wife and children, whom he loves deeply.Įddard is known for his unwavering sense of honor and justice and his family finds him kind, although some consider his reserved personality a sign of coldness and disdain. Eddard is shorter and less handsome than his older brother Brandon had been, according to Catelyn Stark however, she also states that Ned has a "good sweet heart beneath his solemn face". His dark grey eyes reflect his moods, turning soft as fog or hard as stone. His closely-trimmed beard is beginning to grey, making him look older than his thirty-five years. There’s more social commentary throughout, including young Demon asking about the term “hillbilly” and realizing that slurs - redneck, moonshiner, ridge runner, hick and deplorable - end up as sources of pride, even used as bumper stickers on their trucks.Appearance and Character See also: Images of Eddard StarkĮddard has a long face and long brown hair. But throughout it all, he remains a sympathetic character, at least in part because we know he’s telling his own story as a cautionary tale. Demon’s descent begins with painkillers following a football injury, then is exacerbated by a love affair with a user, who introduces him to all sorts of cheap drugs. The tree was shaken and yes, we did eat of the apple.”īig pharma comes in for lots of deserved scorn, as addictions to prescription drugs impact countless characters. … For every football player with some of this or that torn up, and the whole world riding on his getting back in the game. As Demon recounts his mom’s funeral, he remembers first hearing the term “oxy,” then expounds: “God’s gift for the laid-off deep-hole man with his back and and neck bones grinding like bags of gravel. Turns out he’s great at drawing comics, “a born sucker for the superhero rescue,” but can he rescue himself from the vicious cycle of institutional poverty?ĭemon is looking back on his life as he tells his story, so that self-awareness provides Kingsolver ample opportunity to comment on the problem. Other institutions fail him as well, including school, where he’s deemed “gifted” only because of his artistic talent. Dad is dead, a story that trickles out in bits and pieces over the course of the novel, and mom is eventually in no shape to parent, so Demon is ejected into a series of foster homes, each only slightly more bearable than the last. “First, I got myself born,” begins the book, as Demon flops around on the bathroom floor of his junkie mom’s trailer, “inside the sack that babies float in,” mom unconscious nearby. The voice takes some getting used to, but from the start the title character feels like a reliable narrator, telling it very much like it was. If you’re familiar with the Charles Dickens classic, you’ll follow the story’s beats and chuckle when you meet the Pegs, Tommy Waddles and UHaul Pyles instead of the Peggottys, Tommy Traddles and Uriah Heep, but the story certainly stands on its own. But you don’t need to have taken an English lit seminar to enjoy this novel. “Demon Copperhead,” the latest from Barbara Kingsolver, is a modern reimagining of “David Copperfield,” set in Appalachia. “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver (Harper)
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