… and Tom, when it comes to his “blind spot” for Alfred.
Right now I’m 60% of the way through this absolutely amazing book, and I don’t remember the last time I felt so angry when reading (in a good way). Maybe it means Ken Follett did a superb job telling the story, or maybe it just means I don’t read enough, or maybe both.
When Alfred and Jack had their first fight that led to Ellen leaving Tom, I thought that was gonna be the end of their fights (at least the physical, life-threatening ones) because I expected them to grow out of it. But oh boy was I wrong. For God’s sake why did Alfred have to so insensitively claim that Jack’s biological father was hanged for theft? When Jack fought back with the hammer, I was rooting for him. As much as I feel guilty to admit, I was so disappointed when Philip interfered to stop the killing blow. To add insult to injury, Tom told Jack “I did my best for you, *I hope your mother will see that*” (emphasis mine). No Tom you did not do your “best” for Jack because you don’t care enough about him. The pathetically little that you did do, you did it only because you feared Ellen would leave you again.
Sorry for the rant but I just have to get it off my chest. As much as I love The Pillars of the Earth, the one thing that I do not like about it is how immature certain characters like Alfred are. However, I don’t blame Follett for this because I can totally imagine characters like these existing in real life.
I’d love to hear how others feel about the Alfred/Jack/Tom relationship. Do you also feel angry like me? I’d be very curious to hear why or why not!
by LittleIf