Discussion Point #10

Originally Posted by Karen 5th june 2004


Now let's talk about Caroline and her mother, Armande............why
do you think Caroline was so rigid? With herself, her son and her
mother? Do you think she was always that way or something made her
fearful and angry? Also, do you think that she was jealous of her
mother's friendship with Vianne? HOw do you think Armande related to
Vianne?

Helen


GOOD! I was hoping we would get to this.

More than once Armande made reference to Caroline being just like her father. I get the impression Armande's husband was a man of some wealth and adhered to tradition. Once he died Armande was free to be totally Armande which is an embarrassment to Caroline. Caroline wanted to be a pillar of the community. To do this she had to have the perfect life, perfect husband, perfect son, a cut above everyone else. Armande was the glitch. Come to think of it, Armande never referred to Caroline's father as her husband, just as Caroline's
father.

I don't know if jealous is the right world. I think Caroline wanted Armande to be a different person, but as she wasn't she didn't want to deal with her on a daily basis so Vianne was necessary until the diabetic incident. Vianne became a threat. Armande could leave a good deal of money to Vianne.

Armande and Vianne were kindred spirits. Armande recognized this immediately.
Both had a distaste for religion and tradition. Both had a special gift.

Anne


We don't really know much about Carolines background do we, so I'm not sure how to answer the first part of this question, so I won't. Well, maybe a little! I think she was embarrassed by the way Armande spoke her mind and didn't really care what others thought of her. I'm not sure why she kept harping on about her going into a nursing home
either, whether it was for Armandes sake as she thought she would be
better cared for and live a healthier life (in which case, she knew
nothing about her mother), or if it was so that she didn't have to
worry about Armande saying or doing something that she felt may
reflect back on her.
As for being jealous of Armandes relationship with Vianne, thats
another tricky one, gee, thanks Karen! In her place I think I would
be jealous but then I would never disown my Mum in the first place. I
think that as she was so self absorbed with her own standing in the
village that she may not have even realised how close the two of them
had become. She was probably more annoyed that her Mum and Son had
been brought closer through Vianne.
I'm not sure that this really answers the question as you asked it
Karen, but it's the best I can do.

Cathy


I agree 100% with Helen's analysis. I think the Caroline in the
book was very much preoccupied with her standing in the
community, and being viewed as an upstanding citizen. She
was very selfish!

Caroline is another character that is much different in the movie.
She is a much more sympathetic character in the movie. At first
you don't understand why she doesn't let Luc see Armande, but
you learn that she is overprotective of *every* aspect of Luc's life.
She sees him as sickly and wants to shield him from harm. I
think she feels very vulnerable as a young widow, and is only
doing her best to bring him up by herself, even if it's a little
misguided. As far as her problem with Armande, I think that
some of it has to do with Armande's unconventional lifestyle and
behavior, but I think a lot of it stems from the hurt she feels that
Armande is living so recklessly and not taking care of herself.
Caroline handles it badly, but I really feel that she loves Armande
and wants what's best for her, and her idea is for Armande to get
good medical attention at the nursing home. I imagine after so
much time of disagreeing so strongly, there were just a lot of bad
feelings that only compounded the problem. I saw almost none
of this in the book.

Karen

Ya know there really aren't any right or wrong answers, as I like to
say, I just want everyone's opinion. LOL The only one with the
answers, if there ARE answers, is Joanne Harris and drat! She hasn't
chimed in yet.

Opinions, I want opinions.........we all have 'em and we all want to
share them. Thanks to each and every one for sharing yours with us, I
tend to think that the sharing of opinions and ideas is what helps is
grow in mind, heart and spirit.

Karen


I keep wondering if Caroline's over protectiveness towards her son is
her fear that she will lose him, like she lost her husband? And maybe
the same with her Armande's wild life style, ignoring her health
concerns. I think that these are 2 very multilayered and well
portrayed characters. Do you know people like these 2?

SuzieboozieluvsJD


I think Caroline was afraid to love for fear of being hurt. I think
her husband must have died and she was afraid her son would, too.
She was overprotective of her mother, and wanting her to be in a
place where she could be cared for as if it would make her live for
ever.

I think Armande may have had the same type of upbringing as Vianne,
and the were of the same spirit, same gifts, some of them.