What are your opinions on this quote?

Use this forum to discuss the August 2021 Book of the month, "Chameleons" by Onyx Gold
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Sushan Ekanayake
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Re: What are your opinions on this quote?

Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

the_invaded_privacy wrote: 12 Aug 2021, 05:28 "Flesh demands sacrifice for its existence." Regardless of the book, this quote is true even in a general format. Even for food and shelter, the sacrifice of smaller animals for meat milk, and nature for roof vegetables is necessary. In matters of reproduction, giving up one's body is just as needed. I believe this quote best describes the existence of the life cycle.
Is it always a sacrifice when it comes to reproduction? A couple can be happy, and they can have children. Sure they have to sacrifice their time, freedom and many more things when they decide to care for a child, but does it come with bodily sacrifices? In the story Zia was just having sex, not to make a baby. She went to multiple men to satisfy her needs. Baxter was the most passionate one and he pushed her to the extremes. There she had to make the sacrifices. But all of that was because she needed only to satisfy her flesh, and in a wrong way as well.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Muna Chizzy wrote: 12 Aug 2021, 19:10 Well there is always a price to pay, when fulfilling the desires of the flesh. I think Zia knew the consequence of feeding her lust but she couldn't help it. Sometimes our emotions tend to overcome rational thoughts.
Yes, Zia let her bodily desires to take over her mind and it clouded her rational thinking. At later stages though she knew she was doing something wrong she just couldn't stop it. Not only Zia but also the victims of the killer also let their bodies to do the thinking in order to satisfy their flesh, and ended up paying the ultimate price.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Tarie07 wrote: 13 Aug 2021, 06:09 I totally agree with this quote. We have to choose whether fulfilling the desires of our flesh (body) is worth it. Zia gave in to her sexual desires which put her in a dangerous love triangle. Sometimes ignoring the desires of the flesh is a sacrifice you have to make for your own good.
I agree. Zia had the choice to make whether go to Baxter to fulfill her bodily needs or torment it a little bit longer and get that satisfaction from Bryce. She chose her flesh over her love, and entangled in a love triangle. It was dangerous because her second lover was a psychopathic killer. Luckily het life was spared, but with Baxter's BDSM approaches she had to sacrifice her flesh to satisfy her flesh.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Ivvie Ivanova wrote: 13 Aug 2021, 14:15 In Zia's case, I think it refers to her getting involved with the wrong person in order to satisfy her sexual desires. Such mistakes always come with a price, often a hefty one both in fiction and in reality.

All on its own and out of context, the quote makes me think of things like eating meat or how people often hurt others emotionally or physically to get something they want. Many don't believe we exist beyond the flesh.

I think it's a really good quote. It can refer to many situations and it's a quote worth remembering. Would make a good writing prompt, too.
I agree. Everything comes with a sacrifice, whether it is small or large. Usually illegal or unethical results need heavy sacrifices. Zia went to another lover to fulfill her flesh, and she suffered by getting in a love triangle and cheating her real lover. All the girls who were killed by the psychopath too wanted to satisfy their flesh, and they did the ultimate sacrifice by loosing their lives. All of these women lived as they live only in this life and flesh and went beyond everything else just to satisfy their bodies, and this quote made the core of the story.
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Post by Anil G »

Sushan wrote: 31 Jul 2021, 23:35 Epigraph 1 of the book says,
Flesh demands sacrifice for its existence.
(Location 43 Kindle version)
Everyone sacrifices something to gain another thing, not because they want to but they have to. In Zia's case its about sexual desire and I totally agree with the above statement.
A great author communicates to readers through books. - Anil Gupta
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Post by Fahad Afroz »

I would go as far as to say that this quote is a universal truth. Be it any kind of desire, you have to sacrifice to achieve it. But in the book's context, it most probably refers to Zia's physical desires
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Shannon Ruane wrote: 16 Aug 2021, 01:29
6eyed wrote: 06 Aug 2021, 20:52 Though I'm sure it refers to the sacrifices Zia had to make to satisfy her sexual desires, I also wonder if the quote was picked because it matches the killer's motivation. For flesh (humans) to exist "properly" the women could be considered the sacrifice (the error god made). I don't know if that interpretation was also considered by the author or not, but it certainly lends a creepier feeling to the opening quote.
Hi! Commenting that it matches the killer's motivation was something that did not occur to me but you have an excellent point. The killer desires (female) flesh at first because he wants to rid the population of women (the error). However, he realizes he wants Zia's flesh not to kill but to worship and play with. She was one of the few that should be spared. The Mitochondrial Eve (an actual term, not something the author made up). The visiting characters who explain African Culture at the end seem to convince him after they address her as Queen. He calls her his "Queen" he is so demented and deluded by the end.

Zia's choices led her into a situation where things could have ended tragically as they did for the other girls. It was only her unique appearance that allowed her to live long enough to find a way to capture him. The police wanted to capture his flesh to stop crimes, but Jazz gets the "honor" of taking his flesh because he murdered her mother. I'm impressed with Jazz's fearlessness.
First of all, to those who did not read the book, this comment carries a lot of spoilers and 'be alterted' when you read this.

Yea, this concept of flesh was taken on a much deeper level by the killer. He wanted to remove all the erroneous females and leave the ones who carry the genes of that 'Mitochondrial Eve'. And Zia was lucky enough to be similarly resembled, so she was spared. But why did the killer sexually alured the women, had sex with them and then only killed them? Was it as some sort of a ritual, or was it just for the existence of his own flesh?
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Ana Barrantes wrote: 17 Aug 2021, 17:54 I think in the end the answer is both. Yes, Zia takes a lot of risks to fulfill her sexual desires, which leads to her making sacrifices. But, in making those sacrifices she is also losing little parts of herself that can mount up to her being the sacrifice. Also, given the killer's motives, I think this quote could also be alluding to him.
Yes, Zia blindly believed that sex was everything when it came to acceptance. So in her eyes Bryce simply denied her. So she went to Baxter. But when she realized that she was merely after fulfilling her bodily desires, she was too late had already done the sacrifices.
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Post by Rachael S 1 »

I think that it means everything has a price. Happiness, desire, acceptance. Nothing is truly free and it all depends on what we are willing to sacrifice to gain. Here, Zia has strong sexual desires and she is forced to confront what she wants vs. what she is willing to do to get it.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Clifford Munene wrote: 19 Aug 2021, 18:49 Take Zia's desires to be the flesh. To satisfy the "flesh" she has to sacrifice her emotional wellbeing " by sleeping with the wrong guy". I think it all boils down to this popular saying , "you can't have your cake and eat it."
'you can't have your cake and eat it too', very true. Everything comes with a price, and wrong or illegal things come with hefty prices. Zia went after forbidden pleasures and that led her to loose her emotional comfort, and also it affected Bryce's trust in her (though he decided to forgive her). So, yes, Zia's choice to satisfy her flesh made her make many sacrifices.
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Post by Miriam nkere »

For this quote, I believe its about Zia's sexual desires, yes sex deals with body, mind and soul. Also being entangled sexually with two unique men is a sacrifice of the flesh. But every sacrifice has am effect.
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Post by Choky »

We have to make sacrifices for our desires and be ready to face the consequences. Zia sacrificed her relationship with Bryce for a sexual satisfaction with another person. The consequences of her actions were hers alone.
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Post by Jasy95 »

Fahad Baibras wrote: 30 Aug 2021, 01:36 I would go as far as to say that this quote is a universal truth. Be it any kind of desire, you have to sacrifice to achieve it. But in the book's context, it most probably refers to Zia's physical desires
I think you made a great point! I personally read the quote and automatically thought of bodily/sexual desires, but you're definitely right that it does apply more broadly to other desires in life.
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Post by Goodness C N »

To me, this statement can be applied to any sphere of life. I like to understand to think that it means that to achieve success, one must out in necessary work. Great success is not gotten on a platter. So yeah, we can apply the quote in different areas of life.
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Post by Suzer6440 xyz »

A deep quote and also an open ended one. The recognition that our flesh demands to do things other than what we should be doing is what this means to me. In reference to the book though, since this character takes risks , my opinion is that is the risks that she takes that the quote is referring to.
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