Was James too jealous?

[Ify-babe]

In my opinion, James was too jealous and possessive. I think it could be by virtue of their master and servant relationship.

[Samuel Ade 1]

I share your thoughts. James' possessive behavior towards Lily was annoying. He was jealous for no reason and it pissed me off.

But I guess that his response was as realistic as possible for a guy who probably had ladies lining up in every city he stepped his foot in

[havillah108]

I don't agree with some of Jame's rude, insane, and possessive behavior toward Lily in the book, but I do believe that his jealousy was justified to some extent, especially given Elijah's efforts to woo Lily. Prior to her relationship with James, Lily had a mutual attraction to Elijah as well. Elijah was so physically appealing that even James had to admit that he deserved Lily's double take.

[Kavita Shah]

Yes, James was jealous. He was possessive and insecure. He wanted the society to accept and also unable to see Lily with someone else.

[Amiczy Heaven]

I think his jealousy was circumstantial. He was just scared she’ll be taken from him again. It gets toxic sometimes though.

[vakpan71]

James was very possessive and jealous. In as much as that could be a result of the strong affection he has for Lily, sometimes It seemed as though he went overboard with his actions.

[Akshi Porwal]

I believe james was jealous but also many of his actions were also due to his suppressed feelings and the society at that time.

[Walter R]

I understand that when you love someone you desire to keep them exclusively to yourself. However, I agree that some of reactions were inappropriate on some occasions and went way over the line.

[Abu Abra]

I think that he was jealous. He failed at containing the jealousy and I disliked him for minute there

[Grampy]

I may agree with you here...
The thing one needs to take into account is the influence that James’s father had on his personality. A lot of that jealousy, I assume, must have been engrained by the meandering that Jesse left on and in his son.
The jealousy can also be understood in the sense that in the beginning of the friendship in childhood, Lily and James shared and incredibly beautiful friendship; then their friendship was discovered and, subsequently, Lily was taken from James. She was taken from him before. The effect of her being taken from him in this manner is intensified when one notices his jealousy: how painful it must have been for young James to lose someone so close to him (an abrupt taking of a loved one), just as he had abruptly lost his mother-permanently lost her. Yet, Lily is still alive. This must heighten a fear of losing her again -permanently- as he lost his mother to death.
The fear of losing her again must fuel his jealousy, he tries to avoid the danger in the pain of even the slightest possibility of losing her again.

I totally agree with you here. Looking at it from the outside James felt too jealous and kind of possessive. I wouldn't blame him though. His background and growing up with his kind of father inculcated that in him, and also the fear of losing someone you love. But I feel there is a better way to go about this than being jealous.

[Uchechukwu Fortune Njoku]

James was too jealous! Hisbtupe of love was toxic and dangerous. I, for one, can not put up with such toxicity.

[Charlize Venter]

I may agree with you here...
The thing one needs to take into account is the influence that James’s father had on his personality. A lot of that jealousy, I assume, must have been engrained by the meandering that Jesse left on and in his son.
The jealousy can also be understood in the sense that in the beginning of the friendship in childhood, Lily and James shared and incredibly beautiful friendship; then their friendship was discovered and, subsequently, Lily was taken from James. She was taken from him before. The effect of her being taken from him in this manner is intensified when one notices his jealousy: how painful it must have been for young James to lose someone so close to him (an abrupt taking of a loved one), just as he had abruptly lost his mother-permanently lost her. Yet, Lily is still alive. This must heighten a fear of losing her again -permanently- as he lost his mother to death.
The fear of losing her again must fuel his jealousy, he tries to avoid the danger in the pain of even the slightest possibility of losing her again.

I totally agree with you here. Looking at it from the outside James felt too jealous and kind of possessive. I wouldn't blame him though. His background and growing up with his kind of father inculcated that in him, and also the fear of losing someone you love. But I feel there is a better way to go about this than being jealous.

I must concur, there certainly are better ways to go about such internal struggles. I have experienced these in my own life frequently enough: althoug someone means well, it does not make it okay to be mean, jelous or possessive (amongst other things). For the most part, it comes down to our own willingness to develop ourselves, our emotional intelligence, and a willingness to seek help in moving through the trauma(s) which root the cause (as well as a recognition that we do have a problem that we need to address). The trouble is just that rehashing trauma's is no easy thing and the emotions that surface during such times are not easy at all, I believe that being jealous is the easy way out: instead of feeling the painful and difficult emotions tied to the trauma and the truth, we lash out with the easier emotions such as anger, irritation, jealousy, and the like (as these do not necessarily cause us to address the trauma head on and do not affect our emotional state as profoundly as the more honest and difficult emotions do).

[Sarrikoziol]

I believe James was very jealous and with good reason. Those times were so difficult for te people. Nobody can help with whom they fall in love, but navigating your feelings in a time such as this one would prove even more difficult. I believe his actions are why the book ended the way it did. I think had he been able to control his temper their enemies might not have been so great.

[Themmie10]

Since he was not a slave like Lily, the over possessiveness seems overboard to me and very uncomfortable. I understand he was just insecure but giving her a breathing space is not bad.

[maglalangara496]

I notice this as well, but I cannot blame James for feeling that sentiment. After all, he has long-held feelings for Lily, and he can’t control his emotions. The best thing that he could do is to know his limits, though, but we cannot discount love.