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Was James too jealous?

Posted: 09 Jan 2022, 01:07
by Danielle Briggs
Did anyone else feel that James was too jealous and/or possessive with Lily? Were his reactions too much or did they fit the events that were happening?

I understand the author was trying to portray how strong his feeling were for Lily, but it came off very possessive and overly angry to me. I feel like with her growing independence, this could potentially be a problem in the future.

Re: Was James too jealous?

Posted: 09 Jan 2022, 09:02
by 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.

Re: Was James too jealous?

Posted: 09 Jan 2022, 11:02
by Marija Savic
James reacts very inappropriately in some situations. I'm not sure if it's just his jealousy or inability to say and do what he wants. I believe that his behavior would have been different if society had approved of his views.

Re: Was James too jealous?

Posted: 09 Jan 2022, 13:04
by Amenrodion
I feel his jealousy was a result of the circumstances thay found themselves. I don't know that I found him too jealous. Don't we all sometimes display high levels of possessiveness of our partners when we are insecure about them

Re: Was James too jealous?

Posted: 09 Jan 2022, 18:38
by Elendu Ekechukwu
He was Jealous at some point, especially towards the son of those blacks that stayed with Lily

Re: Was James too jealous?

Posted: 09 Jan 2022, 18:43
by OTrain D
He was jealous. There is no other way to describe him towards Lily. And this is what turned me off about him. I guess he made a perfect villain.

Re: Was James too jealous?

Posted: 10 Jan 2022, 07:33
by Chetna_Kharbanda
I also felt that James displayed inappropriate behavior at several places. But at the same time, I would say perhaps the author wanted to reflect her father's impressions on his behavior that's why preferred to keep it like this. While in real life also, we sometimes do things to our partner crossing the thin line difference between possessiveness and going overboard.

Re: Was James too jealous?

Posted: 10 Jan 2022, 10:24
by Oyedele Tomijane
I believe James was inappropriately possessive of Lily. While I understand that being insecure can lead to some inappropriate jealousy, he crossed the line a few times, such as with the son of the black family who lived with her.

Re: Was James too jealous?

Posted: 10 Jan 2022, 19:08
by Aly Smith
I think James possession of Lily was very realistic - but not to the point of love. Lily is nothing more than property and James jealously was simply anger that someone was interfering with what was his as his right. It was a power trip for him.

Re: Was James too jealous?

Posted: 11 Jan 2022, 01:06
by QualityAndQuantity
He definitely was jealous. There's nothing else that you can say about his reactions in certain situations. I think some jealousy is justified when you're insecure about your relationship.

Re: Was James too jealous?

Posted: 11 Jan 2022, 09:31
by Jennifer Garcia 555
He was very jealous at some points but I feel like this was mixed with frustration. He wanted to fix his relationship with Lily and be with her, but that was not excepted by society. Seeing her with another man that she could be with freely made him extra jealous.

Re: Was James too jealous?

Posted: 11 Jan 2022, 15:23
by Mariam K 7
Jealousy has different aspects, you can be jealous of both a friend and a beloved woman. In this case James was really jealous of Lily and there is some reason for that too. For example: just the fact that Lily and James have been together since childhood and then faced with the real fact of losing Lily, it aroused in him a sense of jealousy, which can happen to any person ... So yes, I think James was jealous.

Re: Was James too jealous?

Posted: 11 Jan 2022, 18:19
by NancyDrew12
I feel like at times James' jealously was misplaced. He acted as if he didn't have numerous relations while at college when he did. I understand his love for Lily but he doesn't get the right to act like he's been saving himself for her when he clearly wasn't.

Re: Was James too jealous?

Posted: 12 Jan 2022, 03:07
by Sharon Myles
I think James was jealous and despite the fact that his intentions were pure, they came out as possessive and offensive.

Re: Was James too jealous?

Posted: 12 Jan 2022, 05:13
by OTrain Disene
Personally, they were too much and made me uncomfortable, and with the fact that he wasn't a slave like Lily.