The Scarlet Mistress, Good or Bad?

[Jaysen Hoezee]

A good amount of "Brandy, Ballad of a Pirate Princess" details Brandy's struggles with the pirate menaces she had for her parents. Being raised by people who take in slaves, kill several people daily, and are generally feared, has to take a toll. But throughout the book, she later learns from Skinner that Katrina, "The Scarlet Mistress, did a lot for her. She married "The Plague" for protection, and loved Brandy as her "little gift from the sea." Despite the horrible things she has done, she still cared for Brandy as much as she could.

What do you think? Did her violent actions make her a bad person, or did her motherly love toward Brandy redeem her?

[Eva Nyaburi]

The Scarlet Mistress is not a good person just because she was able to love and care for one person. compared to the harm done to a great number of people, she cannot be justified.

[Blessing O 2]

It's hard to choose because even though her actions were violent and harsh, she was still able to love her daughter stating there's some good in her.

[Anastasia Atkinson]

She was a great antagonistic parent and considering that she was a pirate, she wasn't as toxic as she could have been. She was perfectly portraying how pirates truly were. I get stuck on a one question when trying to figure out if she was good or bad. What constitutes as good or bad? She cared for Brandy, but she showed her care through keeping her alive in the harsh environment. In contrast, she also kidnapped, killed and sold people. She was morally bad, but wasn't exactly a bad mother. In my mind, she was more bad than good.

[Wildflowertheorist]

I think that not redeem her but can show her in a better light for Brandy. She did it for her, if not then life wouldn't be how it is today for her. But the enslaving and killing of people is a real crime.

[kasedy Fairbairn]

I feel like she was good in her own way. She had a hard life and had to adapt to survive. She married a pirate and had to take on that hard life. She did everything in her power to save her daughter the best way she knew how.

[Vine Michael]

Personally I think someone can be a good person to the public and also a bad person behind close doors. Being a good parent or having motherly love for Brandy doesn’t absolve her of her sins. She was simply a good mother to her daughter while doing things that were morally wrong.

[Jenifer Payton]

I think that while she really loved and cared for her daughter, often without her daughter knowing, she still did some really bad things. Whether her intentions were good or not she did contribute to the deaths and maltreatment of many different people. That being said, I think instead of just labeling her as a bad person, we should acknowledge that she was a person that did bad things in order to protect the ones that she loved.

[Similoluwa Odumuyiwa]

Though she had committed various atrocities, she was still a loving mother.

[Sling Samuel]

She was a good mother, but definitely not a good person. Drug Lords can love and care for their kids, but does that make them good people? No.

[Book Review Tub]

Equating her being a good mother to being a good person is wrong on so many levels. Granted, condition must have pushed her into being the person she was. But that does not bloat out her sins. Her love for her child cannot absolve her of those sins too.

[bishop_444]

I think love conquers all. It doesn't make her a good person and heinous acts are unforgivable especially if she continues to do them, but she stepped up to be a mother. It takes a strong, caring person to do that. People should be forgiven. Not their acts, but definitely the person.

[Rawdat George]

My answer is simple. Yes, her violent action made her a bad person. No, her motherly love did not redeem her. It should not.

[Rawdat George]

Her violent actions made her a bad person. I understand that she was just being herself, but because of her, people suffered. I do not believe that her love towards her own child is enough to redeem her.

[Ramon Scott]

This is a hard one. I guess it helps to not judge other people. She might do some terrible things but she still can be loving and caring. Maybe something is driving her to do these terrible action. Maybe something happened in her youth but she in her essence is a good person. That is evident in her treatment of Brandy but then we also shouldn't shun her wicked actions because she did a lot of those. I guess it would be better if we didn't label people as bad or good and just let them be. Looking at this matter at a perspective of judgement is impossible for me.