…Why would he want to meet a challenge for a throne he obviously has no desire to take? Unless this guy is going to threaten him and is somehow a legitimate threat under the wizard he’s currently claimed asylum under What in the world does this guy think would compel him to comply? Is he crazy? Francis Just say no to Crazy people. It’s not wise to follow them to stupid challenges to which you gain nothing you want from. Flee Francis FLEE!!
He might be intending to appeal to Francis’ better nature. If Dakkar is looking be a real nightmare of a ruler, it might be possible to convince Francis to take action to prevent Dakkar’s ascension.
Well, from the point of view of an individualistic culture (like many of those found in Western Europe and North America), your reasoning makes perfect sense. If Francis himself doesn’t want the throne, he has plenty to risk but nothing to gain from challenging Dakkar for it, so there’s no good reason he should do it.
But plenty of cultures in the real world place a lot more emphasis on the needs of the family than on the needs of the individual, and there’s no reason to think there aren’t cultures in the Bardsworth universe that do likewise. It’s likely that there are, in fact; many societies with clan-based structures operate on a system like this, and Praak does speak of clans here.
The idea behind such a system is that you have certain responsibilities toward your family, and your family has certain obligations toward you, and usually that works out to everybody’s benefit–everyone gets their needs met, the family prospers, and so on–but the whole family is also shamed if someone doesn’t keep up their end of the deal. Some deviation might be tolerable, if not exactly welcome (which would explain why we haven’t seen Francis’ family try to get him back yet), but when the family is in dire need, its individual members had better step up and do their part (which is why we’re seeing Francis’ brother make the effort to get him now). Most likely Francis is feeling tremendous pressure right now to do exactly what Praak says he should do.
…Why would he want to meet a challenge for a throne he obviously has no desire to take? Unless this guy is going to threaten him and is somehow a legitimate threat under the wizard he’s currently claimed asylum under What in the world does this guy think would compel him to comply? Is he crazy? Francis Just say no to Crazy people. It’s not wise to follow them to stupid challenges to which you gain nothing you want from. Flee Francis FLEE!!
He might be intending to appeal to Francis’ better nature. If Dakkar is looking be a real nightmare of a ruler, it might be possible to convince Francis to take action to prevent Dakkar’s ascension.
Well, from the point of view of an individualistic culture (like many of those found in Western Europe and North America), your reasoning makes perfect sense. If Francis himself doesn’t want the throne, he has plenty to risk but nothing to gain from challenging Dakkar for it, so there’s no good reason he should do it.
But plenty of cultures in the real world place a lot more emphasis on the needs of the family than on the needs of the individual, and there’s no reason to think there aren’t cultures in the Bardsworth universe that do likewise. It’s likely that there are, in fact; many societies with clan-based structures operate on a system like this, and Praak does speak of clans here.
The idea behind such a system is that you have certain responsibilities toward your family, and your family has certain obligations toward you, and usually that works out to everybody’s benefit–everyone gets their needs met, the family prospers, and so on–but the whole family is also shamed if someone doesn’t keep up their end of the deal. Some deviation might be tolerable, if not exactly welcome (which would explain why we haven’t seen Francis’ family try to get him back yet), but when the family is in dire need, its individual members had better step up and do their part (which is why we’re seeing Francis’ brother make the effort to get him now). Most likely Francis is feeling tremendous pressure right now to do exactly what Praak says he should do.
Sorry, that was meant to be a reply to meganleleath.