MR: It might be interesting to think about why
exactly VN chose to make JS an orphan, and whether or not this fits with the way
orphans have traditionally functioned in literary narratives.
JM: Unlike aunts, evil stepmothers are
fairly common in " real fairy-tales". In VN's fiction we find both:
stepfathers and aunts. Didn't elves switch human babies
as a prank?
Van was raised by an aunt, Aqua,
under the ilusion that she was his
real mother, something rather uncommon before DNA testing. Most
of the time this is actually the case with betrayed fathers, such as
Sebastian's, in TRLSK, and it seems to have taken place
quite often in ADA. ( geneaologies are not to be trusted, even
when marked by a "sinister bend")
btw & concerning orphaned kids: what other character's
mother besides HH's, has been killed by
lightining?