Trust and Control

Danielle Benedict: Til We Have Faces (2)

This book does an amazing job at depicting the age old desire to have control over others. Orual’s actions are motivated by her hypothesis that one should only expect negative outcome when it comes to the gods. She believes the gods give her no reassurance or guidance. This character's story is mainly about trust versus control. Orual could have chosen to believe Psyche about her mystery husband and personal happiness. Trust is defined as the “firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.” Orual feels the overwhelming need to question the state of things and investigate to discover the true nature of the situations she encounters. Some people would argue that having a curious spirit is a good trait but I believe Orual was taking it too far as to act rashly and in her self-interest. She is nosy and intrusive to the point where it destroys relationships. Orual does not trust anything outside herself. Control is defined as “the power to influence or direct people's behavior or the course of events.” Orual has some pretty striking control issues. Upon researching control issues, one of the first causes I found was a lack of trust. Orual has no foundation of trust which is why she seeks control. Simply put, Orual needs something bigger than herself to believe in.