User blog comment:D2r/Was Veil ultimately Redeemed?/@comment-1399757-20111223223355

First - I thought you were crazy for starting this thread until I realized it was related to school work.

Second - Sorry I haven't returned my critique yet, I'm planning on getting to it whenever my Christmas break comes or if I have some random free time.

Third - I believe Veil was ultimately redeemed in some way or form by his actions. Veil, being a ferret, was inherently "bad" according to his species but he was raised to be good by Bryony. I think the question of whether or not his action was redemptive lies in whether or not he acted out of instinct or out of his personal will. It is quite obvious that selflessness is nonexistent within the vermin species throughout the entire series [there may be a couple exceptions, but the overwhelming numbers still win in my opinion, even if that is the case]. That being said, what Veil did was contradictory to his "evil" nature. Going by this logic I think it is safe to assume that Veil truly did sacrifice himself out of his own free will and not out of instinct.

I think he did have somewhat of a clue as to the concept of right and wrong, but due to his nature his views were very different from that of woodlanders. The one thing that I think both woodlanders and vermin can agree on though is that killing isn't very nice. Of course, Veil did try to kill someone, but he apparently felt justified in the attempt. When Bryony's life was threatened it would seem that he thought differently though.

I'm going to have to re-read this book now though, just to see if I can come to a clearer conclusion. =P