Lily

(NOTE: page numbers refer to the hardcover edition)

NOTE: This was written 20 years ago, before The Fire was published, and some of it is out of date.

Lily is one of my favorite characters in The Eight. At first I didn't think I would like her so much; Catherine calls her "obnoxious" (p. 32), and she complains all the time. But Lily changes as the book goes along; she's much more mature at the end. We see this especially when she and Catherine and Solarin are on the boat. At first, Solarin and Catherine do all the work on the boat, while Lily, who is seasick, stays in the cabin. But, after the storm at sea, when they stop on the island of Formentera to repair the boat, Lily's attitude changes; she shares the work with Catherine and Solarin (p. 490), and, when they start out again, she stops complaining about being seasick. Even before they go on the boat, Lily turns out to be much braver than we thought she was at first; think of the way she fights back in the confrontation with Sharrif and his friends.

I also like Lily because she's the "comic relief" character in The Eight. There is, after all, something very funny about her constant complaining, and Catherine's reactions to it. She's also funny because she seems to think of nothing but chess; interestingly, that is something else that changes later in the book, as we will see. Also, I must admit that I love her little dog, Carioca. It's interesting that Catherine's attitude towards Carioca, as well as her attitude towards Lily, changes; at first, she thinks Carioca is a nuisance (see p. 69-70, for example), but, later in the book, when they think Carioca is lost, Catherine is almost as upset as Lily, even though she doesn't get so emotional (p. 411).

Interestingly, I have noticed that Lily and Mireille have some things in common. You wouldn't think, at first, that they did; after all, Mireille and Catherine are supposed to be "parallel characters", not Mireille and Lily. Mireille is very brave throughout the book, while Lily seems to be something of a coward at first, until she turns out to be brave after all. What do Lily and Mireille have in common? First of all, and most obviously, they are both very intelligent. Also, they both have an animal that they love; Mireille has the falcon and Lily has Carioca the dog (Catherine doesn't have an animal).

Most importantly, Lily and Mireille are both very emotional; they are probably the two most emotional characters in The Eight, although they show it in very different ways. Lily, of course, complains all the time, while Mireille is not a complainer; the only times we see Mireille complain are very early in the book. Both characters cry several times, but Mireille cries more than Lily does. Of course, Mireille has a more tragic life than Lily, so this is probably why she cries more.

How many times does Lily cry?

  1. When she and Catherine are stopped at the roadblock in the desert.
  2. In the sandstorm.
  3. When she's in the cave with the bats.
  4. When she thinks Carioca is lost.
  5. When she's seasick.
  6. At the end, when she finds out how evil her mother is.

(If I missed any, let me know.)

Another thing that Lily has in common with Mireille is that they are both interested in ancient history. Mireille writes down the legends of Shahin's people; she is also familiar with the story of Dido and Aeneas, and she mentions Herodotus in her diary. Lily tells Catherine about the Minoans and the labyrinth (p. 407); this shows you that chess is not her only interest, after all.

What do Lily and Valentine have in common?

I think of Lily and Valentine as "parallel" characters, to a certain extent. They play a similar role in the Game, at least until Valentine's death; they are both the pawn who accompanies the Black Queen. Valentine is also something of a "comic relief" character towards the beginning of the book. (And this is probably one reason why her death is completely unexpected.) Valentine is also emotional and a complainer; in the very first chapter it is Valentine, not Mireille, who does most of the complaining about being in the convent. Lily and Valentine are more immature than Catherine and Mireille. Lily matures as the book goes along; Valentine never has time to mature. Also, Lily and Valentine have personalities that contrast with those of the two main characters; Catherine and Mireille are much more rational and level-headed than Lily and Valentine. This is especially true of Catherine, since Mireille is very emotional (but see my article on changes in Mireille's character; you'll see that Mireille becomes less emotional and more scientifically-minded by the end of the book).

Although Lily and Valentine are parallel characters, there are also some important differences between them. Of course, there is the obvious one: Valentine dies and Lily doesn't. Lily is much more intelligent than Valentine. Lily is a great chess player; as far as we know, Valentine doesn't play chess. Lily's mother is evil; we don't really know anything about Valentine's parents, but I think that if they were in the Game, they were both on the Black team. Also, the main characters' attitudes are different; Mireille likes Valentine from the very beginning, but Catherine does not like Lily at first.

When does Catherine's attitude towards Lily change?

It happens very gradually, I think. Possibly, Catherine doesn't even realize that her attitude towards Lily is changing. In fact, the 200-year-old Mireille probably realized it before Catherine did; she says, "The two of you will make a perfect team." (p. 378). Catherine's reaction is, "I was as anxious to be teamed with Lily as an ox is to be yoked to a kangaroo." (p. 378). At the same time, however, she admits that she needs Lily's chess skills to win the Game. I think that Catherine is trying to deny that her attitude towards Lily has changed, while Mireille realizes that it has, to some extent.

I think the first time we realize that Catherine has actually started to like Lily is when they're in the desert, in the 130-degree heat, and Catherine says, "Gee, we're friends at last..." (p. 400). By the time they're on the boat, the change is complete. At the end of the book, Catherine and Lily, as well as the other members of the Black team, know that they are going to be friends for a long time (p. 550).

What else would I like to know about Lily?

When, exactly, did her father choose her to be a Black player in the Game? It must have been when she was very young, since her mother, the White Queen, named her Lily on purpose, hoping that she would become a White player (p. 531).

Why does she always call her father "Harry" and her grandfather "Mordecai"? It seems strange that she always calls them by their first names.

Where did she go to college? Or did she? It's not clear whether or not she went to college.

Will she ever beat Solarin at chess? (Somehow I doubt it. Lily is a great chess player, but Solarin is the greatest in the world.)

If Lily and Nim played chess, who would win? They seems to be at about the same level.

Does Lily ever get to be a Grand Master, or whatever the highest level of chess player is? (By the way, I would appeciate any comments from someone who can tell me about the ranking of chess players, and the different levels.)

Does she ever get married? There is no love interest for Lily.

How does she deal with knowing how evil her mother is?

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Copyright 1997 Vicki Kondelik.