An Arvelan female carries a fetus for a much shorter time than a human woman, then gives the newly born baby to the male who puts it in his pouch but must stay near the female to hand the baby over for feeding. Males are large and strong whereas females are small and agile. Work has always been done by mated couples. The animal ancestors had hunted in male-female teams. Personalities blend. Remarriage would mean becoming a different person. Usually, Arvelans do not want that. Monogamy is not a moral obligation but a psychological necessity. Voah-and-Rero are surprised and shocked that Tamara Ryerson has become Tamara Maclaren so soon after being widowed.
Anderson very cleverly develops this sequel from the way things had been left between the human characters at the end of
The Enemy Stars. Maclaren, struggling to survive in space with his friend, Ryerson, had become focused on Tamara before he had even met her, then returned to Earth to find her with her newly born son, named after his father. That Maclaren and Tamara should marry seems very natural to other human beings.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
It seems a bit odd for Arvelan males, being large and strong, to carry their recently born children in pouches if they also had to do hard or heavy physical labor. Would't such labor occasionally endanger the children?
It would have seemed natural for Terangi Maclaren to marry the widowed Tamara Ryerson IF first she had come to desire doing so.
Sean
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