"It hurt them less, losing friends, provided the friends died bravely; and few of them had mastered the art of putting oneself in the head of an enemy." (p. 172)
Obsevations
(i) Two psychological features in a single sentence.
(ii) They are authentic.
(iii) The second is a major weakness.
(iv) The Wars Against Men change kzinti psychology, e.g., they will have to learn to understand their enemies.
(v) How many aspects of kzinti psychology are divulged throughout the series?
(vi) Earlier in the present story:
"Kzinti aren't sadistic. Merciless, but not sadistic the way too many humans are. They don't torture for fun, or even spite. They won't if we surrender. Or if we die. No point in it then." (18, p. 141)
(Well, they can't torture anyone who is dead.)
(vii) Kzinti do have an extra motivation for killing: food. They are in the grand tradition of Wells' Martians - and Wells made a point about incompatible ecologies.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I agree, most Kzinti are hard, merciless, ruthless. But not SADISTIC. And it was a weakness not being able to have some understanding of their enemies. It took repeated defeats by humans to finally knock it into their heads that some empathy about their enemies would be useful to them.
It did seriously anger humans that Kzinti would eat members of other intelligent races. At least those biochemically compatible to Kzinti. And Anderson mentioned in one story that one human was willing to eat Kzinti if no other food was available.
Ad astra! Sean
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