The Ex Hex

Simon Penhallow being in the same room as Gwyn, Vivi, and Elaine injects some humor into some of the novel’s most serious chapters. His repeated insulting of Sir Purrcival provokes Gwyn’s ire, but her response shows how differently she views witch hierarchy than Simon does. In Gwyn’s perspective, it does not matter who is “talking shit” about Sir Purrcival, only that they stop it or face her wrath. Gwyn abandons any sense of rules or decorum when speaking with a “serious” witch like Simon; she operates on a simple principle of mutual respect. She expects to be treated with respect as a human being because that is how she treats others. Simon, by contrast, denies others even the basic level of human respect if they do not first accept him as an authority figure. Gwyn has little patience for the notion of having to “earn” polite behavior from a pretentious stranger, so she quickly (and humorously) lays down the law: Simon may be a hot-shot witch, but he is a guest in her family’s house, and he needs to learn his place in their system rather than imposing his own.

Rhys’s reflections on how different his family is to Vivi’s function as more than just personal introspection. Rhys pinpoints the difference between one’s blood kin and one’s chosen family. For Vivi, she grew up feeling supported and loved by Elaine and Gwyn, so her understanding of what a family is and does is different from Rhys’s perspective, since he grew up in a cold and distant family whose members went their separate ways as soon as possible. While Rhys appreciates Vivi’s estimation that Simon’s overbearing behavior is a sign that he cares about his son, he also knows that just because someone is a blood relative, they do not necessarily care about him. This reflection explores the ways in which family dynamics affect an individual’s understanding of different forms of love. For Vivi, love and duty are deeply intertwined, as her family’s devotion to one another is entangled with familial love. In Rhys’s experience, familial duty is a straightforward obligation, and love has nothing to do with it. By growing closer with Vivi, Rhys is able to join her family and experience the supportive network of relatives he did not have while growing up in Penhaven Manor. There is also something to be said for the gender differences between Rhys’s family and Vivi’s. The Penhallows who appear in the novel are all male characters, whereas the Joneses are all female characters. In the male-dominated environment, greater emphasis is placed upon competition, whereas in the female-led environment, there is more focus on collaboration. Rhys experiences what it is like to be part of a team fighting for the same goal, rather than a group of opponents fighting each other.

Piper McBride’s revelation of what really happened to Aelwyd Jones reflects a disappointing pattern in real-life history, in which the involvement and accomplishments of women are overlooked and sometimes altogether erased in favor of championing the genius of and sacrifices made by men. Historically, women have not been afforded the same opportunities for advancement as men, which preemptively sets up their accomplishments to occur under the leadership of men who take full credit for their work. Gryffud Penhallow was unable to establish Graves Glen and harness the ley-lines power by himself; he could not have founded the town without Aelwyd’s power. However, to keep the resulting glory for himself, he covered up her involvement and her true cause of death, ensuring that he would be remembered as a hero. Aelwyd’s power was still so intense that, even after her death, her desire to be known and seen reached out through the ley lines and seized control of Vivi’s hex. Aelwyd’s revenge is to destroy the town Gryffud stole her power to create and punish his descendants with death in the same sweeping manner as he sentenced her descendants to obscurity.