Earth's Children: Difference between revisions

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The novels revolve around "Ayla," a Cro-Magnon woman who lived about 30,000 years ago, somewhere near the Black Sea (modern-day Ukraine). Orphaned at five due to an earthquake, she is taken in by a group of Neanderthals. Auel goes into great detail on the physiology of these Neanderthals, who call themselves the [[Title Drop|Clan of the Cave Bear]] after their primary deity. The main difference between Clan and "Others" (Cro-Magnons) is that Clan have access to [[Genetic Memory]], which makes them quick studies for anything their species already knows but very slow to accept innovation or change. Ayla is adopted by the clan's medicine woman, and her brother, a crippled shaman, learning a great deal of herb lore and practical medicine, but also learns to hunt in direct defiance of the Clan's traditions. Her clan's leader (the brother of the medicine woman and shaman both) accepts her as best he can, able to recognize her talents and skills even if they make him uncomfortable, but when his snotty son takes up the mantle of leadership, the son has Ayla exiled from the Clan (after raping her). This would be easier on 14-year-old Ayla if she hadn't borne a son, Durc, a ''Homo neanderthalensis x sapiens'' hybrid that must be left behind.

 

The novels in the series are:

 

Auel is considered something of an expert on Ice-Age culture, due to the sheer amount of research (and hands-on experience) she has with the practices at hand, such as leather-tanning, flint-knapping and cave paintings. She has attempted to weave into the story as much archaeology from the period as possible, often [[Shout-Out|depicting the creation of known prehistoric artifacts]]. Recurring themes include the differences between Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon intelligence, sapience and physiology, and the racial tensions resulting thereof; Ayla's upbringing in the Clan and the prejudice she is subjected to for that reason; and how she never, ever mentions (except to really trusted friends) her son Durc.

Ayla is an extremely talented cook, hunter, healer and equestrian, and has single-handedly accomplished a number of technological breakthroughs, such as the discovery of making fire with flint and tinder; the domestication of the first horse (Whinny), and the first proto-dog (Wolf); the invention of the travois and sewing needle; and being (one of) the first to make the connection between sexual intercourse and reproduction. Jondalar has also showed fecundity by collaborating with her on the invention of the spear-thrower (atlatl), the sewing needle, horse tack, and "break-away" reusable spears. Thankfully, the pair didn't invent everything: alcoholic drinks are already well known (and a bit of a problem) in the depicted Cro-Magnon societies, a priestess in another tribe is said to have invented earthenware, yet another has accidented soap into existence, and in no particular order other tribally unique inventions/discoveries: charcoal, salt mining, chamois leather, boat keels and rudders.

 

* [[All Cavemen Were Neanderthals]]: ''Definitely'' averted. Cro-Magnons still lived in caves, and Neanderthals knew how to make tents.

* [[The Aloner]]: Ayla for a good part of ''The Valley Of Horses''. She's actually surviving completely alone in the wilderness, using all the skills she learned in the Clan.

* [[Does Not Like Men]]: Attaroa, a villain from the fourth book, who was apparently married to a half-Clan husband. He treated her with about the same level of respect Broud treated Ayla, and Attaroa liked it about as much. She became a violently misandric nutjob thereafter, locking all her camp's men in a pen and working them to death.

* [[A Dog Named "Dog"]]: Ayla gets a pet named Wolf. Guess what kind of animal he is.

* [[Dramatis Personae]]

* [[Eternal Sexual Freedom]]: And how! Nobody has any concept of illegitimate offspring (fatherhood not having been discovered), nor have communicable diseases been figured out yet. Consequently, both Others and Clan have fairly lax sexual norms. A certain amount of partner-rotation is permissible amongst the Others, and before you get married you get to play the field.

:In the Clan there is a hand-sign, that can only be made by men, which indicates the man wants to "relieve his needs" and the woman should drop whatever she's doing and immediately present for intercourse. It is implied that the women find this just as enjoyable as the men do. Oh, and the Clan women have found herbal versions of hormonal contraceptives, but usually do not prescribe them unless a woman might die if she gets pregnant again. And while it's considered unlucky for an unmated woman to give birth and they will try to pair her off before, only two characters are known to have connected sex with reproduction so far. (One of them is, of course, [[Mary Sue|Ayla]].)

* [[Explicit Content]]: This series has a great deal of story and most of the content is entirely non-sexual, but most sex scenes are unnecessarily detailed.

* [[Fantastic Racism]]: Race relations and racism are a major theme of the series. The Others call the Clan "flatheads" and claim they're animals related to bears, but despise them as unclean monsters in a stark departure from their attitudes towards actual animals (a hypocrisy Ayla points out to them). The Clan just think the Others are noisy, bizarre, and dangerous, and try to avoid them.

* [[The Film of the Book]]: For the first novel, starring [[Blade Runner|Daryl Hannah]] as Ayla.

* [[First Girl Wins|First Guy Wins]]: Ayla's longtime love, and the father of her daughter, is literally the first man of "the Others" (that is, a Cro-Magnon like Ayla herself) she meets.

* [[Florence Nightingale Effect]]: Thonolan falls in love with his future wife Jetamio this way. He's {{spoiler|attacked by a rhino}}, and she helps the healer attend him. He almost immediately becomes infatuated. Jondalar and Ayla also meet this way, after {{spoiler|her pet lion mauls him.}}

* [[Fluffy the Terrible]]: Ayla's pet lion cub grows up to be the hugest, most well-nourished cave lion in Ukraine, and terrifies everybody who sees him. His name is Baby.

* [[Gender Is No Object]]: All of the Others (except the violently misandric band of S'Armunai encountered by the protagonists).

* [[Gender-Restricted Ability]]: The Clan have built-in gender restrictions on learning totally mundane skills necessary for survival: men cannot learn to cook, tan leather, make clothes, find edible plants, or practice medicine. Clan women cannot learn to hunt or make weapons. This is explained as a trade-off that evolved along with their [[Genetic Memory]], but it makes them unable to survive alone even briefly.

* [[I Am Not Pretty]]: Ayla continues to view herself by the Clan standards with which she was raised, according to which she's too tall, unfeminine, and ''very'' ugly. Everyone around her was a Neanderthal, so that's the appearance she's used to. By European ''Homo sapiens'' standards she's actually beautiful, but she can't wrap her head around that.

* [[IKEA Erotica]]: Ayla and Jondalar's increasingly tedious sex scenes.

* [[Jerkass]]: Broud. And no, not in the "sensible character who expresses doubt about the [[Mary Sue]]'s wonderfulness" way, but in the "sadistic, arrogant, out-of-control, all around unbearable" way. By the end of the first book, even his father almost disowns him. Frebec of the Mamutoi Lion Camp is also a Jerk Ass, but it's implied that a lot of his stems from feelings of inferiority, and he turns into a [[Nice Guy]] by the end of the book.

* [[Jungle Princess]]: Ayla qualifies, especially if you believe the Clan are animals. (Jondalar has to teach her to speak verbally.)

* [[Suffer the Slings]]

* [[Thank Your Prey]]

* [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]]: Joplaya. Maybe just as well, considering that, while she and Jondalar are only considered 'hearth cousins' by the overall culture of the Others, the readers know that [[Incest Is Relative|she and Jondalar are half-siblings who share a father.]]

* [[Victory by Endurance]]: Used several times. In one instance a group of hunters tire out a woolly rhinosaurus by each one jumping into its field of vision, making it chase them, and then another person jumps in, etc. At the end the rhino is practically dead from exhaustion, and they finish it off with spears.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Historical Fiction Literature]]

[[Category:Romance Novel]]

[[Category:The Eighties]]

[[Category:Literature]]