Cat's Eye

The strength of sibling relationships is related to the environment in which they grow up, and if the environment is isolated, the relationship will be magnified.

Many people may think of Elaine's and Stephen's relationship as odd--not so much their post-childhood relationship, but their fierce closeness growing up. I'm sure most older siblings look back on growing up with their younger brothers or sisters and think of what a pain they were. Stephen didn't do this. I admire that, especially since I used to be very close with my own sisters, but haven't seen them in years. Stephen was not a mean big brother, or a bully toward Elaine, but instead her childhood companion. He included her in his games. Continually, their relationship was not limited to big brother and little sis. They could have conversations, such as fly facets and dimensions in space.

"Stephen says he's interested in the problems of two-dimensional universes. He wants me to imagine what a three dimensional universe would look like to someone who was perfectly flat. If you stood in a two-dimensional universe you would only be perceived at the point of intersection, you'd be perceived as two oblong discs, two two-dimensional universes, seven-dimensional ones. I try very hard to picture these but I can't seem to get past three..."We're limited by our own sensory equipment. How do you think a fly sees the world?" I know how a fly perceives the world; I've seen many flies' eyes, through microscopes. "In facets," I say. "But each facet would still have only three dimensions." "Point taken," he says, which makes me feel grown-up, worthy of this conversation..." (241-242)

Stephen was not one to put gum in his sister's hair or put frogs in her bed. Of course, frogs wouldn't have bothered Elaine anyway. Instead, he tried to act as grown up as he could. In acting this way, he mentored Elaine. Stephen treated her as an equal person--not necessarily equal in an intellectual sense, but as an equal individual.

There was no reason for Stephen to treat Elaine unfairly. I don't think he knew he was supposed to. The two of them were basically isolated from the "real world." Each other was all they had. They spent all of their waking moments together.

I grew up with my sisters in a similar way. Of course, we weren't foraging for bugs in northern Canada, but if we wanted someone to play with, all we had was us. As a result, we almost never fought while growing up.

"Stephen is teaching me to see in the dark, as commandos do. You never know when you might need to do this, he says. You can't use a flashlight; you have to stay still, in the darkness, waiting until your eyes become accustomed to no light. Then the shapes of things begin to emerge, grayish and glimmering and insubstantial, as if they're condensing from the air. Stephen tells me to move my feet slowly, balancing on one foot at time, careful not to step on twigs. He tells me to breathe quietly. "If they hear you they'll get you," he whispers" (27.)

Stephen and Elaine grew up with a father who had a PhD. He began teaching his children, especially Stephen, at an early age. As a result, Stephen felt to pass the information on to Elaine. He wasn't really acting as a father figure to Elaine, but perhaps more of a teacher. He tried to guide Elaine--to help her in his