The Misogynistic Characterization Of Eon By Alison Goodman

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The Misogynistic Characterization of Eon

By Margeaux Simmons

In the book Eon and later the sequel, Eona, by Alison Goodman, the protagonist is introduced as a boy who is disabled. Diving further in, Alison Goodman starts hinting that Eon is actually a girl by introducing her ‘moon cycles,’ which are menstrual cycles. Eon’s master is a man who cloaks Eon in a fashion that resembles a boy. He does this to create a male persona for him so Eon can study dragon magic, since only boys and men can study dragon magic. Eon is then tortured and abused physically and emotionally making him disfigured so he doesn’t walk like a woman and he thinks and talks like a boy. Alison Goodman utilizes the protagonist in a way that depicts …show more content…

Eon is actually a woman disguised as a boy to obtain power and the trust and strength of a dragon. So Eon masks his femininity, Eona, by acting and talking like a boy. The very first page of Eon states: “They say it takes a lot of physical and mental toughness to bargain with the energy dragons and manipulate the earth forces.” (Goodman, 0). Due to Eon being disabled and disfigured, the other opponents vying for a dragon would wonder how he could possibly hold the strength and grace a dragon needs. This is foreshadowing as well as Goodman relaying the fact that women are just as powerful as men; this stands true throughout the book but especially near the end. Eon is chosen by a dragon meaning he is worthy, wields strength and mental toughness. So the readers are left wondering why he is characterized as a disfigured and weak character when he is obviously the opposite. “And all along, the tiny gold kernel of my power had been locked within me, waiting.” (Goodman, 515). Goodman resorted to characterizing Eon this way because even Eona, his woman alter ego, did not recognize the power within herself and therefore, failed to access it. The power and merging of the dragon helped reveal the power Eon already wielded by magnifying and combining the power of both Eon and the Mirror