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Alima
Somel is Van’s tutor in Herland. Shortly after Van, Terry, and Jeff are taken to the fortress in Herland, Somel is assigned to teach Van how to read, write, and speak the Herlandian language as well as to learn English herself. Van and Somel get along very well because they are both highly inquisitive and eager to learn from one another. Even after the men are released from the fortress, Somel and Van maintain a steady friendship and Somel visits him shortly before his marriage to Ellador. Somel also teaches Van about Herlandian culture, history, and traditions.
Somel Quotes in Herland
The Herland quotes below are all either spoken by Somel or refer to Somel. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 7: Our Growing Modesty
Quotes
“But does not each mother want her own child to bear her name?” I asked.
“No—why should she? The child has its own.”
“Why for—for identification—so people will know whose child she is.”
“We keep the most careful records,” said Somel. Each one of us has our exact line of descent all the way back to our dear First Mother. There are many reasons for doing that. But as to everyone knowing which child belongs to which mother—why should she?”
Here, as in so many other instances, we were led to feel the difference between the purely maternal and the paternal attitude of mind. The element of personal pride seemed strangely lacking.
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Chapter 8: The Girls of Herland
Quotes
“We like you the best,” Somel told me, “because you seem more like us.”
“More like a lot of women!” I thought to myself disgustedly, and then remembered how little like “women,” in our derogatory sense, they were. She was smiling at me, reading my thought.
“We can quite see that we do not seem like—women—to you. Of course, in a bi-sexual race the distinctive feature of each sex must be intensified. But surely there are characteristics enough which belong to People, aren’t there? That’s what I mean about you being more like us—more like People. We feel at ease with you.”
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Get the entire Herland LitChart as a printable PDF.
Somel Quotes in Herland
The Herland quotes below are all either spoken by Somel or refer to Somel. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 7: Our Growing Modesty
Quotes
“But does not each mother want her own child to bear her name?” I asked.
“No—why should she? The child has its own.”
“Why for—for identification—so people will know whose child she is.”
“We keep the most careful records,” said Somel. Each one of us has our exact line of descent all the way back to our dear First Mother. There are many reasons for doing that. But as to everyone knowing which child belongs to which mother—why should she?”
Here, as in so many other instances, we were led to feel the difference between the purely maternal and the paternal attitude of mind. The element of personal pride seemed strangely lacking.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8: The Girls of Herland
Quotes
“We like you the best,” Somel told me, “because you seem more like us.”
“More like a lot of women!” I thought to myself disgustedly, and then remembered how little like “women,” in our derogatory sense, they were. She was smiling at me, reading my thought.
“We can quite see that we do not seem like—women—to you. Of course, in a bi-sexual race the distinctive feature of each sex must be intensified. But surely there are characteristics enough which belong to People, aren’t there? That’s what I mean about you being more like us—more like People. We feel at ease with you.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
