Two temptation scenes in Jonathan Stroud’s Bartimaeus books

There are several posts that describe and comment on temptation scenes in Jonathan Stroud's Lockwood books.  The first temptation article lists some elements that these scenes have in common with temptation scenes in books by other writers. The “you deserve better” ploy is just one example of this.

There are also some typical temptation scenes in Jonathan Stroud’s Bartimaeus books. A new angle here is that the tempted later becomes the tempter!

In this further extract from The Amulet of Samarkand, an old magician tempts the young apprentice magician Nathaniel, whose official name is John Mandrake:

“...there will soon be spaces, vacancies to fill in the higher reaches of the Government. We shall require talented new magicians to help us rule. Great wealth and the relaxations of power await our allies. Well now, you are young, Mandrake, but we recognize your ability. You have the makings of a great magician. Join with us, and we shall provide you with the apprenticeship you have always craved. Think about it—no more experiments in solitude, no more bowing or scraping to fools who are scarcely fit to lick your boots! We will test and inspire you, we will draw out your talent and let it breathe. And one day, perhaps, when Simon and I are gone, you will be supreme....”

There, we have the usual offer of immense power and the 'you deserve better' approach. 

Nathaniel rejects the offer – for a while.

What is of particular interest in this temptation scene from The Golem's Eye is that it is Nathaniel, aka John Mandrake, who is now a junior magician and working for the government, who does the tempting. His target is a girl called Kitty Jones:

“If you share this information with me,” Nathaniel said, “if you talk candidly about your time in the Resistance, I will do more than set you free.” ... “I can give you wealth, too,” he said. “Yes, and status beyond your wildest dreams. Commoners such as yourself—with brains, bravery, and aptitude to spare—can win roles at the heart of government, positions of real power. That’s no secret. You will work daily with the great ones of our society, and learn such things that will make your head spin. I can take you away from the drabness of your life, give you glimpses into the marvelous past, the days when the magician-emperors bestrode the world. Then you can become part of our own great story. When the current wars are won, for instance, we shall establish a renewed Colonial Office in America, and will need intelligent men and women to enforce our will. They say there are vast estates to be won out there, Ms. Jones, tracts of land with nothing on them but beasts and a few savages. Imagine—you as a great lady of the Empire …”

Flattery and offers of power, money, a better life, the chance to get in on something big...same old, same old...

A bingo card would be very useful in this and all those other temptation cases! 

Kitty Jones declines the offer. 

Some thoughts about wanting and getting

The American science fiction writer Frederik Pohl wrote a book of memoirs called The Way the Future Was. 

I read something in this book that made a big impression, got me thinking, and eventually inspired a small article:

“An observed fact of my life is that I have almost always gotten everything I wanted, sooner or later. Another observed fact is that sometimes by the time I get it I don’t want it any more.”

Fred Pohl's words contradict the proposition that nothing dies that is not lived out, or, in other words, you have to give it a go before you can give it up! In his experience, the desire for something can definitely die of its own accord before the object is achieved or obtained.

There are several reasons why people may lose interest in and any inclination for something that at one time they wanted very much. For example, they may have outgrown it or realised that it wouldn't be suitable and moved on. Perhaps the desired object came too late in life to be of any use to them.

Fred Pohl's words about almost always getting but sometimes no longer wanting something got me thinking about people who always want - or even need - something but never get it. That is a very painful position to be in. Some of them may well adopt a sour grapes attitude, persuading themselves that it isn't worth having; others may realise that they have little choice but to try to come to terms with things as they are, not as they would like them to be.

Fred Pohl's experience may seem rather sad, but the other situation is worse.