Octavia E. Butler - Earthseed, Book 1 -… [549]

Keith is Cory’s favorite. If you asked her, she would say she didn’t have a favorite, but she does. She babies him and lets him get away with skipping chores, a little lying, a little stealing… Maybe that’s why Keith thinks when he screws up, it’s okay. — , Octavia E. Butler - Earthseed, Book 1 -…, 549

Note

The free indirect diagnosis lands on a triple of escalating misdemeanors — ‘skipping chores, a little lying, a little stealing’ — each softened by ‘a little’ until the third one makes the softener look like a lie. Then ‘Maybe that’s why’ turns the observation into a theory of causation about someone else’s child, which is exactly what a watchful sibling does. The passage is a character fully formed through the way she audits an adult.