The fool - man or woman?

[Seanie]

Anyhow, the Fool is always the Fool and he (or she) will always be one of the most mysterious and best characters that was ever created.

Agreed!!!

I voted "cant decide", although i think of "him" as a "he", i think its meant to be a mystery

 

[Quokka]

I don't think the Fool was entirely human and likewise I don't think his (I'm not calling the fool it) gender was strictly one or the other.

There's alot of things to hint that the Fool was a man and a woman at different times in the series, in live ship traders didn't the Fool not only show Althea how to dress like a man but how to use material to help hide her breasts? (its been awhile since i read it), I just got the impression then that the Fool was sharing something very personal.

I definately dont think it was an issue for why the Fool didn't act more forceful with Fitz, I think the Fool wanted Fitz to make that decision on whether he wanted more from the relationship before he was certain that the Fool was a man or a woman.

 

[tawnylyra]

Part of me really wants to know the answer, but the majority of me doesn’t, because like it's been previously stated, that's part of the Fool's mystery.

However, whenever I mention or think of the Fool I call him, well, a him.

I also agree with The Faery Queen, in that I myself prefer the idea of Fitz and the Fool in a gay relationship rather than the Fool being a woman and them having a man/woman relationship. Not that it ever seems to move in that direction, but if it did, that’s what I picture, for whatever reason, I can’t exactly explain it.

I don’t know what he is, I think he’s not human and therefore his “plumbing” is not as simple as ours is perhaps, but I also think it isn’t as important. If I had to pick though, I’d pick male.

 

[TheBlueFool]

I'm pretty sure the Fool's male, for example in the last part Fitz carried him around dead and it described him as wearing nothing but a piece of dirty sacking and when Fitz went through the stone to where the old market place was, he peeled the sacking away from the Fool. Don't you think he would have noticed if the Fool possessed breasts?
Another indication of the Fool's masculinity was when Fitz and he switched bodies so that Fitz could heal his friend. To do so he had to mend every little bit of the Fool, don't you think he would have noticed-'Hey this guy doesn't have a penis...'?
And Amber is described as manly, for example when Malta sees her for the first time she describes her as "flat-chested and narrow hipped" and Brashen notes her features as too sharp to be womanly.
That's just what I can gather from the story anyway.

 

[TheBlueFool]

Then again, delving into the psychological aspects of the male/female thing, I think the Fool was just a 'person'. People will say he acted very feminine, but I know some people who don't stick to their gender roles where sensitivity and perception and such are concerned. I'm guessing the Fool simply was one of those people. Just because he was male doesn't mean he had to be a big manly man.

 

[sassy1]

I'm pretty sure the Fool's male, for example in the last part Fitz carried him around dead and it described him as wearing nothing but a piece of dirty sacking and when Fitz went through the stone to where the old market place was, he peeled the sacking away from the Fool. Don't you think he would have noticed if the Fool possessed breasts?

Maybe people from the fool's race don't have breasts, or very noticable breasts. And I think Fitz would have been too focused on trying to get the fool out to actually notice anything at the time.

Another indication of the Fool's masculinity was when Fitz and he switched bodies so that Fitz could heal his friend. To do so he had to mend every little bit of the Fool, don't you think he would have noticed-'Hey this guy doesn't have a penis...'?

Maybe he didn't care again, he was probably too busy trying to heal everything at once to notice anything else. I mean, he couldn't help but notice things like that afterwards once he knows the fool is recovering, but i think that maybe now he's admitted to himself that he does love the Fool, gender is not that important to him

And Amber is described as manly, for example when Malta sees her for the first time she describes her as "flat-chested and narrow hipped" and Brashen notes her features as too sharp to be womanly.

Amber is described as a very manly woman, but in the Tawny Man trilogy, he's described as a very feminine man... maybe women from the Fool's race don't have such features. Maybe they give birth to tiny-weeny babies, so they dont need such wide hips, and perhaps they dont have very prominent breasts, or maybe they 'grow' breasts if they get pregnant or something.

heck i dont know, but they is just some of my ideas.

I kinda like the idea of the Fool being man and woman (hermaphrodite, right?), dont know why hehe

 

[Sathai]

I thought maybe The Fool was a woman when reading Fool's Errand and Golden Fool, but then decided he's a man by the time I was done with Fool's Fate.

 

[The Fool]

I dont think The Fool is a man or a woman, i dont think "he's" human. Also i cant recall, can humans be white prophets? I always thought of The Fool as a member of a race of people who occasionally produced a white prophet.

 

[Rawled Demha]

I didn't vote, becasue there wasn't a 'neither' option. I've only read the Farseer books so far, but I get the impression the Fool's androgynous.

androgynous as in not man nor woman. "neutral" from neutered would be my choice. thus i too lack a vote...

 

[Sathai]

I dont think The Fool is a man or a woman, i dont think "he's" human. Also i cant recall, can humans be white prophets? I always thought of The Fool as a member of a race of people who occasionally produced a white prophet.

Yes, The Fool was of a different species. You don't have to be male or female to be human though, animals aren't human but have different sexes too.

 

[The Fool]

What I'm saying is that i dont think his race has sexes. Perhaps they take on the air of the sex most convienient or preferable.

 

[TheBlueFool]

Well, in the book the Pale Woman described how White's were born. She told how when one of the last White's (they were a race long ago) realised her race was dying out she went to all parts of the world and produced seven offspring each with a different human. A White was born when any of the offspring (who looked as humans) that were descended from the original White met in courtship and produced their own young which would be a White. These would be the White Prophets.
And if the Whites don't have a sex, how can you explain the Pale Woman? She was very obviously a female

 

[sassy1]

maybe she decided to be female. or to be seen as female...

 

[rebornintheglory]

To me most of the appeal of The Fool is the mystery. Imo, we should never be told The Fool's gender, and while the evidence might seem compelling one way, there should always be enough doubt to stop actual resolutions being made.

Although, deep down in the little romantic part inside me, I've always wanted The Fool to turn out to be a woman so Fitz and he could fall in love.

Damn it Scott, you got a point there, but maybe the Fool is just shy and wanted to cover his chest.

Maybe it's just another way in which Hobb confuses us by hinting at what could be but is never confirmed?

The Fool is a genius character.

 

[sassy1]

Although, deep down in the little romantic part inside me, I've always wanted The Fool to turn out to be a woman so Fitz and he could fall in love.

heeeeeeeeey they can fall in love without the fool being a girl you know!!!

 

[Koopa]

No they cant, Fitz was clearly not into that sorto thing.

 

[Blue Moon]

The fool is definitely a man. Fitz would know, there were so many times when he cared for the Fool when he was sick. Especially when he died, clearly he would have seen the Fool's body naked. Although, I don't recall how it worked in the Liveship series...Amber was almost raped at sea but in the Tawny man trilogy Robin explains that Fitz repelled the man before anything happened, in one of his skill/wit dreams.

 

[manephelien]

The Fool is definitely a man, but he's androgynous enough to easily pass for a woman (Liveship Traders).

 

[Wyvern]

Um, a friend of mine who I introduced to the Robin Hobb books suggested this: she thinks that the Fool, as he/she isn't human, may just morph into another gender as part of his/her life cycle. Maybe the White Prophets (if that's the race) alternate between male/female as they grow up.
I just kind of liked the idea, and wondered what everyone thought!

 

[Wyvern]

No they cant, Fitz was clearly not into that sorto thing.

Does anyone think that, if the Fool was female, 'she' would just have told Fitz so, to stop Fitz having such a problem? I'm not sure myself, but it's a possibility...