The Cooper character...Book observation.

...I'm going to go ahead and show my young age here. I am 19, in case you wondered.

Epic fail.


North and South

Cooper starts off as a rather liberal Southerner still in deep love with his state itself, but he recognizes problems and is idealistic. He hopes the South can overcome its shortcomings, though acknowledges the difficulty. He meets Judith on a steamer to Charleston and they quickly fall in love after he defends her from a creep. They have Judah and Marie Louise and he adores his family. He does all that he can for them. Including moving to England to keep them a bit safer. Judith always has a say in things. I have a feeling she and Cooper would be involved in womens' suffrage if it had been more prominent.

Love and War

Cooper stayed true to himself in many ways. He still adored his family. The scene where Judah was jumped by a gang of British thugs? He was terrified for his son and I think it was a good foreshadowing of the whole blow up. He wanted to keep his family safe and had to balance loyalty to family versus loyalty to South Carolina. It simply turned bitter and tragic. He lost his son because of greed of others (including his sister), his own determination to get back to SC, and Judith's insistence on accompanying him, which he acquiesced to. It was a volatile mix. He became crazed with grief, guilt, and blame. He acted that way out of character, which became a permanent thing. Except towards the end, he seemed to be at least a shadow of himself.

Heaven and Hell

Unfortunately, John Jakes bit the big one on this book. It was worth a read just for the continuation of the story. It was all too far-fetched and out of character, including Cooper. This is when he turned into the tyrant you refer to. He was a tyrant and a complete butchering of his former self. He changed too much considering his attitude at the end of Love and War. I ignore the book and adaptation when reading/watching. I know what happens and that's good enough.



"He's going to kick Mary in the vagina so she can't have any more Jesuses."