Characters that have Changed: Longtail by Whitepaw

Whitepaw analyses Longtail

Hi! This is Whitepaw! Today, I decided to write about Longtail and how he’s changed. There won’t be very many spoilers, mostly stuff about Longtail. Whenever I think about Longtail as a young warrior, I think about the cat that provoked a fight against young Firepaw when he first entered the camp. I think about the cat that taunted Firestar for his kittypet roots and supported Tigerclaw. When I think about him as an older warrior, I think about him as a coward that respects Firestar. When I think of him as an elder, I think of a blind helpless elder. In my mind, he’s changed a lot. I think I’ve pinpointed Longtail’s turning points. So, he was just born hating kittypets for their easy lives so it makes sense that he didn’t like Firepaw when he first joined the clan. Since Tigerclaw also had a strong dislike of kittypets, Longtail decided to side with him. This makes sense. But, during that battle where Tigerclaw tried to kill Bluestar, he realized that Tigerclaw wasn’t the strong, loyal, ThunderClan role model that he had been hoping for. He probably became scared that he was going to be disliked because he was one of Tigerclaw’s strongest supporters. He acted so scared when Tigerclaw asked him if he wanted to go into exile with him. He had no idea of Tigerclaw’s true nature and was fooled by him. This was the first turning point, where he stopped liking Tigerclaw. He was nice to Firestar from there on out, maybe not the most friendly, but not acting how he used to act or how Darkstripe was acting. He respected the warrior code more than he respected Tigerclaw, and therefore he obeyed his deputy who eventually became his leader. He is depicted as a strong warrior who is pretty loyal to Firestar and the warrior code in the book The Darkest Hour. The next turning point is when he gets re-introduced in Midnight. In Midnight, he starts to hang out with the elders even though he is still fairly young because his eyesight is failing. Eventually, a rabbit scratches his eyes while he is out hunting and he becomes blind. He is respected as every elder is and cared for well too, because of his blindness. He seems older and more frail just because he has moved to the elders den with the rest of the elders. He travels to the sun-drown place even though he is blind and some of the other elders have stayed behind. He gains respect for that and also just because he was one of the cats that made the journey. He becomes good friends with Mousefur and Purdy, who are elders at the same time he is. He acts like any normal elder and I’m glad that he gave us a good reputation of himself before he died. Nobody would guess that this was the same cat that first got that torn ear from Rusty the kittypet for provoking a fight. In my opinion, Longtail has changed a lot, and this article explained why.