[Bluestar looking out during a lightning storm]

Bluestar: Heroic or Irrational? by Brightspark

Brightspark shares their thoughts on Bluestar.

Artwork by GoldenPhoenix

Let’s be honest, I had high expectations for Bluestar’s Prophecy when I first saw it at the library. I picked it up immediately, flipped through the pages, and decided I liked it.
However, when I got home and actually read through it, I was disappointed. I wasn’t satisfied with how poorly it was written, how sudden and “tragic” it was, and just how Bluestar was portrayed.
First of all, the death of Moonflower. Yes, it’s very painful to watch a family member die before your eyes. It’s fine to grieve. It’s completely okay to be unable to get over it. However, Bluepaw didn’t even try to be happier, as far as I can remember. Snowpaw got over it faster, and that’s just a matter of the characters’ personalities. Yes, Bluepaw had a right to be miserable. However, Bluepaw didn’t even try to be happier, as far as I can remember. She just snapped at everyone. She was described as too miserable and snappish to be around, which must have made her denmates uncomfortable to some extent. She should have tried to move on. And no, I’m not saying that Moonflower is to be forgotten entirely, or that Bluepaw should have acted like she never existed. I’m saying she should have acknowledged that she should carry on with her duties as an apprentice, because even if she was grieving, she should at least commit to her Clan.
It would make so much more sense if she had been fueled to commit to her Clan for Moonflower, but because she was still a young apprentice at this point, she’d have those moments where she lashed out. This state of endless misery and exhausting snappishness really let me down, and eventually grew to bore me. Also, I wanted her to be at least a bit guilty when she finally realizes she is wrong; that getting over death and carrying on is not disrespecting or forgetting, but strengthening and helping. I only saw realization in the way it was written, not a single drop of guilt. Yes, those things are different. One may realize, but one may not feel guilty.

Second, Goosefeather’s omen. Bluepaw thought at first that it was completely reasonless and ridiculous, which I do not blame her for, especially since Moonflower died partly because of him. However, she could have discussed it with Featherwhisker, who had experience and was often the one to handle his mentor’s erratic behavior later on, but she wouldn’t have known that, so let’s ignore that.
Although the near-silence about the prophecy was just for plot convenience, I still would’ve liked it better if she’d talked to someone experienced about it, and not just her sister.

Third, the immediate hatred of Thistlepaw, particularly his friendly relationship with Snowpaw.
I heavily disliked the way Thistlepaw was depicted. He was presented as an ugly, immature brat with no justification for his behavior. Perhaps this is true from Bluepaw’s perspective, but I wanted to see him presented as a short-tempered, immature brat who has a hard time interacting with others and a rough life that Bluepaw could feel sorry for to a certain extent, but still hates for the way he treats his Clanmates.
Bluepaw should have accepted that Thistlepaw and Snowpaw were friends, and that they had fun together. It’s okay to dislike someone, but it’s not okay to irrationally accuse your sister of being friends with the wrong person (cat?).
Yes, Thistleclaw does go on to become evil and manipulative, but at this point no cat would know.

Fourth, the death of Snowfur. I have no real complaints about this one, just that it could have been written better. I didn’t want it to be the same thing again: family member dies, she mopes around, someone tells her to move on. It wasn’t exactly the same, but it was, pretty much, and that irritates me.

Fifth, Mosskit’s death, and just Bluestar and Oakheart in general. Ah, Bluestar’s kits. The debate still rages on about whether or not it was right to lie to her kits to send them to RiverClan. Then there’s the drama with Oakheart. It irritates me, like how the fact that Bluestar always has to be so bitter and miserable every single time someone dies around her irritates me. Same thing with all the deaths I’ve talked about here, but I want to dive a bit deeper. Bluefur didn’t necessarily make a mistake in sending her kits to RiverClan. It wasn’t wrong. But the better, less risky option would have been to talk to Sunstar about the problem (apart from that her kits are, in fact, half-RiverClan, of course), about what Goosefeather was telling her, and why she thought that it wasn’t a good idea to let Thistleclaw become deputy. Surely Sunstar would listen with enough evidence? I mean, he’s a caring, sensible leader that is reasonable enough to take over when Pinestar left the Clan, and not just stand by and do nothing. Thistleclaw was being considered as deputy, for StarClan’s sake! Bluefur should have tried to persuade him to do something about the possibility of war if Thistleclaw became deputy, instead of putting her very young kits at risk.
Also, I hated when Bluestar was portrayed as completely and throughly innocent, almost as if she weren’t involved in Mosskit’s death.

Yes, Bluestar was faced by nothing but responsibilities and difficult choices for almost all of her life, and she lost a lot, however, some cats had to endure more and stayed strong, like Yellowfang and Ivypool. (Yes, I understand that Ivypool is brave, but still hate her.) That just proves how mentally unstable and weak Bluestar was. Furthermore, she tended to make decisions suddenly, which sometimes led to her making unreasonable choices.
I’m not comparing her to others in the Warriors universe to say that she’s bad or anything, simply that she is in the wrong for some things, and that her story could have been better.

Brightspark out!

Fan Articles

16 comments

  • Nice article! But let’s keep in mind that Tallpaw and probably some other characters too were snappish after losing a loved one.

    Bluepaw had had enough experience with Goosefeather’s prophecies, especially after seeing her mother die because of one and Hawkheart telling her that “you risked so much on the word of Goosefeather?” And that cat was practically this crazy old man, and I wouldn’t have thought anything about his prophecy either.

    She didn’t like Thistleclaw – so what? Are we looking at at who she likes and doesn’t or if she’s heroic or irrational?

    She’s already had one cat dying in her life, and a second one, one that was probably closer to her than anyone else, one that accidentally died partly because of her, one that was nursing a kit! She has all the right to be snappish and miserable in my opinion. And anyway, she got over it, there!

    Yeah same thing I wrote up there. I don’t agree, but I don’t really understand what you mean, so I’ll just leave it as it is.

    And finally, if I lost a lot of people partly because of myself, I would die rather than live, but no! Bluestar chose to stay alive and save the Clans, proving how strong and stable she is. She didn’t really have too much time to think about her decisions anyways, did she?