Quentin and Jamison

[Afan]

SPOILER
I think that much later in the plot. we see how much Quentin cares when he prevents Laura (on her return) from burning Jamison up with her.  He also is very protective of Nora, another of her mother's victims, and when Nora grieves for her mother, Quentin is there to comfort her.  I think I am remembering correctly -- after all it has been thirty years!  Correct me if I am wrong.
Afan, who loves the rascal Quentin

[Annie]

Quentin was so proud to see the look on Jamison's
face when he gave him that model of a ship!
( Anne who is craving for a scene with The Q-man
and is turning into some kind of crazed idiot as well
but LOVING IT ALL!!!         LOVE ANNE : b :b

[Cassandra Blair]

This may have already been said, and probably far more eloquently, but I DO believe that Quentin loves Jamison.  It's just that he doesn't understand that loving someone is an active thing, it isn't just how you feel.  At this stage of the game, and for quite a bit of the 1897 storyline, I think Quentin is just too selfish and immature to recognize that loving Jamison *obligates* him to look out for Jamison's welfare before his own.  But of course, when dealing with a vampire cousin, an evil Phoenix, hostile gypsies, a crazy wife, a werewolf curse, and assorted female cuties it's hard to put someone else's needs before one's own.

I think also that in the 19th century, it probably wasn't uncommon for children to be treated much worse than Jamison is treated by Edward, Quentin, whomever. The way the Reverend G. Trask deals with Jamison is more in line with my understanding of how many children were treated 100+ years ago.  Don't get me wrong - any child deserves better!  Then too, the Collins family WAS always a little...how shall we say...dysfunctional?

[kuanyin]

I have to say that Quentin DOES love Jamison, as much as he is capable of love for another person. He  is so self-centered that putting the child's needs and good ahead of his own purpose would simply never occur to him. But he is great at the show of love, when it it doesn't interfere.

Reminds me of my XH, actually. Wish he had been as gorgeous and as seductive....Oh no, I guess not, I might still be with him and that WOULD be scary.

[kuanyin]

First, as to Jamison, I always have fun trying to picture him being the father of Elizabeth and Roger. Of course, the fact that he looks exactly like Roger's son doesn't help!! We really don't know anything about their upbringing or what their father was like. Both Edward and Roger are rather stiff and stuffy. There's no way of knowing how Jamison turned out. It just seems so funny to imagine him growing up to be their father.

Well, since Daniel was played by David Henesy and grew up to look just like Louis Edmonds, that is how I picture Jamison all grown up. Not that the two look anything alike, other than they both have a nose, eyes, etc....

[JWGucciEnvy]

I agree with the fact that Quentin loves Jamison.

Its make me like Quentin even more because we are seeing the softer side of Quentin.  Its make sense now why he wanted David so much.

Because maybe Quentin realized Jamison was the only one who love him no matter what Quentin did.

[Connie]

Quentin loves Jamison?  Quentin cares for the boy?  So he makes him lie, and he makes him steal, and he makes him a pawn in his twisted little game of "who gets the money" with his siblings.

Quentin uses Jamison because he can.  The boy's a child, and unlike the grown-ups, hasn't figured out yet that  Quentin is manipulative and deceitful, callous, cruel, and even violent.  Ah, but he's also charming, and witty and very beautiful to look at¢â‚¬¦¢â‚¬¦and aren't we always surprised when evil isn't also ugly?

Well, here you have the whole premise of ProfStokes' original question - the seemingly contradictory impulses within a character.  We're forever trying to deal with the opposition of "good" and "evil" in a person.  We've also been presented with that dichotomy in regards to Barnabas in earlier storylines.  Oh!  You know who else is a delightful study in seeming contradictions?  Magda!  So far, she's been presented as the greedy, conniving "gypsy" stereotype - holding out her hand before she'll do ANYTHING for ANYBODY.  Then we see her sadness over the loss of her friend and mourning the fact that no one in the family gives a damn about Edith - only the money, and upset that Judith won't even let her view the body.

Anyway, what "qualifies" as love is an interesting discussion.  Everyone's perception is different.  Does Jamison feel loved by Quentin?  Yes.  Does Quentin feel love for Jamison?  Yes.  They both fulfill needs in one another.  Someone once told me that you love someone for the way they make you feel.  I've always thought that was an interesting observation.  

No one else shows Jamison any affection at all¢â‚¬¦.it doesn't take much to make an unloved, lonely little boy adore you, even if you're the devil in disguise.

I think that one of the problems here might be the fact that a lot of us have seen 1897 more than once and can't separate the Quentin we see right now, from the Quentin we come to know later on in the story, in the present, and even in 1995.

The writers start him off as rather one-dimensional.  Yes - "manipulative and deceitful, callous, cruel, and even violent", (and let's not forget incorrigible womanizer)  LOL.

S
P
O
I
L
E
R

But later on we're presented with a more sympathetic character - one who has a conscience, who goes to great lengths to save Edward and Jamison from Petofi's possession, who forms a friendship with Barnabas as they try to help each other, and who even forms a friendship with Magda - the person who cursed him to a life of torment.  He forgives others and also seeks forgiveness for his own misdeeds.
So, it's sort of hard to look at him right now, objectively.  We know he loves Jamison very much.

-CLC

[jennifer]

I also believe Quentin loves the boy and don't believe Quentin is evil(save that for Gregory and Evan) i'm with tripwire he is very naughty and immature would love to know the parent angle!

jennifer