Notes on Leon's family

Elena (Leon's sister)

Elena - Very ill. Sickly from a young.
Similar to the weakness of Dante from birth?

Very dainty, long blonde hair and large eyes - the same colour as Sloane, deep purple blue.
Originally, she was very beautiful but her illness deformed her hands, joints and feet.

Illness
Has polio. Caught from infected water as an infant due to the poverty they lived in. (Bathing in a river?) Neither Leon nor his mother knew of the cause but this is officially what caused it.
[The virus can be spread by someone with the infection from about a week before any symptoms develop, until several weeks afterwards - the virus can pass on for 7–10 days before the onset of disease. In addition, they can continue to shed the virus in their stool for 3–6 weeks. Elena was seen by a physician at first, until he could no longer help. Fortunately Leon did not catch polio from his sister].

RESEARCH

Symptoms:
a high temperature (fever) of 38C (100.4F) or above
a sore throat
a headache
abdominal (tummy) pain
aching muscles
feeling and being sick

The polio virus attacks the nerves in the spine and base of the brain. This can cause paralysis, usually in the legs, that develops over hours or days. This is when Violet feeds Elena the poison (during one of the paralysis states).
The paralysis isn't usually permanent, and movement will often slowly return over the next few weeks and months.
But some people are left with persistent problems. If the breathing muscles are affected, it can be life threatening.

A few people with the infection will have some degree of permanent paralysis, and others may be left with problems that require long-term treatment and support.

These can include:

muscle weakness
shrinking of the muscles (atrophy)
tight joints (contractures)
deformities, such as twisted feet or legs

There's currently no cure for polio. Treatment focuses on supporting bodily functions and reducing the risk of long-term problems while the body fights off the infection. . 

Elena's illness resulted in a permanent disability. Leon becomes the carer and helps Elena with movement as well bodily functions - all from a very young age.

Polio would have ultimately caused death, by paralyzing the muscles used for breathing. But Violet killed her before the illness did by feeding her the herbal poison, but by all accounts it appeared to be the illness that killed Elena. 
Sloane (Leon's mother) does not believe this though, accuses Violet of murder. 


Poison that killed Elena: Belladonna
Symptoms may be slow to appear but last for several days. They include dryness in the mouth, thirst, difficulty in swallowing and speaking, blurred vision from the dilated pupils, vomiting, excessive stimulation of the heart, drowsiness, slurred speech, hallucinations, confusion, disorientation, delirium, and agitation. (Serious reactions -severe spasms and muscle pain)
Coma and convulsions often precede death.
Severe poisoning can cause paralysis, a coma, and respiratory failure - mimicking the symptoms of Elena's own illness. 
Leon kind of knew in his heart what Violet had done, but eventually - without really admitting this - he saw it as a mercy killing - (hardly)! He rationalised that Elena would have died suffering either way, and this way he was finally free from his entrapment in the town.
(Later, before his suicide, Leon agonises over this and suffers from extreme guilt having let Violet get away with the murder of his sister).
Violet uses a tincture of Belladonna, obtained from Mariah as a "parting gift." 
Mariah left it to Violet to bribe her away as well as giving her the horrific option of suicide if she could not escape the town on her own. 

Folklore: The plant is the property of the Devil so anyone picking the berries had better be prepared to meet the Devil face to face. It seems likely that this story was intended to keep children away from the harmful berries since, unusually, they are not unpleasant to eat. They have been described, by those who have never tasted them, as 'intensely sweet' but, in fact, the taste is of an insipid sweetness; not in the least offensive but not so good that one would be tempted to scoff them down.

? Thinking of having a scene where some child eats the berries Mariah is gathering.. to sort of show the extent of the poison. But you need to eat a lot to kill you. ?




Sloane (Leon's mother)

A lot younger than Leon's father, Leon has the same fair hair and pale complexion as his mother. He also seems to share her mental illness - depression.
As Leon grows older he often refers to his mother by her actual name, he finds she barely responses to "mother." Elena calls her Mama. 

Sloane was quite attractive once but alcohol affected her looks - had Leon when she was only 17. Got married due to her pregnancy? (Older friend of her father's got her pregnant?) Not a particularly happy or loving marriage. She was young and immature. She used alcohol to deal with aspects of reality she did not want to face, hides from responsibility and leaves a lot of it to Leon. The abuse has taken its toll on her youthfulness. 

Suffers from alcoholism but not in the same way Violet's mother uses substances. Alcohol makes her catatonic and brings out her depression more. It makes her unfit to care for her children and even more distant than she normally is. After losing her husband, to syphilis, she is reluctant to go anywhere near Elena when she contracts polio. She is fearful of the hideous reactions to the disease and just wants to block out the suffering - her own and the laments of her children.




Thomas Sowyn (Leon's father)
Dies of syphilis. His actual death is unknown as it is told in Leon's perspective and he remembers very little from that time. His father was tall and muscular naturally - but also wiry (Leon is the same build), with light brown hair and grey eyes (same eyes as Leon's). Leon remembers him often wearing huge overcoats, a black cap and having a light facial hair or stubble. He had work-worn hands and remained in Leon's mind as a standing pillar in the corner holding up the family, although aside from the financial side of things, he was mainly an absent father.
Worked as a fisherman in nearby towns, Leon spent very little time with him but remembers fragments of his calming nature. A man who worked hard and provided for his family.
However, he hid his other perverse side - visiting prostitutes mainly (at night when his family slept or when he worked away). Leon did not really care about this side of his father's life until it resulted in him getting the illness. Sloane had blocked out the fact that he had many affairs (cue alcoholism) but the symptoms of syphilis were a clear sign that couldn't be ignored.
Even when confronted with the truth Sloane barely acknowledged it. She just lay in bed drinking, refusing to speak to Thomas. Their relationship remained that way until Thomas died. (Thomas left the family home before the illness killed him?, but it certainly did cause his death).Sloane told Leon of his father's death plainly; and telling him he left his family to Leon now as the eldest child. Leon knew it was the illness but knew he had caused his own end by his affairs. Leon was thrust into responsibility very quickly afterwards, due to Elena's illness.









Violet's father - balding with thick beard. Fat but very strong.