In the Fifth Season, N.K. Jemison bases her novel on the oppression faced daily by black people and uses the orogene race to show it. She also shows the oppression of African-American slavery by paralleling those experiences with those of the orogenes’.
The parallel is first shown through the orogenes’ exploitation for slave-labor and breeding. During slavery, African-Americans were bred for continued slave labor; they also were prized and sold for more based on their physical traits and ability for labor. In the novel, for example, Alabaster says, “I was bred to order…I’m the product of two of the Fulcrum’s oldest and most promising lineages…I had a Guardian practically from birth. [Syenite is] a feral” (72), emphasizing the importance of breeding; by breeding two powerful orogenes, a ten-ringer, Alabaster, was born. He is worth much to the Fulcrum due to these bred abilities, similar to those of African-American slaves. The desire for strength for physical labor is paralleled to the strength for orogeny.
The parallels are also shown through the Guardian’s brutal treatment and control of the orogenes. They are controlled by Guardians through force and manipulation, much like how slaves were controlled by fear of forceful punishments and manipulation. When Damaya is traveling with Schaffa, he tells her that even if she manages to kill him, she will have no place to go and will never be able to fit in anywhere (98), meaning that she is powerless. Furthermore, he breaks her hand so that she understands that she “[has] to do what [Schaffa says] or [he’ll] hurt [her]…and [he’ll] hurt [her] even when [she] does obey. If [he thinks he] should” (102). Even in the Fulcrum, the orogenes receive strict discipline; Damaya knows that if “she does what she’s supposed to, no unexpected things happen” (193). This is paralleled to slavery in America in which obedient slaves were oftentimes not punished and sometimes rewarded, and disobedient slaves were brutally punished. However, they would also be subject to unprovoked punishments, similar to Schaffa’s treatment and example of Damaya.
There is also a parallel between Syenite’s killing of Coru and through the sacrifice of children during times of slavery. During the attack on Meov when Syenite realizes that they are losing and that the Guardians will take Coru, she says, “Better that a child never have lived at all than live as a slave. Better that he die,” (442) and she decides to kill Coru by smothering him rather than have him live as a slave. Similarly, women in slavery would choose to abort or kill their child instead of subjecting them to slavery. For example, Syenite’s killing of Coru is directly paralleled with that of Margaret Garner’s killing of her own child rather than allow her to be put back in slavery. They both wanted freedom for their child and chose to sacrifice them out of love so that they did not experience the slavery in America, and fictionally, in the Fulcrum.
I agree with your contention that the plight of the Orogene race within The Fifth Season serves as a direct parallel to African American slavery within America. However, I feel that one of the major pieces of evidence supporting this is the public perception of Orogenes and African Americans during slavery.
ReplyDeleteIn The Fifth Season, it is abundantly clear that the Orogenes are disliked and even feared by the rest of society. Although the majority of society has not personally met an orogene or seen them in person, they live in constant fear of them, This is shown in the first chapter of the book, as Uche is killed for being an Orogene and it is revealed that no one else knows the family consists of Orogenes. This parallels the public perception that African Americans faced during slavery as people would avoid them at all costs and they were looked down upon and even feared in some cases. Additionally, it was not uncommon for hate crimes to occur in a similar fashion to the way that Uche was killed within the novel. This striking similarity between the public distaste and hatred for the Orogenes and African Americans during slavery highlight the point that Jemisin is trying to make. While the connection she draws is primarily attached to the times of slavery, aspects of it can be applied to modern society as well, showing that the modern environment is not "equal" for all.
I don't disagree with either of you, strictly speaking, but I do think Jemisin tries to draw a parallel more directly between African Americans today and the Orogenes than between the African Americans of the past. Damaya's training is focused on her ability to control herself. After Schaffa hurts Damaya, he tells her the pain is about "control." (Jemisin 102). He tells Damaya "'[g]ive me no reason to doubt yours, and I will never hurt you again.'" (Jemisin 103). Jemisin explains that Michael Brown's death was a part of her motivation to write the trilogy. Defenders of police brutality share the same undertone, regardless of what particular defense they use after a tragedy like Michael Brown's: black people are scary, powerful, and obviously out of control. Drawing on some of your reasoning about "breeding" African Americans for slavery, these apologists of police brutality believe that black people are more athletic and physically powerful than white people. Jemisin draws the same parallel for the Orogenes: They are believed not only to be more powerful, but dangerous because they will never fully be able to control themselves. The facts that would invalidate these arguments are irrelevant, both in the Stillness and in the U.S.. Only the fear matters.
ReplyDeleteI also drew the parallel between the use of the orogenes for breeding and that of American slavery. I think that Jemisin makes a point of drawing out the first time that Syenite and Alabaster are forced to have sex to make the reader really take a look at what a violation of personal freedom and bodily autonomy that is. It was something I had never really had to think about before. Syenite will have to "carry a child she doesn't want, which might kill her and even if it doesn't will change her body forever" (70), and they are both essentially raped by the Fulcrum continuously. It reminded me of the scene in The Sport of Kings where Edward Forge makes the two slaves have sex even though one is engaged to someone else, and I think that's what Jemison is trying to do.
ReplyDeleteI read Beloved by Tony Morrison a few years ago, and Syenite's mercy killing of Coru reminds me of how the main character killed her child to help him escape a live of enslavement. Syenite does not want the Fulcrum to "enslave him, turn his body into a tool and his mind into a weapon and his life into a travesty of freedom" (441). Not only has the Fulcrum taken Syenite's life, but they have left her no choice but to take that of her son.
I totally agree that Jemison draws parallels between the treatment of the Orogenes and the historical treatment of black people in America, but I don't think we should forget about the other groups throughout history that have been, oppressed, disdained, cast aside, and used. For example, Native Americans were used as slaves in the Americas long before colonizers began to import African slaves, and I'm sure were treated in much the same way. Similar to how Orogenes are feared by the rest of society, immigrants of different backgrounds are feared now, particularly those from Middle Eastern countries. Japanese internment camps during Word War 2 also come to mind as a violation of freedom and a stigmatization of an entire group of people.
You bring up the idea of breeding, which is a concept commonly addressed in dystopian novels, such as Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Lois Lowry’s The Giver. Referring to the process of conception by two humans as “breeding” is unheard of in modern society; the word is reserved for addressing the process when it occurs between animals. Because of this, the word is oftentimes used in dystopian fiction as a way to dehumanize the individuals who partake in the process of creating a child. It is a way to formalize the idea, rather than giving merit to the inherently emotional concept of sex.
ReplyDeleteThe way that formal breeding and sexuality interact in The Fifth Season is interesting and dissimilar to many other dystopian novels. Orogenes are assigned a partner with whom to breed by an authoritarian power, as is the case of Alabaster and many different women, given that he claims to have twelve children prior to the birth of Coru (144). Despite the control which the Fulcrum puts on breeding, a concern is not expressed towards sexuality; the Fulcrum expresses no concern towards either Alabaster or Syenite sleeping with Innon, given that neither is for the sake of reproduction. Just as the lack of inclination to engage in coitus on the parts of Syenite and Alabaster is disregarded by those in charge, the same disregard is given to the presence of characters’ inclinations to engage in sex for pleasure. In essence, those in charge of the society have no regard for the sexual preferences of the members of the society. Based on this, it can be concluded that while the society in the novel is far from post-racial, it is more progressive than contemporary society in regards to sexuality.