When Schaffa tells Damaya the story of Misalem, the evil orogene who tried to destroy Yumenes, he makes it clear that Misalem is the antagonist and that Damaya does not get to envision herself in the role of the hero Shemshena. I never thought to question the validity of Schaffa’s telling of events until Alabaster later reveals that Misalem was actually trying to avenge his family who was taken from him. This act of historical revisionism by the Guardians made me think of the novel The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead which I read in Dr. Cooper’s class last semester. In Whitehead’s novel, history is being revised as it happens to fit the narrative most beneficial to those telling the story, similar to the Guardian’s version of events on Misalem.
Continue reading “The Story of Misalem and Historical Revisionism”