One of the more plainly metaphorical aspects to Jemisin’s The Stone Sky revealed to us how Sylanagistines created stone eaters and orogenes because they could find no logical reason to hate and discriminate against the Thniess anymore, or the Niess, as they became more commonly known. After studying the Niess for palpable genetic differences from the rest of the world’s population at the time and finding none, the Sylanagistines finally had to face the fact that they no longer had “logical” evidence on which to base their hate, to their disappointment. The creation of stone eaters and orogenes came as a supplement to this. The Sylanagistines purposefully designed them to look like the Niess so they could have a new “species” to hate. Continue reading “Our Fabrication of Hate”
The Power of Children
Over this past summer, I lived my childhood dream of seeing the sequel to The Incredibles. It took FOURTEEN YEARS but it finally happened. From the original movie, Edna Mode and Jack Jack Jack were my two favorite characters because of their quirkiness and quintessential roles they played in the film. Edna was the older, seemingly crazy character that obviously knew more than she was letting on and Jack Jack was the youngest character, full of potential and coming into his own. Continue reading “The Power of Children”
The Importance of Personal Conflict in The Stone Sky
One of the most powerful moments in The Broken Earth occurs in its final confrontation. “This moment would be when Essun and Nassun finally meet up after years of travel, “I watch you and your daughter face each other for the first time in two years, across a gulf of hardship” (The Stone Sky, 371). While of course the action and confrontation to follow this would have large ramifications for the entire world of the Stillness, this moment overshadows any other portion of the novel. It is incredibly significant, and this scene defines the entire series.
Continue reading “The Importance of Personal Conflict in The Stone Sky”
Making Waves
As I was reading The Fifth Season, I thought about the sea and why Syenite had expressed disinterest in going near or in the water. I had originally thought that there was no moon so why would there be anything to fear, other than otherworldly sea creatures that is. I also had thought that since there was no moon, there were no waves or currents in the water. So I was especially confused once Alabaster and Syenite went to Meov and it was a community that thrived off of ransacking the Stillness’s ships. Then I did some research on the moon and how it affects our Earth. Continue reading “Making Waves”
A Commentary on Childhood
In a previous post I touch on the topic of consent, but it wasn’t the main point of the post and at the time I hadn’t even considered that aspect to what I was talking about until Dr. McCoy brought it up. What Dr. McCoy said that really stood out to me and got me thinking was “the issue of childhood being a non-consensual experience.” I hadn’t ever thought of it that way. As a society, we have always seen child-rearing and in general, the way we treat children as doing what’s best for them and looking out for their best interest. We never consider that we as the adults are taking all choice away from children. Continue reading “A Commentary on Childhood”
The Future Is Queer
Queerness has always been categorized by a degree of nonconformity. The term has previously been used to define what’s perceived to be strange. Yet, the strangest aspect of this is not the object or individual to which this term is given. In fact, the most unusual part of this is the public’s inability to perceive a change in normality as progress instead of a threat. Usually, when queerness enters literature or film, there is a common plotline for all characters. The importance of their existence is centered around their sexuality. Writers choose to not give a character a solid arc or personality and opt out to produce two-dimensional fillers. Jemisin has refused to fall into that tradition and instead has written queerness as a normal ideal rather than a defining factor.
“Queerness is essentially about the rejection of a here and now and an insistence on potentiality or concrete possibility for another world” Continue reading “The Future Is Queer”
Building Blogs off of What I Find on the Internet
One day I was trolling the internet looking for inspiration for a blog post when I came across Jemisin’s own blog. The particular post that I had read discussed why Jemisin chose to split Essun’s story into three seemingly different stories. Basically, Essun needed to jump the “empathy gap”, as Jemisin describes, and including stories from her childhood and young adulthood made the book overall more interesting. Continue reading “Building Blogs off of What I Find on the Internet”
Modern Day Slavery
In Syl Anagist, there exists the Briar Patch. The Briar Patch is a place where humanity dies. In it exists thousands of tuners that are “unable to work” and remain alive solely so their power can be harvested (235). Gallat, a conductor of the network, calmly and coldly explains the process in the Briar Patch, “so after system priming, once the generative cycle is established, there’s only an occasional need to reprime” (263). Gallat is numb to the horror of the Briar Patch and does not even address the slaves as people, but as things…objects. At first, reading this passage…I was appalled, but then I quickly realized this is a reflection to the inner workings of our world. Continue reading “Modern Day Slavery”
Cur$!ng
In The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin, the author, includes a variety of cursing to stress certain statements like shit, fuck, and “rust.” Coming across the first curse word in the trilogy, I was actually taken aback, because in my experience, fantasy writers customarily choose to be PG with their language. With the discussion of why Jemisin specifically adds in curse words, I could not help, but be curious behind the science of cursing. Continue reading “Cur$!ng”
Inheritance of the Son
Essun has three children over the course of the The Broken Earth series, yet only her daughter Nassun manages to live beyond infancy. Both sons die at extremely young ages, unable to even truly start living before being cut down. I believe there is importance in that, the the deaths of Corundum and Uche are both meaningful in their own ways, and collectively.