As we move forward, we are beginning to find out that race is just as subjective as it is real. When Irish immigrants began to come over to the United States in mass during their ‘famines’ suffered at the hands of the British, they were not considered of the pure race of upstanding American whites. When Adolf Hitler was putting together his propaganda machine about an Aryan race, Werner Goldberg, a man of half Jewish ancestry, appeared on the front page of a Berlin newspaper as, “The Ideal German Soldier” (kansaspress.ku.edu). These kinds of contradictions highlight the trend of humans constantly trying to attribute more to race than is logical, or for that matter even remotely reasonable. Sentiments on race often fly around back and forth without any regard to reality or human decency. This shows to me that the idea of race is a powerful tool in drawing out the deepest emotions from people.
This is not to say that there is no actual substance to race. Once in the Fulcrum, orogenes in N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season are subject to a life of uniformity and isolation, creating the conditions for a race of Fulcrum orogenes. Under the oppression of the guardians, they are made to repress aspects of their individuality and expressions of free will, moving them closer in sync with what we consider race.
When we follow the lives of orogenes Essun and Alabaster, we see them struggle to escape the painful chains of race that have been placed upon them. Some stills control them with selectively bred, technologically enhanced guardians, whom are able to negate the orogenes natural ability to harness the power of the Earth and all living things. This is not enough though, as they are often held down with painful stereotypes, demeaning their humanity. Fulcrum orogenes often try to escape this feeling by identifying themselves with what the guardians have trapped them into. Alabaster sees through this though, and realizes the way the world really perceives them. He often uses the violent slur ‘rogga’ to remind himself and Essun of this. When they visit a node maintainer who has snapped due to sexual abuse, the way orogenes are perceived by the world connects with the reality of how the guardians are using them. Alabaster’s showing Essun of this gruesome truth, and his description, prompt an epiphany from her. “But each of us is just another weapon, to them. Just a useful monster, just a bit of new blood to add to the breeding lines. Just another fucking rogga.” She has never heard so much hate put into one word before. But standing here, with the ultimate proof of the world’s hatred dead and cold and stinking between them, she can’t even flinch this time. Because. If the Fulcrum can do this, or the Guardians or the Yumenescene Leadership or the geomests or whoever came up with this nightmare, then there’s no point in dressing up what people like Syenite and Alabaster really are. Not people at all. Not orogenes. Politeness is an insult in the face of what she’s seen. Rogga: This is all they are.” The node maintainer is the ultimate slave to the Sanze Empire/Yumenescene Elite, the political structure that rules most all of Earth as our characters know it. They are made unable to move or express thought, but are not braindead. This node maintainer was the son of Alabaster, assigned to this station only because of his powerful ability to quell the violent action of the Earth. He has been betrayed by his ‘caretakers’ at the station, likely by people who would refer to orogenes as ‘roggas’, without a hint of irony.
In this Broken Earth, our characters live with a misunderstanding of their history. Pieces are left out, which Binof finds out as a young girl, and other pieces are misinterpreted, which Essun finds out about with the story of Misalem, long after she is told it incorrectly. From the beginning of our story we see that the obelisks are forgotten artifacts to most people, yet they end up having the power to change the state of the entire Earth. If we take the story from the eyes of Binof/Tonkee, we see the importance of uncovering history. It provides a great opportunity to reveal wisdom that had accrued over thousands of years, only to be forgotten for thousands more. Tonkee dedicates her entire life to studying obelisks, the usefulness of this to playing her part in dismantling the status quo of the Broken Earth, which is one of systematic racism and oppression, is not yet to be seen. But it is clear that it is all coming together, as it has brought her to Essun and Hoa. Alabasters channeling of the obelisks power, and his passing this on to Essun, has already shown a profound impact. He has challenged the notion of stonelore being fact on his own journey, believing it to be altered. It seems to me that the more these characters are able to uncover truths of the past, the closer they will come to restoring a peaceful Earth.
Sinead O’Connor sang in her song Famine about British oppression of Irish history. She sang, “And so we lost our history
And this is what I think is still hurting me
See we’re like a child that’s been battered
Has to drive itself out of it’s head because it’s frightened
Still feels all the painful feelings
But they lose contact with the memory
And this leads to massive self-destruction…
And if there ever is gonna be healing
There has to be remembering
And then grieving
So that there then can be forgiving
There has to be knowledge and understanding”
She is using the instance of British misinformation being taught to the Irish in regard to Black 47’, a mass starving of Irish people in 1847. She explains that when the Irish were taught about this tragedy, it was left out that Ireland was a key crop producer for Britain, and that they were forced to ship out their crops to the British mainland while people starved in mass on the island of Ireland. She also says that the British took this difficult time for Ireland as an opportunity for them to impress British ideal onto the Irish, phasing out the Irish language and other cultural values.
This example illustrates the power that can come from history. An incorrect understanding of it can allow an abuser to break their subject, and subjugate them to their rule. The people of the Broken Earth, whether it be stills or orogenes, are gaslit by a fake history that ignores the power of great devices that surround them, as well as the great powers within themselves. If the commsfolk had an understanding of the true history of their world, I have no doubt that they would live in respect of each other. They wouldn’t discriminate against orogenes, and they would know how to survive a season much more effectively. This can be equated to our world as well. With a clear understanding of our history, we would be much less likely to give substance to race. But when generations of people are told the British side of the story, and don’t realize that battered people are like that due to racialization, they may be inclined to repeat the pattern.
References
Jemisin, N. K. The Fifth Season. Orbit, 2015.
“Hitler’s Jewish Soldiers.” Web.archive.org, 26 Aug. 2014, web.archive.org/web/20140826084054/www.kansaspress.ku.edu/righit.html. Accessed 24 Feb. 2024.
O’Connor, Sinead. Famine. John Reynolds, Tim Simenon, 13 Sept. 1994.