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At the start of this course, we crafted our first writing piece called the Lithosphere Essay. To prepare for this essay, we focused on learning and recognizing good and bad faith practices both in everyday life as well as connecting it to N.K. Jemisin’s Trilogy. More specifically, we honed in on the manipulation of bad-faith in terms of myth and science and how it creates systems of inequality and racism within the trilogy, as I wrote in my previous essay. As a framework for our writing, we continuously return and reflect our work to our course epigraph which highlights what race means to the core. Geraldine Heng portrays racialization  as “… a repeating tendency, of the gravist import, to demarcate human beings through differences among humans that are selectively essentialized as absolute and fundamental, in order to distribute positions and powers differentially to human groups”. 

First, I will provide some hindsight and perspective into how I first interpreted this epigraph in terms of the first book “The Fifth Season”. The novel takes place on a supercontinent referred to as the Stillness, in a society that uses a use-caste system where most individuals are oppressed, targeted, and dehumanized. When I was reading the first novel, I explored the ideas about how our identities and lives are shaped by who and what we are surrounded by as well as the attributes and traits that we possess. In The Broken Earth Trilogy, there are two races: Orogenes and Stills who are treated drastically differently due to the qualities that one race has over the other. As for the Orogenes, they were born with special powers that give them the force to manipulate the Earth and seismic activity. Unlike Orogenes, the Stills do not have powers and therefore, are perceived as “normal” beings. These two races live completely different lives and Orogenes are highly exploited and systematically harmed. This sparked my thinking of the world we live in today where certain groups of people still receive and experience poorer treatment than others. Whether that be in regards to their race, class, education, there are several systems of structure that deliberately separates humans and society. As you move through Jemisin’s Trilogy, you see several parallels and themes between her books as the story expands deeper into the lives of these Orogenes. 

At this point in the semester we have reached the core of our reading and thinking. When I think of the word core, I like to think of it as all the puzzle pieces coming together and meeting in the middle. Throughout this class, we are asked to think about the meaning behind our words or thoughts; to look at the bigger picture for our thinking. I think this question plays a significant role in wrapping up this final piece of work by using it as a tool to build our way up to where we are in the present. N.K. Jemisin’s series portrays themes of oppression, power, survival, and the effects of environmental degradation. It is a very compelling and eye opening read that she narrates through a science fiction lens, but holds many truths to reality as well. 

My viewpoints of the trilogy stayed relevantly consistent throughout reading, but certain characteristics of characters altered my thinking about the meaning behind the novels. For example, the series tells the story through the lives of three main characters: Essun, Syenite, and Damaya who are revealed to be the same person; all at different stages of their lives. However, most of the book surrounds Essun who undergoes tragic changes throughout the trilogy as she deals with personal trauma, societal oppression, and accepting her true identity. As the story unfolds, it is apparent that Essun experiences significant character development as she conquers these obstacles. At the beginning of the first novel, she feels ashamed of her Orogeny, concealing her identity from the world to avoid fear and punishment. However, as the trilogy progresses, we start to notice a shift of her attitude and acceptance towards herself and her powers. Instead of thinking she can only do harm to the world, she learns more about the nature of her powers in the Stillness and realizes she can also harness them for great change. The Fifth Season describes “It’s a gift if it makes us better. It’s a curse if we let it destroy us”. (Jemisin, 311 PDF). This pertains to the reality of any special trait that an individual possesses. It can be viewed through two different lenses as the Orogenes learn, one with a positive outcome and the other with a negative. Essun uses her powers for survival, to protect her loved ones, to manipulate her environment, and also to seek revenge from all that she lost. 

Though we see great deals of character development throughout the trilogy, the overarching theme and issues stay persistent. The racialization within their society never gets resolved and Orogenes are still fighting for justice and to recover from all the destruction that has been made. As I state in my Lithosphere essay, “They are Orogenes, the Misalems of the world, born cursed and terrible” (Jemisin, 145 PDF). This quote examines how severely misunderstood and exploited they are from the powerful sources in their society. The Fulcrum, which is an institution that trains Orogenes to constrain them from their powers is an example of this from the Trilogy. It is evident that those who hold the most power, are oftentimes the ones who exploit the vulnerable. This is referenced in The Stone Sky “… someone must suffer , if the rest are to enjoy luxury” (Jemisin, 1784 PDF). This portrays how in order for certain individuals to succeed or be satisfied, others are being hurt in the process. It encapsulates the harsh realities of structural societies and unjust power dynamics, while highlighting the inequality that exists within many systems of society. Sadly, someone is always getting the “bad end of the stick” when living in an unfair world. As for the trilogy, the Orogenes have to abide by the rules and system of their guardians who run the Fulcrum. The guardians feed into the suffering of the Orogenes due to their strong belief that the way they treat them is right and protects everyone around them. Though some guardians may feel empathy and remorse towards the Orogenes, their genuine concern for them is overshadowed by the systematic oppression that is ingrained into their society. Overall, this prohibits the guardians from showing these feelings or taking any action towards helping the Orogenes.

Lastly, Jemisin’s trilogy explores the ways in which conflict and power struggles impact communities and groups of individuals. But amongst all the chaos and suffering, there were still moments of hope for the future and a desire to make a change. For example, the novel notes “…what is important is that you know it was not all terrible. There was peace in long stretches, between each crisis. A chance to cool and solidify before the grind resumes.” (Jemisin, 263 PDF). Jemisin emphasizes the rift that occurs between two forces battling in a society. However, we learn that sometimes it allows the opportunity for individuals to unite and rebuild what has been destroyed; shedding light on the possibilities of what could be on the other side.

Going into English 111 I knew nothing about N.K Jemisin, nor about her “Broken Earth Trilogy.”  I went into this class completely blind to the power behind her writing and stories. At the beginning of this semester I learned about N.K Jemisin’s life, which consisted of her witnessing the evils of racialization and the horrors of inequality and racism around her. N.K Jemisin is an African American author, her identity has shaped her experiences and in turn has shaped her writing. I feel that understanding her history and her story allows me to interpret her writing on a deeper level, and is important in understanding the novel to a greater extent. 

In my lithosphere essay,I unpacked how racialization is portrayed and used to maintain power in the first book of the trilogy and its parallels to the real world. I focused on a few aspects of racialization, on being the Fulcrum, which is a school seen in The Fifth Season, where Orogenes suffer from the impacts of racialization. I also focused on one of the slurs used against Orogenes in the novels, which is the term “rogga.” I discussed how Syenite’s (one of the Orogenes) relationship with the term develops from uncomfortable to a sense of reclamation, and how the slur enforces racialization of Orogenes. 

At the beginning of this journey, I believed the trilogy to be a powerful and unique way of exposing the parallels of racial inequality, discrimination in the world today and throughout history into a science fiction novel, while also incorporating Jemisin’s personal experiences with social injustices. 

At the end of this journey I believe the same, I still think that this trilogy spreads themes of injustice, inequality and discrimination and the consequences of it. The novels are a portrayal of parallels seen in the real world and throughout history. However, as we drove deeper into these books and into the semester we found that the entirety of the civilization and society where the protagonists exist is built on social injustice and the oppression of peoples, similar to many of our powerful nations today, including the United States of America . This is seen through the unearthing of Hoa’s story and his past throughout the novel. 

Hoa starts off as a mysterious character in the trilogy, as we move forward through the books we see how important his story is. Hoa is a stone eater, which means exactly what you might think, he eats stone. He also has extremely pale skin and eyes and white hair. However, he is also a very ancient being who has seen the civilizations before that of Essun, and the creation of the current one. In the last book of the trilogy, the Stone Sky, Jemisin really unpacks Hoas past. Before the Stillness (the realm that Essun exists in), there was Syl Anagist. Hoa and all the other Stone Eaters were forced to be tuners, which means he was a worker for Syl Anagist. The people of Syl Anagist were scared of the powers that the Stone Eaters had and how their features were so different from their own. The bright white eyes, hair and skin made the people of Syl Anagist uneasy. The fear of their powers and features fueled the people of Syl Anagist to control and strictly monitor those like Hoa, leaving the tuners to suffer the effects of racialization and discrimination. 

This can really be seen when Hoa is taken to see the inner workings of what powers the city, this is where Hoa sees the “briar patch.” The briar patch consists of “retired tuners” sent after they can no longer work or provide for Syl Anagist. The tuners after serving the Syl Anagist are sent to be stuck in a purgatory between life and death. The people of Syl Anagist do not trust the tuners to use their magic correctly on their own, therefore, when they can no longer work they place them in this purgatory. They are alive physically, but in a sense brain dead. “Keeping them alive keeps them generating more (power)” (Jemisin 2017). According to Hoa, “The briar patch’s victims have been here for years. Decades… Still alive, and yet not” (Jemisin 2017). There is so much to unpack with the idea of the briar patch and the inhumane treatment of the retired tuners. The briar patch sucks out all of the tuner’s magic and life force. Syl Anagist is being built on the suffering of millions of these tuners whose lives are taken to serve Syl Anagist by treating them like objects, beings only meant for keeping Syl Anagist running smoothly, due to their fear of their differences and powers. 

When I first read this I could only think about how many countries in our world were built on the suffering and expense of others. In the United States, our nation was fabricated through the horrors of slavery. The U.S was built on the suffering and inhuman treatments of human beings, just because white colonists believed themselves to be superior due to their skin color and culture. Just like the tuners in Syl Anagist, human beings were treated as machines, their only purpose was to work. In both cases, this discrimination and oppression was “justified” by physical difference in characteristics, this benefited those in power on both sides of the parallel. Syl Anagist was able to inhumanely create energy and oppress the tuners, and the economy in the U.S flourished through the horrors of slave labor. Just as Syl Anagist was built on injustice, so was the United States. The parallels of suffering seen in Syl Anagist and our own history highlights the racialization and disparities in both the book and our society. 

So why does any of this matter? Recently my Professor, Dr. McCoy, was told by Dr. Giorgis, one of the Professors of Geological Sciences here at Geneseo, that earthquakes and seismic events can have domino effects. One large earthquake, or one small one, can trigger a long line of consequences. The same goes for injustice. Jemisin shows through her books how the intense trauma from the pure discrimination, violence and oppression that Essun faced, developed her character that we see in the later books. The suffering that Essun was subjected to due to discrimination not only affected her but affected her children, her friends, her allies and enemies. Her daughter, Damaya, grew up with hatred and confusion. She murdered many, just as Essun did. Injustice and racialization affects everyone, not just those subjugated. Everyone in society feels the impact of it in one way or another. This goes for the trilogy just as it goes for real life. 

These books are so much more than the science fiction trilogy that I originally thought they were. N.K Jemisin puts a lot of thought in care into every detail of the story, the names, the characters, their actions. She portrays issues that readers can connect to the world that we live in today, and the consequences of them. Her incorporation of themes of oppression, racism and discrimination were clear in the novel, beginning to end. Jemisin made me think differently about characters, and question my anger or love towards them. She challenges a reader’s thinking and ensures they understand the emotion that is carefully embedded in the trilogy.

In this course, we read The Broken Earth Trilogy by N. K. Jemisin, which takes place in a far-from-future world. The world has periods of devastating storms, starvation, volcanic eruptions, and several other seismic events that it nearly impossible for humans to survive; they are defined by recurring “Seasons’” in this world.  In my earlier Lithosphere essay, I delved into N.K Jemisin’s first book in the trilogy, “The Fifth Season” and I explored how the control of science and myth can contribute to the dominance over the people, and cause racialization, distribution of classes, and genderization certain groups of people within my essay.  When I constructed the Lithosphere essay I was only focused on understanding the elements I listed above and how they may have created systematic inequalities and injustices in the continent of the Stillness. I analyzed the misconceptions of the Orogene abilities how the Orogenes were racialized by institutions like the Fulcrum and how it can contribute to harsh structures within the first book in the trilogy.   

As I reread and reflected on my thoughts in the initial essay with thinking, I realized that my thinking had shifted as I moved through the trilogy and reached the core of the trilogy.  One of the shifts of my thinking is diving deeper into the understanding of how the elements of racialization, distribution of class, and gender grouping are not just all separate experiences or incidents in the trilogy, however, view them as connected parts of a broader oppressive and power structure. In my first essay, I mentioned how the slang is used to define orogenes and how it shows how racially discriminated they are by using a quote from the first book  “’ You’re a rogga,’ Asael snaps, and then has the gall to look surprised at herself.“(Jemisin Fifth Season, page 216). As I kept reading the trilogy I noticed that the slang term is still being used “Months in my comm, and still all you are is ‘just a rogga.’”(Jemisin The Stone Sky 384 online) This demonstrates that there is a continual theme of racialization and discrimination throughout the trilogy and how it’s shown to be a bigger issue.  It also illustrates how fundamental prejudices are generally ignored even when circumstances and characters evolve over time. You can demonstrate how Jemisin illustrates the ongoing problems experienced by oppressed groups through the language that is being used by drawing a connection between these two quotes. Throughout the trilogy, “rogga” is used repeatedly by various people and settings, serving as a reminder of the prevalence of prejudice and the systems of oppression. This is only one example of how continual acts of oppression are not essentially isolated incidents that certain groups of people are going through. 

I have gained a new understanding of the orogeny myth’s important role in upholding oppressive systems through investigating this idea. Although orogeny was originally connected to racial classification, further reading into The Broken Earth Trilogy has shown that it also has an impact on power structures and social standards in the Stillness universe. The myth of orogeny covers both economic and political power in addition to justifying the ruling class’s exploitation of orogene abilities. I have gained a deeper understanding of the complexity present in systemic injustices by observing the relationship between myth, science, and power relations through my analysis of the trilogy.

Syenites’ story of responding to the prejudice and injustices demonstrated in the book is a complicated example of how diverse reactions are taken. First of all, the young orogene is depicted as someone trying to function within the institution of the Fulcrum.  Syenite demonstrates her determination despite these challenges by following her path and challenging the constraints of the Stillness society. Again, An example of Syenite’s strength is her ability to resist the oppressive narratives that were imposed upon her. She doesn’t agree with Fulcrum’s claim that these ideas and myths are the source of their control and weakness. The ability to use self-awareness allows her to get through the power struggles while maintaining her individuality and freedom as an individual with a range of experiences and skills. Her stories expose the harsh realities of oppression while also highlighting the resilience of marginalized individuals living within those constraints. Furthermore, the quote “It’s been a challenging forty thousand years”(Jemisin, The Stone Sky 2118 online), captures the larger picture of adversity and perseverance faced by both the Earth and individuals like Syenite. This quote represents Syenite’s path of overcoming adversity and fighting against an oppressive system while also thinking back on the challenges she and others have faced over the years. Like Syenite and the others challenge the oppressive myths that were imposed upon them, the society in the books maintains a past of exploitation demonstrating themes of resilience throughout all parts of the narrative.

The course epigraph we read at the beginning of the semester emphasizes how race-making functions such as political and strategic processes to uphold power and wealth differences through the disparities is resonates with the themes throughout the Broken Earth Trilogy.  This viewpoint also goes along with my changing or developing thoughts from the beginning to the end of the Trilogy.  The epigraph also touches on the aspects that are related to the Broken Earth Trilogy examination of how power dynamics, myth-making, and racialization of certain groups are all interlocked and branched off the bigger picture of control.  As I reread the course epigraph at the end of the semester I came to realize the importance and connection it had to the books we have read and the course as a whole.  

In conclusion, reading The Broken Earth Trilogy has changed teh way I think about the ideas that were covered in the books as well as the course. I now dont look at these issues as stand-alone thoughts but now as an essential component of the bigger picture of oppression and resilience.  This change of thinking highlights the depth of Jemisin’s writing and story and encourages the reader to dive deeper into how myth, science, and societal structures influence individuals and group experiences.

Citations

Jemisin, N. K. (2016). The fifth season. Orbit.

Jemisin, N. K. (2017). The stone sky. First Edition. New York, Orbit.

It is now nearing the end of the spring 2024 semester for my English 111 class. Compared to how I started in the beginning I developed a lot, especially my view of N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy. At first, I wasn’t excited to read the books, especially since there were 3 with lots of pages. It was also a genre of book I hadn’t read since I was a kid, so I was a bit wary of how the book would be once I had to start reading it. However, as I started to read the first book, The Fifth Season, I started to enjoy it a bit. This was able to help me write my first essay for this class, the Lithosphere essay. In my essay, I focused on how Jemisin uses racialization to create the setting and characters in her first book. 

However, I feel like this changed as I continued to read into the second and third books, where Jemisin started to focus on characters that weren’t as prevalent in the first book and when she started to focus on deeper issues like generational trauma within the characters. For example, Schaffa, who was Damaya also known as Syenite’s guardian. I would like to mention that Damaya, Syenite, and Essun are all the same person, the reason for the different names is due to the period of her life. Damaya is in early childhood, Syenite is in early adulthood, and Essun is in late adulthood. Back to Schaffa, he was seen as someone abusive and manipulative towards Damaya and Syenite in the first book. One instance was when he first met Damaya and broke her hand, but he also said he loved and cared for her. This will, later on, twist her view on what love is, affecting the way she raises her firstborn, Nassun. This can be seen in the second book, The Obelisk Gate, where we now get a point of view of Nassun’s story, a character that wasn’t seen or talked much about in The Fifth Season. Through her story in The Obelisk Gate, she tells us how her mom has broken her hand, similar to what Schaffa has done to her mom. Schaffa’s toxic love affected the way Nassun was raised by her mother, which created a sense of hatred inside Nassun toward her mother. I found this part interesting, since in our world, this would be called generational trauma, which is trauma that a previous generation experienced that gets passed down to the next, affecting the new generation psychologically with symptoms of anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, etc (American Psychological Association 2023). The way Jemisin incorporates generational trauma into her series started my love for this trilogy, especially since it adds realism and depth to her characters, which makes them more relatable. 

Another thing I like about Jemisin’s work is her word choice surrounding sensitive and emotional topics like love and sexual assault and how she showcases them in her book that fits into the storyline. For example, in my previous essay, I talked about Alabaster and Syenite’s physical connection, however, in the second and third books, we start to see more of an emotional connection, especially on Alabaster’s side. To give more context, in the book The Fifth Season, Alabaster can be seen as stubborn and honest, paired with Essun, and the two tend to misunderstand or yell at one another. In the first book, when the two were paired to go on a mission together and instructed to have sex with one another, this brought feelings of resentment and negative emotions (Lavallee 2022). This feeling of resentment is more seen with Syenite, where I mentioned in my lithosphere essay that when she’s done having sex with Alabaster she feels disgusted and “takes a shower, methodically scrubbing every bit of flesh she can reach until her skin burns,” (Jemisin 2015). This move by Jemisin in her first book was an eye-opener for me because it made me think about how in our world many victims of sexual assault end up feeling “dirty” within themselves and take multiple showers to feel clean (Loyola University Maryland n.d.). Jemisin’s careful word choice to show how the characters feel during certain moments in their life is once again a touch of realism that she does, to connect with the readers more. 

However, as we continue to read the trilogy the negative feelings the two shared have started to become more positive and romantic. In The Obelisk Gate, Essun quotes, “You hated him, loved him, missed him for years, made yourself forget him, found him again, loved him again, killed him. […] The loss of Alabaster is simply… a thinning of who you are,” (Jemisin 2016). Meanwhile in The Stone Sky, Alabaster writes in his diary, “Syen, I love you, I’m sorry, keep me safe, watch my back and I’ll watch yours, there’s no one else who’s as strong as you, I wish so much that you were here,” (Jemisin 2017). Jemisin’s words that she shows through her characters remind me to take care of and appreciate the important people in my life even if some are no longer present. 

Another part of the trilogy that shifted my thinking was the parental relationships Nassun shared with Jija, her father, and Essun, her mother. As I’m writing this essay, it made me re-read and reflect on the book. In The Obelisk Gate, we see more of Jija and Nassun and their relationship as they travel together. At the beginning of their relationship, we see that Nassun prefers her father over her mother since Jija doesn’t abuse or scold her like her mother. He was also a safe place for Nassun when she was younger, with him hugging and petting her hair/head. This got me thinking about how dads are usually stereotyped as the “fun parent”. Meanwhile, mothers are usually tasked with raising and disciplining their children, making them seem like the less “fun parent” (Grose 2020). This made me think about how I may have viewed my parents growing up and if those stereotypes were true in my household. 

Another example of a family dynamic in the book is the guardians and orogenes. In Jemisin’s blog titled “On Family”, she talks about the family the Fulcrum has created, and that the love created in this environment was conditional. Jemisin quotes, “Obey the Guardians, pass the tests, follow the rules, and receive love and respect as a reward. Disobey and receive broken bones, whippings, public humiliation, and potentially torture and lobotomization in a node chair,” (Jemisin 2015). Reading this blog post got me thinking more about the book and the types of love written, whether it was conditional, toxic, one-sided, etc. It also got me thinking about the family dynamic within Asian households. Though what’s said next isn’t true for every Asian family, it does hold true for some. In Asian culture, parents put immense pressure on their children to do well in school and have reputable careers like becoming doctors or lawyers. This can give off the message that the parents will only love or be proud of their children if they achieve something great, which shows conditional love, and if the child does not perform up to those standards there is little love (Huynh 2024). This once again got me thinking about my childhood growing up and the type of love I may have received from my parents. 

Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy series taught me tremendous growth, and reflections on my own life through her writing. From the beginning, her writing taught me a lot about race and society, but later on, it taught me more about character and personal growth. Thinking back on it, Jemisin’s writing also seemed very personal from her own experiences in life, which can be read from her blog posts. Since she’s also a woman of color her writing resonates with me, making her writing very personal. In conclusion, the meaningful words and real-world connections she makes in her book inspired me to think more about my life and the world I live in, which made me love and care more about this series than I originally thought. 

Bibliography

American Psychological Association. (2023). Apa Dictionary of Psychology. American Psychological Association. https://dictionary.apa.org/intergenerational-trauma

Grose, J. (2020, April 29). I don’t want to be a fun mom. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/29/parenting/fun-parent.html

Huynh, L. (2024, March 20). Dysfunctional Asian Family Dynamics: Asian therapist explains. San Jose Marriage Therapist & Counselor. https://liahuynh.com/dysfunctional-asian-family-dynamics-asian-therapist-explains/

Jemisin, N. K. (2015, October 30). On family. Epiphany 2.0. https://nkjemisin.com/2015/10/on-family/

LaVallee, Z. (2022, May 18). The reality of balance and Love in the broken earth trilogy. ImPossibilities. https://morrison.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2022/05/18/the-reality-of-balance-and-love-in-the-broken-earth-trilogy%EF%BF%BC/

Loyola University Maryland . (n.d.). Common reactions to sexual assault. Counseling Center | Loyola University Maryland. https://www.loyola.edu/department/counseling-center/services/students/concerns/sexual-assault/reactions.html#:~:text=In%20some%20instances%2C%20guilty%20feelings,referred%20to%20as%20survivor’s%20guilt.&text=Self%2Dimage%20frequently%20suffers%20as%20a%20result%20of%20the%20assault.

Ye, E. (2024, February 23). Lithosphere essay (the fifth season by N.K. Jemisin, Engl 111). ImPossibilities. https://morrison.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2024/02/23/lithosphere-essay-the-fifth-season-by-n-k-jemisin-engl-111/

My semester’s story in this class can be viewed through a lens that is offered in Robert Eglash, in African Fractals, that of infinity. Eglash offers two kinds of infinity in African Fractals. The first is one that defines infinity in the way European mathematicians before Georg Cantor defined infinity, as “a symbol that vaguely means ‘the number you would get if you counted for forever’” (Eglash, 8). This kind of infinity is something that starts but does not end, only continuously expands. The other kind of infinity is the one that you find in fractals, it is an infinity that “fits into a bounded space” (12). While these two definitions of infinity are not directly opposed, they are two separate ways of thinking about the concept. These ways of thinking are similar to James Snead’s conceptions of viewing repetition, of “accumulation and growth” and “circulation” (149). The readings and work for this class throughout this semester have begun to shift my thinking from a mindset of vague, linearly endless, infinity, that, as Snead would say, accumulates and grows, to a mindset more inline with the idea of inward endlessness and a capacity for infinity inside something with a set beginning and end, an infinity of “circulation” and recurrence. This shift is evident in my work this semester.

In the beginning of this semester, I wrote my seed shape essay on the idea of repetition. This idea drew on James Snead’s essay, “On Repetition in Black Culture,” in which he argues that the world is “not inexhaustible in its manifold combinations” (146). In arguing this, Snead establishes that the world requires repetition. As mentioned, he goes on to argue that repetition can be viewed through a lens of “accumulation and growth” or as “circulation” (149). In my essay, I argued that repetition viewed as “circulation” can be used as a seed shape for understanding literature. While this argument is one that I still find to be true, the way that I make this argument fails to use the lens in which I am arguing for. Instead, I use the first lens of “accumulation and growth,”a lens of linear infinity, to analyze the literature I was discussing. 

I argue in my seed shape essay that Harriet Jacobs’ book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, can be better understood by viewing it without the anticipation of “accumulation and growth”; however, I do so with an expectation that Jacobs will fulfill my narrative expectations of end goals and solutions to problems. I write that Jacobs’ book does not fit the dramatic structure of “Exposition, Rising action, Climax, Falling action, Denouement,” commonly known as freytag’s pyramid (Turner), that tends to fit into the mindset of “accumulation and growth.” Instead, I write, “the disorder that Jacobs’ experiences does not exactly rise but rather exists in constant and differing threats she experiences…Each solution in Jacobs’ story has another problem.” (Magnus). While my analysis of Jacobs points out its lack of conformity to the form of freytag’s pyramid, it also conforms to a linear sense of problems and solutions. By stating that the solutions in Jacobs’ narrative all contain more problems I suggest a sense of accumulative infinity. 

As I continued in this class I kept some of this sense of accumulative infinity, though I also began to shift my mindset to something more similar to inward or circulatory infinity. The first piece of evidence for this can be found in the sections I worked on for the Collaboration Exercise. In analyzing Kwame Alexander’s poem “life,” I argued that Alexander leaves a space for the audience to respond at the end of his poem. I write that the abrupt end of his poem “may just imply that the house was destroyed, [but] it also allows room for a double meaning that implicates the reader. By stopping the poem before the house is potentially destroyed, Alexander gives room for the reader to intervene in the conversation” (“Sustainability Through…”). My analysis of this poem, while not mentioning any kind of infinity, does explore the possibility for infinite answers contained in something finite. In acknowledging a “double meaning” in the poem, I acknowledge the ability for multiple possibilities to exist at the same time, which contains a form of infinity. 

The idea of multiple possibilities existing at the same time is also something explored in the first/second mini collaboration. The entire focus of this mini collaboration was to explore the many possible answers to whether or not Ishmael Kidder’s art/Art is restrained in Percivall Everett’s book, The Water Cure. I mostly worked on establishing whether Ishmael Kidder’s art of writing under the name of Estelle Gilliam is restrained or unrestrained, and I eventually landed on unrestrained. However, doing so required acknowledging the infinite possibilities for what Ishmael Kidder’s art was and what it meant for it to be restrained. 

As we finished The Water Cure, I began to notice its other capacities for inward infinity. This form infinity is one that is present within The Water Cure on both the level of content and structure. On the level of content, Everett explores multiple ideas which grapple with this capacity for infinite ideas in one confined space. One of these ideas is that of Schrodinger’s cat, which is heavily alluded to throughout the book. A significant place where it is indirectly referenced is when Ishmael Kidder’s daughter Lane tapes a beetle in a box and says that it must never be opened (91). Kidder states that “without telling us what the beetle meant to her, we were left with the knowledge, clear as anything in the world, that the beetle did mean something, and something different to each of us” (91). In this statement, the possibility for inward infinity can be found in many places. There is the infinity in the possibility of what the beetle means to each of them. There is also infinity in the idea that not only does the beetle mean something different to Kidder, his wife, and his daughter, but also to the reader or anyone in the world. There are an infinite number of possible meanings as well as an infinite number of people making those meanings. Yet all of these meanings are contained within the box. 

On the level of structure, Everetts novel as a whole also offers an example of inward infinity. Everetts novel obviously has a clear beginning and end, yet it contains infinite possibilities. These possibilities are evident in the lack of clarity the book offers towards whether or not anything that is stated in the book has really happened. An example of this lack of clarity is in a scene in which Kidder describes driving with a man in his trunk and getting pulled over. Not only does Kidder openly admit that he is not sure that the man in his trunk is his daughter’s attacker, but it is also almost certain that the conversation never really happened (55). The way the officer and Kidder speak to each other, and the fact that the police officer lets him go, are unrealistic, making it unlikely that the conversation took place. However, at the same time, given to overt criticism of American corruption throughout the book, there is room to also believe that this conversation truly did happen. This scene alone raises doubts for the reliability of Kidder to tell the truth to the reader. In this unreliability is the possibility for infinite interpretations and understanding of Everetts book. While almost all books contain room for interpretation, The Water Cure is different in that all of these interpretations are internal to and supported by the book. 

Throughout the course my thinking about course texts has begun to change towards a mindset that focuses on internal and circulatory infinity rather than cumulative infinity. In the beginning I knew of the need to think without expectations of “accumulation and growth” yet had difficulty exercising. Throughout this class, and especially through reading The Water Cure, my perception of infinity has changed to see the ways that infinity can be internal, not merely external. A seed shape, through the lens of linearity, is finite. It is only in examining what is between its beginnings and ends that its infinite possibilities unfold. The Water Cure illustrates this. It takes a human being, which begins and ends finitely, and unfolds what is in between, the capacity for infinite questions and answers. 

Works Cited:

Eglash, Ron. African Fractals: Modern Computing and Indigenous Design. Rutgers University Press, 2005. 

Everett, Percival. The Water Cure. Graywolf Press, 2007. 

Turner, Kitty. “Freytag’s Pyramid: Definitions and Examples of Dramatic Structure.” Scribophile, Scribophile, 28 June 2023, www.scribophile.com/academy/what-is-freytags-pyramid. 

Emily Rechlin : English 111

Throughout my time taking English 111 here at Suny Geneseo, I have grown as a writer and student, while also deepening my understanding of the course material. At the beginning of the semester, Professor McCoy introduced a trilogy, known as “The Broken Earth” which gave me insight into societal dynamics. Additionally, my peers and I delved into the complex relationships between myth, science, the process of racialization, gender-making, and class distinctions. Exploring these hierarchies and groups allowed me to deepen my understanding on the process of racialization which plays a large role in reinforcing these systems of power, oppression and identity. While reading Jemisin’s first book in the trilogy, “The Fifth Season”, my understanding of these concepts developed greatly, as in my Lithosphere essay, I was still attempting to understand Jemisin’s narrative and thinking when writing these novels. This narrative changed my way of thinking and view of these concepts, as I was challenged to deepen my understanding and change my preconceived notions, ultimately prompting a deeper exploration of racialization and power dynamics within fictional realms, which in turn shed light on real world problems that are occurring within society. 

 In “The Broken Earth” trilogy, and discussed in my Lithosphere essay, Jemisin portrays certain communities, in this case the Orogenes, as marginalized due to society’s misunderstanding of their unique traits that give them certain powers that others do not have. Because of these traits, the Orogene community are stigmatized against, much like marginalized communities in our own society, due to race, color, ethnicity, or in this case, their ability to manipulate seismic energy. Terms used in the trilogy such as “rogga”, are used to discriminate and be derogatory towards the Orogene community, once again mirroring the real world where marginalized communities are consistently discriminated against and given labels based on differences that society perceives as unconventional.  “To be safe, the Fulcrum will treat any children born to any rogga as potential roggas themselves, until proven otherwise… But once they’ve proven it, after that, they’ll be… people” (page 111, online). Because the Orogene community has certain abilities that they were born with, they are treated disrespectfully, mirroring real world scenarios. As I continued to progress through the series, my perspectives on racialization and power dynamics evolved alongside the narrative that continued to unfold. Characters such as Essun and Syenite allowed me to understand the complexities of intersectional identities and systematic inequalities more deeply. Throughout the series, these characters show a great deal of resilience, perseverance and overcoming of obstacles that they face, which allowed me to question my thinking and become aware of how identities can be shaped, as well as how social hierarchies operate. 

At the beginning of the semester, my understanding of social dynamics was characterized by what I have personally experienced and been taught. I have always been interested in topics such as oppression, power dynamics and racialization. The academic environment I have been surrounded by has always encouraged me to delve deeper into different perspectives of these topics, and in specific, focus on underlying structural forces that shape societal outcomes. I have always believed that societal structures are not inherently fair, however I did not fully acknowledge and grasp the complexities of this topic. Prior to reading the trilogy, I was comfortable with the amount of knowledge I had on these topics. However “The Broken Earth” trilogy has pushed me to diversify my perspectives and delve deeper.  

Because the Lithosphere essay I wrote during the beginning of the semester in this class was only based on the first book in this trilogy, as I continued to read through the second and third, Essun, a central character in N.K. Jemisin’s trilogy became a character that is considerably more intricate. This allowed me to explore further into Jemisin’s themes of the books. In the “Fifth Season”, Essun is grieving the loss of her son, who was murdered by his father due to his seismic abilities. This creates fire in Essun to find her daughter who has been taken and seek vengeance against her husband. Just like her mother, Nassun also possesses seismic abilities. We see the adventure Essun takes in the “Obelisk Gate”, and discover a caring and passionate side to her personality, ultimately helping and training Orogenes to use their powers and not be ashamed of them. 

 Jemisin does a great job of showing instances in which groups come together to face this adversity and confront the systemic injustices that had shaped their lives. An example being when Essun gathered the group of Orogenes at the fulcrum, and encouraged them to recognize how powerful they could be together and demand change. By doing this, Essun showed great perseverance and reminded me of resilience that was talked about in “The Fifth Season”, as well as discussed with my group members in our collaborative exercise. The novel notes “…what is important is that you know it was not all terrible. There was peace in long stretches, between each crisis. A chance to cool and solidify before the grind resumes.” (page 263, online). Although the Orogenes have been exploited and controlled due to their seismic abilities, Essun does an amazing job in emphasizing that though they may be unique, the Orogenes deserve freedom and rights just like anyone else. By exposing the Fulcrum and rallying the Orogenes together, Essun changed my point of view on these topics. Witnessing Essun rallying these Orogenes to promote change and awareness for their community was extremely empowering and showed how her journey from being a victim and facing tragedy to becoming someone that the Orogene community looks up to was inspiring. By using both individual agency and collective empowerment, Essun was an inspiration teaching valuable lessons on how to go about issues and allowed for me to reflect on the ways that I can impact society and create change where it is needed. Advocating for what you believe in is a great way to contribute to positive social transformation. I believe that my mindset shifting from the beginning of the semester only allowed me to deepen my understanding of what I was reading in the trilogy. 

As I reflect on the journey through N.K. Jemisin’s “The Broken Earth” trilogy, the exploration of themes such as identity, power and resistance prompted me to shift from passive acceptance to one of active engagement in order to advocate for justice and equality. Challenging the oppressive systems that have been in place is an essential first step in striving for a more compassionate and just society. 

The multitude of stories contained within my experience with this semester can hardly be reduced to the scope of a singular blog post. From the conceptual seed shapes planted at the beginning of the semester to their seemingly endless strings of iterations and reiterations, the full sprawl of insight I have gained throughout my time in this course can be overwhelming to mentally parse. Taking stock of all I have learned, it makes me wonder how much a survey course such as this one can truly give an accurate and complete picture of the literary tradition which it covers. I had never even heard of the majority of the authors and works we discussed and was largely unfamiliar with many of the core concepts, which seems to me now to be a failure of my education up to this point, but I recognize that these can still only portray one slice of the entire body of African American literature.

Unsure of where to take this strand of thought, I turned to the initial groundwork upon which we built our studies in this course. We started the semester by examining Ron Eglash’s African Fractals, which gives a mathematical overview of the principles of fractal geometry that lay at the core of traditional African design. Eglash goes over a few central mathematical concepts evident in various areas of African design, and connects them to the cultural ties related to these concepts: most significantly, the fractal principles of recursion, numeric systems, scaling, complexity, and infinity. The one of these that I feel is most pertinent to my experience with this  course is scaling, for a variety of reasons that I hope to make clear. 

Eglash identifies scaling geometry quite broadly as “mathematical practices in thinking about similarity at different sizes” (71). It may also be described as “irregular geometric structures whose shape seems to be self-similar regardless of the level of magnification at which it is viewed” (Fractal-Scaling Properties as Aesthetic Primitives in Vision and Touch | Global Philosophy). In my understanding of the term, I take scaling to mean the process of applying identical ideas at varying magnitudes, sometimes to a dramatic extent. Scaling in the mathematical sense has many practical applications, as shown by Eglash in the “cost-benefit analysis” of African wind-screens using scaling techniques (73), but the more abstract concept of scaling can be seen represented in storytelling models, and will serve as a framework for my own analysis of my time in this course. 

For example, scaling is used as a primary thematic mode in Percival Everett’s The Water Cure. Graywolf Press, the novel’s publisher, describes the story as confronting “the dark legacy of the Bush years and the state of America today,” yet the narration almost never engages directly with the former president or his administration. Rather than undertake a face-value indictment of the Bush administration’s response to the September 11 terrorist attacks, Everett scales down the atrocities to a conflict between a few individuals, rather than between entire nations of people. In place of the terrorist attacks, Everett substitutes the brutal assault and murder of the narrator’s daughter, and the subsequent kidnapping and torturing of a man, who may or may not be the assailant, by the narrator. The narrator, identifying himself as Ishmael Kidder, enacts a sort of vigilante justice as retribution for his daughter’s unthinkable fate with little concern for whether or not his captive was the actual perpetrator of the violence. This clearly maps onto the much larger-scale vigilante attitude adopted by the United States government, which saw the deployment of troops and terrorization of masses of people overseas who were uninvolved in the attacks. The parallel is seen perhaps most clearly in the title of the book, referencing a torture tactic used by Kidder against his captive and by members of the United States military in places such as the infamous Abu Graib. 

Just as fractal scaling has cost-benefit advantages in African design, Everett’s use of thematic scaling delivers an especially strong impact. The central purpose of scaling is to adjust a design to the conditions of what is required of it, as in how the repeating spiral structure of some animals’ horns is scaled outward to fit the animal’s growing head. The aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks is a period in the nation’s history that feels almost impossible to grapple with, due to the unfathomable scale of the destruction surrounding it. No matter how information on the subject is conveyed, it seems that plain discussion of it can never get us close to coming to terms with it in meaningful ways. Scaling the situation down to interpersonal violence is much more suited for gaining a deeper understanding of the moral and ethical questions surrounding it, doing two main things: first, by revealing how ridiculous the country’s response to the attacks looks in hindsight, taking the grief over one atrocity out on those possibly not even involved in it with a more prolonged campaign of violence; and second, by making room for more understanding of what the those in power to that decision, highlighting the broad range of human emotions that can be heightened in the wake of horrendously inhuman acts. Everett’s microcosm of what would end up being decades of conflict between nations serves to bring the real-world events closer to the hearts of readers than regular descriptions tend to. The scaled-down portrayal takes its scaled-down form to adjust to how most readers experience the world surrounded by such massively scaled violence. 

Even if it is not conscious, people engage in scaling practices all the time to simplify their understanding of the world, and this can have more negative consequences than the mathematical and literary implications of scaling. As I have reexamined my time in this course, I have identified some scaling of my own that I have unconsciously exercised. Given that this course has essentially been a survey course in a literary tradition that I had previously had relatively little exposure to, I am acutely aware of a pitfall of scaling out a few pieces of literature as being wholly representative of an entire body of literature. Black art has a history of being systematically pushed to the margins of academia and of dominant American culture, and I want to play an active role in dismantling my own ingrained notions of black literature by seeking out more of it. However, amidst the noise of everything that the human brain must take in day by day, I believe there is a tendency to try to make it easier to understand the work by substituting large groups of subjects with mentally constructed overarching scalings of individual subjects. It would then be possible to take the experiences I have had in this course and the analysis of the works we have read and treat it as having fully immersed myself in the world of African American literature, and that the work of deconstructing my personal biases is already done. This is a substitution that I need to be wary of, as I know that my journey in educating myself is still towards its beginning, and that the ways of thinking that we practiced in this course must be habitually continued as an ongoing process.

Beyond my basic awareness of this concept, several of the pieces of writing we read and their surrounding context clearly displayed the consequences of this kind of substitutive scaling. For most of the history of the United States, the hegemonic cultural focus has been inundated with works created by and for white people. This partially arises from and feeds back into the systems of white supremacy that the country operates under, which only functions with the construction of dually whiteness and non-whiteness, where whiteness is viewed as the normal condition and non-whiteness is a deviation from the normal. Therefore, members of the “in-group” may often use things that they see from the “out-group” to make generalizations about them. Black American artists have thus been forced to create their work under the watchful eye of American whiteness, feeling the pressure of their individual works having the potential to be scaled out as representative of all black art for some audiences. 

This is seen in the “Fugitive Slave Narrative” genre, where writers were pressured by white abolitionists to abandon the artistry of their storytelling and just focus on the plain facts of their enslavement, as their experiences would be taken by white readers as a picture of the whole of slavery, since reading these narratives was simpler than directly engaging with the reality of slavery.

Another example of this could be seen in our discussions surrounding Angles of Ascent, an anthology of modern African American poetry. Like all anthologies, it includes only what the publishers and editors feel should be included, giving the publisher a difficult task of deciding which poems and poets should act as the representatives of black poetry. This can cause conflict when there are differing views on what this material should be, as evidenced by the public disagreement between Amiri Baraka and anthology editor Charles Henry Rowell (A Post-Racial Anthology? by Amiri Baraka | Poetry Magazine). Such issues become more prominent because black creators are placed under more scrutiny and have their lives, works, and public interactions scaled to a magnitude different from their white counterparts.

Recognizing similar unconscious scalings and substitutions in my mind has been and will continue to be a central part of my work with this course. I have begun to notice times when I scale certain things down to a more digestible frame of reference to make myself feel more comfortable with things that are difficult to grapple with. Especially when confronting historic and current injustices against people of color worldwide, it can be tempting to avoid direct engagement as it is, but this only perpetuates and upholds such injustices. Scaling can be helpful in gaining a clearer understanding of moral ambiguities at a human level, but it also runs the risk of downplaying the gravity of a given situation. If I were to imagine the gruesome killing of a loved one, and imagine a scenario in which I respond by killing dozens of people uninvolved with the initial violence, this would not give an accurate picture of the all-too-real implications of when such conflicts play out on a scale of thousands. It is a long process to learn to see uncomfortable truths as they are, but I at least feel that this course has provided a strong groundwork for the process.

Reader’s thinking continues to change as they read through each book of a trilogy. The first book, The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin gives readers the beginnings of this dystopian world. The first books in trilogies always make readers want more in order to get the full story, this also changes their thinking. When I wrote my Lithosphere Essay, I had only read the first book of the Fifth Season trilogy. During this, I had many unanswered questions that I knew I would find out as I read through the rest of the trilogy. Since the Lithosphere Essay was based on racialization in The Fifth Season, I wondered why orogenes were treated with disrespect and where this stigma came from. This also made me think that the author possibly wrote racialization into the book in order to bring awareness of problems that happen in the real world. As I continued through the books, I soon realized that things were much darker than I could have ever expected. 

Since the Lithosphere Essay focused on the racialization of orogenes, it made me wonder why they were treated with discrimination. In the first book, there were numerous examples of orogenes being racialized which I constantly thought was unfair. Since orogenes showed their powers and what they are capable of, I also thought that they might have used their powers in the past to harm others. As I read the last book of the trilogy, The Stone Sky, my thoughts changed once I learned the real reason behind their stigma, “How did it begin? You must understand that fear is at the root of such things. Niespeople looked different, behaved differently, were different – but every group is different from others. Differences alone are never enough to cause problems. Syl Anagist’s assimilation of the world had been over for a century before I was ever made; all cities were Syl Anagist.” (Page 210). Orogenes are the descendants of the Niespeople, who were the first to hold their supernatural powers. Syl Anagist was the main civilization that had people without these powers. Since there was a difference between these two groups of people, the Sylanagistines were afraid of the power the Niespeople held. This is what started the fear that continues in the world of the first book, The Fifth Season. After learning that orogenes stigma came from fear, my thinking was completely changed. Orogenes did not use their power to harm people in an evil way, Sylanagistines were only afraid of what they could do. The Sylanagistines believed in bad faith towards the Niespeople, they did not trust that the Niespeople could use their power for good. This fear started the discrimination that will continue to rot this dystopian world.

The main topic of the Lithosphere Essay was racialization which made me wonder if N.K. Jemisin wanted to show readers how discrimination affects people. I thought since Jemisin is a black woman, she wanted to show readers that haven’t experienced racism the unfairness. As I read through The Stone Sky, there was an example that supported my thinking, “The Sylanagistines took their land. The Niess fought, but then responded like any living thing under threat – with diaspora, sending whatever was left of themselves flying forth to take root and perhaps survive where it could.” (Page 209). When the Sylanagistines tried to take over the Niespeople’s land, their powers were shown which is where their fear came from. The problem was that the Sylanagistines wanted to take their land in order to expand their civilization. In addition, this quote proves that the orogenes ancestors did not use their powers for no reason. The Niespeople were trying to protect themselves but were more powerful than the Sylanagistines. Anyone would have used what they had to protect their land and their people but the Niess were cursed with an extraordinary power. This history kept my thinking the same since it reminded me of indigenous people. Indigenous people were also taken from their land and then were forced to forget their language and culture. Their kind was soon forgotten which is what happened to the Niespeople because their colonizers tried to erase them from history. Another example from The Stone Sky that showed a similarity to indigenous people is, “They maintained some of their old ways, too – like splitting their tongues with salt acid, for reasons known only to them. And while they lost much of their distinctive look that came of isolation within their small land, many retained enough of it that to this day, ice white eyes and ashblow hair carry a certain stigma.” (Page 209). The Niespeople possessed certain traits that the citizens of Syl Anagist did not obtain. This made the Niespeople look different from others which caused them to face discrimination for not looking like the rest of civilization. The Sylanagistines wanted the Niespeople to be like everyone else although they tried to keep their culture, but soon the readers learned that it was all erased from history. 

Since the Lithosphere Essay was based on what we learned in The Fifth Season, the readers did not know the true horrors against the orogenes ancestors. The readers got a taste of the horrors when we learned about the nodes. I believed that the orogenes must have done something wrong in the past but it turned out to be the Sylanagistines that were evil. An example of this which changed my thinking was, “They are still alive, I know at once. Though the sprawl motionless amid the thicket of vines (lying atop the vines, twisted among them, wrapped up in them, speared by them where the vines grow through flesh), it is impossible not to sess the delicate threads of silver darting between the cells of this one’s hand, or dancing along the hairs of that one’s back. Some of them we can see breathing, though the motion is so very slow.” (Page 262). The Sylanagistines used the Niess to power their civilization with their magic forcefully. The vines that contained the power were the bodies of the Niespeople and in order to take their magic, they needed to be alive. This is discovered by Hoa and made him want to take revenge since he was created to be similar to the Niess. This evil and tortious act is what caused the moon to be sent out of orbit and started the seasons. Learning this changed my thinking entirely since I believed an evil act was done by the orogenes ancestors. The people of the current world in this book also believed that the orogenes committed evil acts since that’s what their history told them. I never expected to learn something extremely horrific but it now makes sense of how the nodes were described in the first book. This act was done for the selfish reason to power the Syl Anagist’s city which they believed was for good reasons. 

The reader’s thinking is constantly being changed when new information is revealed in each book of a trilogy. The first book, The Fifth Season, gave readers like myself things to think about when first learning about this dystopian world. When readers think while reading, it makes them want to read more to understand the full story. When a reader’s thinking changes, it matters since they are learning the answers to the questions they created. N.K. Jemisin continued to explain the mysteries as readers went through each book of the trilogy. 

Throughout this course, my thinking has shifted in different ways. Coming into this course, I was not sure what to expect. I originally thought it was going to be like any other English course, doing regular reading and writing. When we wrote the “Lithosphere Essay”, I thought we would be focusing more on the trilogy and the issues that emerged throughout reading each book. As we progressed through the course, I realized that it was more about our personal development and understanding not only what we think, but also understanding why we think the way we do. Reading through The Broken Earth Trilogy not only made it easier for me to grasp issues like racialization and problems in social structures that people experience every day, but it also allowed me to put myself in the shoes of some of the characters from the book and almost be able to share the emotions of what they were feeling. This course has also enabled me to achieve a deeper understanding of how every individual thinks differently in their own way about whatever the topic or issue may be.

Reading the first book of the trilogy, The Fifth Season, I was exposed to the “use-caste” system as it is referred to in the Stillness. The Stillness is a supercontinent much like what we assume Pangea to be like. The population living on the Stillness keeps their order within this hierarchical caste system where a part of the population; individuals called Orogenes are at the very bottom. Although Orogenes are the most powerful group of individuals on the Stillness; having the ability to control seismic energy and cause catastrophic seismic events all around the world, they have the least amount of freedom, being treated as non-human. From birth, Orogenes are mistreated, being physically and emotionally abused, even by their own families. Several characters in this trilogy experience life-changing events that cause deep personal changes in ways that change how they think and act toward others and even themselves. Most of these events stem from the racialization and manipulation of these Orogenes to use their powers in bad faith. One character in particular named Essun; who is also one of the main characters of this trilogy, experiences several life-altering events. At a very young age, her parents discover she is an Orogene. This causes them to banish her from the family, making her live in a barn isolated from everyone until she is assigned a Guardian named Shaffa and taken away. In the first book, Shaffa says to Essun (who is named Damaya at the time) ” sometimes…the parents of an orogene will try to hide the child. To keep her, untrained and without a Guardian. That always goes badly.” (The Fifth Season, Chapter 2). This quote gives a great example of how Orogenes and non-Orogenes were manipulated into believing that Orogenes have a power that is not safe to the rest of the world and needs to be restricted and controlled by others to keep everyone else safe. This part of the book made me think about how certain groups of individuals experience similar oppression in the real world, where things like social media and news can manipulate people into believing something that isn’t true, causing things like stereotypes and polarization that create a label for certain groups causing issues similar to what takes place throughout the trilogy. Furthermore, one thing I think that has changed about my thinking is that in the book, I understand now that this may have been originally done in good faith to protect the population and the land from a fifth season, but it was taken to extreme levels and not executed properly, creating a stereotype of Orogenes as being dangerous, causing other individuals not to trust or accept them as humans; putting them at the very bottom of their hierarchical social structure, which can be related to events that have happened to oppressed groups throughout history. In the second book of the trilogy, The Obelisk Gate, Nassun who is the daughter of Essun is taken by her father after he kills his son Uche when he discovers that is he an Orogene. While traveling through the Antarctics, Nassums father says to her “They can cure you Nassun. That’s what the stories say.” (The Obelisk Gate, Chapter 7). I believe that this quote shows how everyone including Orogenes like Nassun has been manipulated so much into believing that there is something wrong with them and that they are not able to be normal unless they are “cured”. This quote shows how oppression and racialization can have a massive impact on different groups of people where they truly believe that they are different from what is “normal”. This causes several issues that we experience in the real world where individuals can be once again manipulated into believing things about themselves and others that are not always true.

A character that I can relate to my personal growth and how my thinking has changed is Essun. She went through several different challenges in the trilogy, from being banished from her family and home at a very young age to having her son murdered by her husband. These hard times and challenges are what ultimately shaped her into the individual she was at the end of the trilogy, being more grounded and patient, compared to how she was at the beginning of the trilogy; being fiery and wanting to get things done without caring as much for the repercussions of her actions. I can relate this to my personal experiences. At the beginning of this semester, I was expecting to be able to stay focused on what I needed to do to complete all of my classes and improve on how well I did in the previous semester. I soon realized that it wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought it would be, taking classes that were more challenging than I expected. It took me a little time before I understood that I needed to change my approach to get the results that I intended. Just as Essun was faced with hard and seemingly impossible challenges when she was young, I feel as if the beginning of this semester was similar for me. I did not expect my workload to be as intense as it was and I became very stressed, while also experiencing personal issues on top of having a difficult semester. At first, I felt almost hopeless and that nothing that could help me. Throughout this course, I began to notice that I just needed to focus on what was the task at hand and not manipulate myself into thinking that I wouldn’t be able to do what I needed to. Nearing the end of this semester, I feel that even though I still have a heavy workload, I have been able to stay patient and manage my time much better, allowing myself to do better in all my courses.

This course has helped my personal development, giving me a deeper understanding of all things around me. Once I realized that we were developing ourselves in class and not just reading books, writing, and doing assignments on them, I realized the importance of our thinking and how much of a role it plays in our daily lives, and how it can also have an impact on others around us.

Work Cited

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1od_oEtoq2TRPiGlFduDLLKOAtSfYKcB4QyduwdXqvuY/edit

“The Fifth Season” by N.K. Jemisin

“The Obelisk Gate” by N.K. Jemisin“The Stone Sky” by N.K. Jemisin

At the start of the Broken Earth trilogy, it was easy to see the relevance between the story, and its progression, and the concept of racialization that we were informed by. As I began to move through the content and text further and further, I found myself often returning to Geraldine Heng’s statement in The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages on the theory of and processes in a racialized world. Heng’s words influenced my opening analysis of The Fifth Season while it reassured a viewpoint I developed in past critical writing courses on race, as suggested it has stayed important in every aspect of our living. Race has been and is one of the constructs that demonstrates the “tendency” we have shown to sort through people other than ourselves, then including ourselves, so that those who present “differently” become the “other” (Heng 27). Namely, I discussed in my essay, “Bad Faith in a Racialized World,” the system or systems of essentialism we as a people take part in, “whether innocently or not,” to say that no one is exempt from involvement in it. Since every one of us has some place in the process, we should be urged to look at how it affects our consideration of anyone and everyone. When we declare that a selected quality of a person accounts for a person’s humanity, we make an unsound and incomplete judgment of who they truly are. Here, we note the danger found in the essentialist’s definition of race insisting it is a content or quality, either present or lacking, which then was intended to articulate difference as a reason for differing power positions (Heng 27). I engaged a great deal with this idea in my essay to unravel the social script and structure of Jemisin’s world as I was introduced to it. Before her, I thought of racialization as a strategic process that resulted in mostly socioeconomic and political consequences for select groups of people despite its lack of grounding in any reality. Completely immersed in her world, I’ve seen how bad faith may extend its influence on relationships intensely. 

In conversation with Dr. McCoy’s other ENGL 337: African American Literature course as we’ve come back to the April 12th class notes for its question of, “what is the proper response to atrocity?,” I see that a right way to respond or deal with atrocity and its effects does not exist. Such a convoluted question pushed me to wonder whether a correct response could exist in a world that produces varying degrees of social and interpersonal atrocity according to “qualities” such as race. Then I traced my thoughts back to our second week in this trilogy informed course as we discussed earthquakes and volcanic events including the “Ashfall Preparedness Guidelines” that suggest there are some proper precautions at least if not reactions to destruction. In the provided chapter by Nur and Burgess, “How Earthquakes Happen,” Professor Ralph Solecki of Columbia University who excavated the Shanidar Cave in Northern Iraq wrote in an excerpt of his book on his findings, “And then I suddenly realized the unusual nature of the disturbance” (Nur and Burgess, 36). I include this statement as the chapter began to acknowledge how natural events had coexisted with humans since the beginning, however there came a point when humans realized and turned toward the importance of understanding earthquakes specifically compared to the information they had on them from antiquity. The authors claim, “had we not known that an earthquake killed these people, our entire view of their society might be skewed” (Nur and Burgess 39). All of this sounds familiar in retrospect after having read Jemisin and her consistent inclusion of community and love in the face of destruction on the Stillness, the character’s home that despite its name is always unpredictably changing. Through the novels to their endings and these concerns I’ve slowly arrived at, I see the need in a racialized world for understanding. 

Reading Jemisin’s work, we were introduced to the concept of orogeny as a handful of changes that affect the seismic changes deep below the land. Orogenes, those who can instinctively control these movements, are turned to for survival of the harshly changing seasons as they can access and work with the energy of the Earth. Though orogenes hold a valuable and precious ability to manage the events, they experience a loss of “attributed power,” as I stated before. The characters present a quality that the cultures of the Stillness deem as selectively important or as Heng would say, essential to understanding them as human beings. Rather, in a world that often seems to be falling apart based on sudden conflicts, the orogenes are used as a means to an end. 

In time, it becomes more and more pressing how the characters interact with their orogeny and that of others, which corresponds to states of instability and balance alternating. Informed by their pasts, but notably the development and attitude toward those skills, Essun’s loss of Conundrum represents larger ethical questions and later on her relationship with Nassun gives us broader context. A lasting thread found in these examples appears to be how families are affected by racialization as it provokes vulnerability and emotional investment. Every character in the trilogy has their own reality that brings light to their motives and the actions they take. For us to understand why the characters act and feel as they do—just as we do people—we cannot isolate anyone from their socialized experiences for the two are intimately connected.

Understanding the protagonist herself, who undergoes three phases of identity, we see in all of those how one may act when in a most vulnerable state. For the orogenes, even with their energetic powers, they were left in positions where they were unsafe or dealt with in bad faith. Early on, we see the spontaneous destruction that came from Syenite’s erratic feelings. Such destruction, however, cannot be understood if not for the structure that evokes emotion. Prior to our knowledge that Syenite is Essun, we see how Syenite sacrifices her own child Conundrum by smothering him so that he could not be taken to the Fulcrum and Essun mourns over this immense loss. In this way, Jemisin seems to rewrite Toni Morrison’s Beloved, whose protagonist Sethe escaped slavery on a plantation called Sweet Home until slave catchers are about to capture Sethe and her three children, one of which is her daughter Beloved who dies at her mother’s hand as her mother. Sethe has been analyzed in a contemporary reading of the novel in all of her complexity that must be understood in the context of the atrocities of slavery that only Sethe had endured. Sethe truly believed if she hadn’t killed her daughter she would have died and Sethe wouldn’t be able to bear that death in terms of her body through the inhuman abuse, but also the spiritual hopelessness to happen to her (Morrison 236). As for how justice falls into the hands of a mother when in front of violence and harm expected in a child’s future, Syenite resonates with Sethe’s decision and Beloved’s fate for her son. In The Fifth Season, she’s desperate to save him from being taken from the guardians knowing what he’d endure in the future, Syenite uses the obelisk to destroy Meov after she realizes her rare ability to connect with obelisks. There’s a moment just before Corundum dies between his parents Syenite and Alabaster, who were purposefully paired by the Fulcrum to have the child for greater influence, where Alabaster asks for a deeper trust for the future of their child, “‘Promise me you won’t let them take Coru. No matter what’” and repeated soon after, “‘Promise, you know what they’ll do to him, Syen. A child that strong, my child, raised outside the Fulcrum? You know’” (Jemisin 320-321). Love begs for understanding among people as well as intuitive decisions for what “could be the proper way to respond” to frequent and unstoppable disasters that give someone or yourself the best chance. At the start of the novel, we see Essun as a mother of Nassun and Uche with their father Jija who killed Uche, however it is only after the first book that we acknowledge her grief over the murder of both her sons as well as the distance from Nassun as Jija takes her with him as he fled. Essun is told by the beginning in a vulnerable state alone, “The world has already ended within her, and neither ending is for the first time…What she thinks then, and thereafter, is: But he was free. And it is her bitter, weary self that answers this almost-question every time her bewildered, shocked self manages to produce it: He wasn’t. Not really. But now he will be” (Jemisin 7). Then Essun narrates to preface us by saying in order for us to understand, we must listen to the context, which I’ve become more aware of through Jemisin as there is such a thing as good faith actions within a system that practices bad faith repeatedly. In connection with good faith and honest vulnerability here comes later in an interaction between Essun and Lerna, a doctor of Tirimo, Essun’s hometown, who takes care of Essun after her son’s death. Lerna is there for Essun, showing her a compassion that she hadn’t felt before, which gave her reason to accept she needed someone else’s presence if not for family or death just once. We’re revealed to a universal human condition, which is what we all ask of one another and what we all live for, “maybe with human arms around you and a human voice murmuring, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Essun,” in your ear, maybe you can feel like that. Maybe you are human, just for a little while” (Jemisin 250). A recognition of another that doesn’t dismiss the depth of their feeling, but rather embraces it forgivingly and with more love. 

The significance of understanding, particularly that of a family and mother’s love, persists with Essun’s bond with Nassun as for considering the agency, or lack thereof, Essun has to protect her daughter. In The Stone Sky Essun drops everything to find her final hope of a child of hers living, though as readers we know that each of her names adds a broader meaning to the phases of her disrupted families she’s once had that left her at a loss. In light of her damaging history that told Essun what motherhood is—a constant sacrifice of the present in hopes of a better future for one’s child, “but that’s no different from what mothers have had to do since the dawn of time…You’ll see to it” (Jemisin 390). When Essun sees her daughter is one in the same as her and Nassun holds resentment towards her because of the hardships and coldness found in the private, Nassun realizes and reflects the same relationship to orogeny as her mother. This  thread between the two of them makes us wonder if perhaps one must experience, feel, and fault themselves just as their parents’ to understand why they did. The redemption of Schaffa, who was essentially a parent of Damaya and therefore Syenite and Essun as her actual parents rejected her, landed on Nassun too. For the guardian who was involved in the oppression and power imbalance Essun endured, confesses to his past recruit’s daughter, “‘You are all the children I should have loved and protected, even from myself. And if it will bring you peace…Then I shall be your Guardian till the world burns, my little one’” (Jemisin 504). Family is a pressure unlike any other in a racialized world that both acts as tension and support, but in the end, there’s an affection between children and their caretakers that share with us a hope for the future. 

Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy has taken me to the very core of what racialized consequences mean, not merely from afar or intellectually as a statement of acknowledging difference indifferently, but holding onto the need for kindness and forgiveness for anyone and everyone. A forgiveness that need not rationalize or involve us in its complicity and harm, but provides a course of action for a better world. I’ll remember the last conversation that encourages us as readers to move past patience and move into that course, “’Don’t be patient. Don’t ever be. This is the way a new world begins.
‘Neither am I,’ I say. ‘So let’s get to it.'” (Jemisin 462). The same movement I’ve undertaken in seeing how a world so relentlessly imbalanced matters as that thought of a possible future existing in-between acceptance and resistance could never leave me. I know no one is exempt from change and fulfilling endings when we decide to understand difference for the sake of unity, rather than isolation and power. I know that embracing the humanity of another is a conscious decision, that we must everyday meet ourselves with.

Works Cited

Jemisin, N. K. The Fifth Season. Orbit, 2016.Heng, Geraldine. The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Print.

Jemisin, N. K.. The Obelisk Gate. First Edition. New York, NY, Orbit, 2016.

Jemisin, N. K. The Stone Sky. Orbit, 2017.