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Race is imagined. Race is real. These two statements are not, as many believe, contradictory. In fact, they are both true and inextricably causally linked. This is an ostensible paradox that Jemisin seeks to unravel in the world and narrative of The Fifth Season. To understand the basis of this stance, one must first understand the social construction of race and its systemic salience in the world of The Fifth Season. In brief, the inhabitants of the text live on a single, tectonically hyperactive continent wherein there lies a single primary political power concentrated at the very center. The peoples of this land deemed “The Stillness” are analogous to humans in all but one sense – their sensitivity to seismic activity. Few of these peoples are born with the ability to manipulate this seismic activity, and are deemed “orogenes” politely and “roggas” crudely but generally. These orogenes are feared due to their powers, which can be unwieldy and dangerous in the wrong or untrained hands. Orogenes are the central racial focus of the book, as their race is the root of the narrative in this story. Historically, orogenes have been subjugated, robbed of autonomy, lynched, and the lucky ones shunted off to be raised and trained to be a profitable tool for the powers that be. Understanding these key elements to the narrative is essential to follow Jemisin’s creative address of the aforementioned existential paradox of race. For the purposes of this analysis, I will be delving into the unreality and artificial creation of race within The Fifth Season, the ways in which race is salient, systemic, and real to the inhabitants of the world, and the effects of these points within the text as well as its implications for our world. I will also draw on real-world examples and analogues to highlight certain points of the text in order to demonstrate and corroborate these points when necessary.  

Orogeneity is seemingly quite different from race in our world. For one, there is only a loose genetic correlation to orogeny. Two orogenic parents can sire offspring without any orogenic qualities while two stills – a term for non-orogenic people – can have orogenic children. These occurrences are rare, and orogeny is inherited more often than not, but this nonetheless acts as a very different form of race classification than is traditionally considered in reality, as the orogenic race is not reducible to any one nation, culture, or phenotype. This, however, is not actually a departure from reality, but a reflection of it. Consider the ways in which our world has classified and determined race, and how these definitions have evolved over time due to shifting values and opinions. Take the hypodescent framework of racial classification adopted by the Jim Crow-era U.S. where one’s race was simply and elegantly defined as Black if any modicum of Black ancestry was present. This, of course, was a flawed plan, as stories of white-skinned people who had gone their whole lives believing themselves white suddenly were forced to use colored facilities and identify as such due to an estranged Black great-great-great-great-grandparent (Ray, p. 13). The “one drop rule” fell apart quite quickly and revealed that race was about more than just genetics. So much more, in fact, that it revealed a fundamental lack of reasoning for any meaningful form of classification. In Jemisin’s world, this could be seen as distinct from the orogenes, as classification is as simple as the presence of orogeny. This stance is a result of conflation of classification with racialization. Classification of orogenes is easy and natural, much like blonds or blue-eyed people. A race, however, requires a shared culture, nationality, or lineage – none of which orogenes have. Orogeny is a quality imparted to a person, but it does not denote a people. 

Once the unreality of race is confronted, one must contend with the reality of its presence. Orogenes are persecuted, subjugated, and othered by virtue of their orogeny. These systemic injustices are real and have meaningful effects on orogenes. Orogenes must live in a world that has racialized them and oppressed them as a group without discretion. This is the only culture all orogenes have in common. In this sense, race is very real and salient to the characters within The Fifth Season. An example of this reality being acknowledged by orogenes themselves takes the form of the orogene community, Castrima, led in part by Ykka Rogga Castrima. Ykka’s community contains a great many orogenes from all over the continent, in which “all the buildings are in wildly varied styles… Uniformity sends a message… This [community’s] visual message is… confused.” (Jemisin, p. 265). This conflict of culture in a community that largely harbors outcasted orogenes is a great example of both the lack of a true unified race of orogenes and that the racialization of orogenic people is an ever-present reality for all orogenes. In our world, this has, perhaps most vividly, manifested in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Black people across Africa, a gargantuan continent with incredibly diverse communities, cultures, and peoples, were bought and sold like cattle in huge quantities. Slave traders and buyers paid no mind to the culture and origin of these people, as they were now no longer a member of a tribe or community or a people but were now just Black. People born across the Sahara from an enslaved peer were now seen as one and the same, forced into unity and a shared community as a result of their racialization by a foreign power that deemed it so. 

The effects of this absurd state of simultaneous race reality and unreality have a profound effect on the characters within the text. Some are more aware of the dichotomy while others possess a lingering sense of confusion surrounding racial affairs within the world. Essun, an older orogenic woman and a main character of the text, falls under the latter category. She is the one who ventured into Castrima and expressed a confusion as to the state of unity present, not realizing it is a product of the inherent nonexistence of cultural unity among orogenes. Throughout her story, she is shown to be grappling with the idea of orogenes as a race, not a classification. Once claiming orogenes “aren’t human” then internally acknowledging this as a falsehood “all roggas know” (Jemisin, p. 354). This confusion is related to her turbulent history with her own identity, being able to identify as an orogene as dictated by larger society, identifying with her orogeny independently from this society, and being forced to hide her orogeny to avoid being racialized. A character more confident in their outlook on race in the world is Alabaster, an exceedingly powerful orogene trained and owned by the central governance of Yumenes. His actions in the book come from an understanding of the paradoxical nature of orogene racialization, most clearly is his destruction of the continent that threatens the lives of all the world’s inhabitants. The justification for this action comes from a belief that the racialization of orogenes has crossed a Rubicon, and that to dismantle the oppression and racialization orogenes face in this world, the world must be dismantled (Jemisin, p. 6-7).  

The existential paradox of race is a conflict between the fundamental nonexistence of race in form but the salient effects of race in function. Jemisin encourages readers to think about racialization in novel ways by detaching the orogenes from any genetic or physical characteristics that are traditionally used to classify race. This is a powerful method of subverting the traditional definition of race for a group that is very clearly suffering from systemic racism in her works, and show the reader that race is an artifice of society, made real only by the consequences it has for those deemed to be members of that race. The unifying struggle of oppression all orogenes must face in their cultural, genetic, and physical dissonance is a reminder of how the manufacturing of a Black race has had lasting consequences for black-skinned people in society centuries after its conception. Many people believe race has been an issue all throughout human history, but Jemisin takes us very close to the beginning of the creation of a race to show that this is not the case. Race can mean whatever we choose for it to mean, as long as it is enforced and believed by larger society. Race is only as real as we allow it to be.  

Bibliography

Jemisin, N. K. The Fifth Season. Orbit, 2015. 

Ray, Victor. On Critical Race Theory: Why It Matters & Why You Should Care. Random House, 2018 

In our reading of “The Fifth Season,” the first in a trilogy known as “The Broken Earth” trilogy, written by N.K. Jemisin, we are quickly reminded of our course epigraph written by Geraldine Heng. In this epigraph, Heng states that racialization is not this substantive idea that we all have in our minds. Race is not a way of describing the appearance or looks of another, but rather a categorization, nearly a caste system of responsibilities and levels of power. This system has been and still is looked upon as both fundamental and essential to our society, thus creating an injustice within the society, not currently established by law but by human activities and tendencies themselves. This corruption has been found all throughout history as part of power dynamics. In “The Fifth Season,” we are introduced to Orogenes, specific members of society who have the innate ability to sense and control seismic activity such as earthquakes and volcanoes, among other geological forces. At an early age, Orogenes are trained by the Fulcrum, a group that seeks to control their abilities and “gifts” for the overall benefit of society. Orogenes are both feared and persecuted because their powers are deemed unpredictable and dangerous. Non-orogenes are protected by Guardians, a group that has a power that nullifies that of the Orogenes. This directly connects to the course epigraph, highlighting the idea that race is not just a way to differentiate individuals based on their appearance, but also a way to categorize people based on their abilities, tendencies and capacities.

Orogenes are at the bottom of the totem pole in “The Fifth Season” and are treated with the worst of the worst treatment. They are often ostracized from their own families and those closest to them, if not beaten or killed. In the beginning of the book, we meet Damaya. Damaya is one of the main characters in the novel and is found to be an Orogene by her parents. Upon this discovery, they quickly force her to sleep in a barn separate from their house. As strange as it may sound, that outcome is nothing short of extremely fortunate. Many orogenes are killed by their own parents and family the moment it is found out that they possess such powers. The life of an orogene is not an easy one, as it is filled with copious cruelty, grief, and frustration.

“I’m not a monster, Syenite. I’m just a – a girl. It’s not my fault I was born this way. It’s not your fault, either, and yet you all treat me like I’m some kind of demon. And then you wonder why I’m angry all the time! Maybe if you’d stop – maybe if you all just tried to be kind to me, I wouldn’t have to be so angry.”

Damaya

After some time, Damaya changed her name to Syenite, as a way of leaving her past behind her. At her core, though, she was still an orogene, whether she liked it or not. The treatment would follow her despite the name change, and she would continue to be chastised by others. The neglect and abuse she faced at the hands of her parents were not the only instances of her experiencing racialization. As an orogene, she also faces hatred from all non-orogenes, exploitation by the Fulcrum, who enforce strict rules to ensure obedience and conformity. This exploitation and abuse from the Fulcrum makes the orogenes more like tools or objects than human beings. Additionally, orogenes are dehumanized. They are referred to by numbers rather than their names, further reinforcing the idea that they are disposable commodities that can be scrapped at a moment’s notice by anyone with power. Even the more important and stronger orogenes, who hold the more important tasks and jobs, are treated poorly. Regardless of your contributions to society or “The Stillness,” you are looked at as vermin and trash as an orogene. As mentioned before, they also experience physical abuse and violence at the hands of everyone.

There are many parallels between “The Fifth Season” and real life, especially relating to the course epigraph. In “The Fifth Season,” there are systems of oppression that specifically target certain groups based on their inherent characteristics. Similarly, in American society, groups like racial minorities, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and women have all faced systemic oppression in their lifetimes. The fear that non-orogenes face toward orogenes can be compared to the xenophobia and prejudice that have historically tormented minority groups in American society, leading to segregation, discrimination, and violence. The dehumanization we see in “The Fifth Season” can be compared to historical and contemporary examples of exploitation and dehumanization of minority groups in American society, more specifically the slave trade until 1865 when the 13th amendment was signed. The marginalization that the orogenes face mirrors that of minorities in America. They experience redlining and unequal access to employment and education. Lastly, the resistance and liberation in “The Fifth Season” echoes events like the Civil Rights Movement, the Women’s Suffrage Movement, and so much more.

Overall, “The Fifth Season” provides a powerful and moving critique of the oppressive and unjust systems in America. It also serves as a reflection of social and political dynamics in American society, underscoring the long-lasting struggles for equality, justice, and human rights.

In N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season, readers are immediately immersed in a world on the brink of destruction, where a minority group of people controls the natural disasters and outcomes of their world as they know it. Events known as Fifth Seasons wreak havoc. Through vivid storytelling, Jemisin explores various applicable topics to contemporary society such as oppression & survival, hierarchical interactions, and environmental degradation. The process of racialization in The Fifth Season involves a complex intertwining of myth, science, and social constructs, shaping the identities and experiences of characters throughout the narrative. Through the exploration of mythical elements such as eclipses, scientific phenomena, and societal hierarchies, the trilogy delves into how racialization functions as a deliberate mechanism to allocate power and establish societal hierarchies.

In The Fifth Season, Jemisin explores a world where orogenes, and excluded group of individuals with the ability to manipulate seismic energy, are oppressed and controlled by higher members of society such as the Guardians and, Yumenes leaders, and more importantly the system that teaches them from a young age to control their abilities and emotions, the Fulcrum. This oppression is evident in the treatment of orogenes within the Fulcrum, the institution that trains and controls them for the benefit of the ruling elite. Reflecting on her experiences, Damaya, a young girl separated from her family to undergo training at the Fulcrum, acknowledges in two separate instances, “(Friends do not exist. The Fulcrum is not a school. Grits are not children. Oregenes are not people. Weapons have no need of friends… No one gets expelled from the Fulcrum, after all. Dysfunctional weapons are simply removed from the stockpile. And functional weapons should be smart enough to take care of themselves.” (Jemisin, p. 297 & 298). This quote shows how the Fulcrum treats orogenes as tools, not as people with feelings or friends. It highlights how they’re used as weapons and not given the care or support that children need, emphasizing their harsh treatment and lack of personal connections within the institution as well as reinforcing the idea that hierarchy is reinforced through the dehumanization and exploitation of orogenes. It also reflects how the process of racialization categorizes them as individuals with inherent worth, perpetuating a system where their identities are reduced to how they are used as well as their level of expendability.

Within the narrative of Jemisin’s The Fifth Season, the Guardian’s words to Damaya reveal the pervasive fear and control surrounding orogenes within the society. He reinforces the notion of their inherent danger, stating, ” You cannot control yourself. It isn’t in your nature. You are lightning, dangerous unless captured in wires. You’re fire-a warm light on a cold dark night to be sure, but also a conflagration that can destroy everything in its path-” (Jemisin, p. 95). This characterization serves to justify the harsh treatment and strict control imposed on orogenes, as demonstrated by the Guardian’s admonition by portraying orogenes as uncontrollable forces of nature, the Guardian reinforces societal prejudices and rationalizes the oppressive measures taken against them.

Furthermore, the Guardian also says to Demaya, within the same conversation, that “‘Orogenes have no right to say no. I am your Guardian. I will break every bone in your hand, every bone in your body, if I deem it necessary to make the world safe from you’… Schaffa keeps stroking her broken hand. ‘I love you’, he says… ‘Never doubt that I do, little one. Poor creature locked in a barn so afraid of herself she hardly dares to speak.’” (Jemisin, p. 99). The Guardian’s manipulative tactics further underscore the oppressive dynamic, as he alternates between threats of violence and affection towards Damaya, instilling in her a sense of guilt and dependence. This complex interplay of fear, control, and emotional manipulation highlights the tenuous existence of orogenes within the book. As well as underscoring the dehumanizing effects of societal prejudice and the lengths to which those in power will go to maintain control. This can be connected to contemporary societal norms and racialization as it mirrors the systemic oppression and control imposed on marginalized groups in our own society, highlighting the enduring struggle against dehumanization and the abuse of power in our own government.Top of Form

In summation, N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season offers a profound investigation into power dynamics, dehumanization, and oppression within its fictional world. Through the portrayal of orogenes and their societal treatment, the novel prompts a thought-provoking examination of contemporary societal norms and the process of racialization. The pervasive themes of fear, control, and manipulation experienced by orogenes parallel real-world instances of systemic oppression and discrimination, particularly against marginalized communities. By drawing these connections, The Fifth Season highlights the enduring struggle against dehumanization and the misuse of authority. Hence, the novel serves as a compelling catalyst for reflection on the pressing need to address and rectify societal injustices.

Citations:

Jemisin, N. K. (n.d.). The Fifth Season

Historical Foundations of Race. National Museum of African American History and Culture. (2021, December 16). https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race/topics/historical-foundations-race

The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages by Geraldine Heng talks about race and how it was a social construct during times of historic Europe. She states, “Race is a structural relationship for the articulation and management of human differences, rather than a substantive content,” (Heng 2018). Both Heng and N.K. Jemisin, the author of the book The Fifth Season uses racialization, a process of categorizing, marginalizing, or regarding according to race (Merriam-Webster dictionary n.d.) in their works to bring to light how race affects the way certain groups of people are treated. In N.K. Jemisin’s book she makes many parallels to race in our world regarding character and world-building. This parallel specifically surrounds a group called orogenes a group of people who have the power to control the kinetic energy to redirect or make seismic events. Orogenes are looked down upon by non-orogenes who see them as dangerous and must be controlled for their safety and well-being. Though N.K. Jemisin does not specifically hint at what race the orogenes are, the way orogenes are treated in her book is very similar to how many minorities in the United States are treated. On her blog, she mentions, “ Yet race in our world is a social construct, not anything related to actual biology, so it makes sense that a world which has such complicated feelings about orogenes would conceptually fission them off from the rest of humanity” (Jemisin 2015). What she says in her blog tells us that the orogenes are feared because of their power and the things they can do with it, and due to this non-orogenes fear them. Her words also tell us that orogenes are only feared due to their uniqueness from the rest and the way they behave is also different to non orogenes. Due to their fears and lack of understanding, negative stereotypes of the orogenes are created, so if one of them were to act “feral” it would feed into the negative stereotypes the non-orogenes created of them. This also relates to my thesis since many stereotypes that were created against minorities were only made due to our differences with one another whether that was by culture, physical looks, etc. Furthermore, stereotypes are also a type of social construct that justifies the social power one group has over another (Augoustinos, Walker 1998). All in all, Jemisin’s creation of stereotypes for her characters mirrors real minorities that are created from a group of people with more power who have a lack of understanding and fear against minority groups. 

However, it isn’t just stereotypes that Jemisin makes in her book to parallel our world, but also traits that oppressed groups have. By adding such traits to her book, specifically her characters it adds realism and meaning to them. The Fifth Season shows this with, 

“If the problem is that ferals are not predictable…well, orogenes have to prove themselves reliable. The Fulcrum has a reputation to maintain; that’s part of this. So’s the training, and the uniform, and the endless rules they must follow, but the breeding is part of it too, or why is she here? It’s somewhat flattering to think that despite her feral status, they actually want something of her infused into their breeding lines. Then she wonders why a part of her is trying to find value in degradation,” (Jemisin 58). 

This quote represents a parallel of racialization because Syenite, a female orogene knows that orogenes who don’t know how to control their power are considered feral and unpredictable which scares non-orogenes. In order to not be considered a feral, she goes to Fulcrum, a place where orogenes are taught to control their power to learn her limits, in order to protect herself. This quote also connects back to Heng’s words because the fulcrum is a structural institution that was made to manage the differences between orogenes and non oroegenes. However, creating such an institution, essentially makes her and many other orogenes degrade themselves for the sake of others in order not to be viewed in a negative light. A quote in The Fifth Season states, “But this is what it means to be civilized—doing what her betters say she should, for the ostensible good of all. […] That means her own apartment; no more roommates. Better missions, longer leave, more say in her own life. That’s worth it. Earthfire yes, it’s worth it,” (Jemisin 60). This quote shows Syenite degrading herself by doing things she does not want to do but does anyway to not get punished, to get stronger, and most importantly have more power and control over her life. This is similar to how minorities do code-switching, which is a way to change the way they talk, act, dress, etc for the comfort of others and to get job opportunities and fair treatment/service (McCluney et al. 2019).  Syenite’s words show code-switching because she degrades herself during a mission with Alabaster, a male orogene, where they have sex together every day to create an orogene offspring. Though she does not want to do this and feels disgusted with herself for doing such a task, she does it anyway to prove herself at the Fulcrum to get a higher rank among the orogenes and have a better quality of life. Another character that also shows this trait is Essun, and Jemisin states on her blog that she has that trait that oppressed people have due to her experiences where she can hide and protect herself like any other orogene/feral, but also act arrogant and eccentric if needed (Jemisin 2015). Jemisin uses stereotypes and code-switching as a form of racialization to add depth to her characters and make them relatable to our world. 

Furthermore, Jemisin uses racialization in other ways for her characters, such as creating their powers. Jemisin mentions on her blog that orogenes share traits of oppressed groups like “Blackdar” (Jemisin 2015). Blackdar is a way for African Americans to detect if someone has African ancestry just by looking at them (Blackdar definition n.d.). She shows that trait with orogenes by having them be able to tell who is an orogene by their “sess” which is when an orogene uses their powers to control or create seismic activity. Another example of this “Blackdar” racialization in her book would be with the character Ykka, a female orogene who has this magical ability to call orogenes to her. It also allows the character to know who is an orogene as well when she meets them because they respond to her call. Jemisin repeatedly uses racialization to create her characters, world, and powers for The Fifth Season which mirrors our world in terms of social power and people.

N.K. Jemisin also uses racialization for the setting of The Fifth Season, which mostly takes place in the Stillness, a supercontinent. Stillness can be compared to Pangea, which was a real supercontinent back during the late Paleozoic Era until the very late Triassic (USGS What was Pangea? n.d.). Just like Pangea is made up of the many continents we know today, so is the Stillness in Jemisin’s fictional world. N.K. Jemisin talks about the Stillness and the people who inhabit it who have racial phenotypes we have in our world, including eye shape, hair, skin color, etc (Jemisin 2015). The places on the supercontinent also resemble certain countries in our world like the island Meov, a place that has a lot of earthquakes and tsunamis. Meov’s natural disasters and geology are quite similar to Japan’s since it’s a string of islands (also known as an archipelago) with three tectonic plates rubbing against each other, causing a lot of earthquakes (Japan National Geographic Kids 2021). Jemisin mentions how certain parts of the Stillness would resemble certain races like the Artics would be White, the East Coast would be Black, the West Coast would be Asians, and so forth (Jemisin 2015). Overall, Jemisin’s idea of racializing the Stillness is a great way for readers to visualize the characters and make them more relatable to certain people in terms of real-world experiences. Not only that, but it makes it easier for readers to connect the dots of what kind of stereotypes she’s trying to make with her characters based on real people. 

In conclusion, Jemisin uses racialization to create her characters and setting in The Fifth Season allowing readers to make real-world connections to issues involving race and geography. As well as using Geraldine Heng’s research paper about race in historic Europe, Jemisin can show her readers that race is a social construct, which Jemisin mentions on her blog when writing her book series. For example, creating negative stereotypes that are associated with orogenes, causes them to have to code-switch to protect themselves and others for fair treatment. Another example would be how Jemisin uses geography and geology to create the events and setting for the book. Jemisin’s idea of using science and social construct to create The Fifth Season is something that allows readers to think and educate themselves while also enjoying what her book has to offer. 

References

Augoustinos, M., & Walker, I. (1998). The Construction of Stereotypes within Social Psychology. Theory & Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354398085003

Berlatsky, N. (2015, July 27). NK Jemisin: The fantasy writer upending the “racist and sexist status quo.” The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/27/nk-jemisin-interview-fantasy-science-fiction-writing-racism-sexism 

blackdar. (n.d.). Blackdar – Wiktionary, The free dictionary. Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blackdar#:~:text=Noun,ancestry%20by%20observing%20that%20person. 

Heng, G. (2018). The invention of race in the European Middle Ages. Cambridge Core. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/invention-of-race-in-the-european-middle-ages/878223724345B49D515AA39DF3A0B617#fndtn-information 

Japan. (2021, September 2). Japan. Geography. https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/geography/countries/article/japan#:~:text=use%20is%20prohibited.-,Japan%20is%20an%20archipelago%2C%20or%20string%20of%20islands%2C%20on%20the,Korea%20and%20China%20farther%20south. 

Jemisin, N. K. (2015, August 13). Creating races. Epiphany 2.0. https://nkjemisin.com/2015/08/creating-races/ 

McCunley, C. L., Robotham, K., Lee, S., Smith, R., & Durkee, M. (2021, January 28). The costs of code-switching. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2019/11/the-costs-of-codeswitching 

racialization. (n.d.). Racialization definition & meaning. Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/racialization#:~:text=%3A%20the%20act%20of%20giving%20a,act%20or%20instance%20of%20racializing 

What was Pangea? (n.d.). What was Pangea?. What was Pangea? | U.S. Geological Survey. https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-was-pangea#:~:text=From%20about%20300%2D200%20million,a%20single%20continent%20called%20Pangea.

In the trilogy “The Fifth Season” by N.K. Jemisin, the way individuals are categorized based on their race is an essential part of the story. This reflects on real world dynamics of power, oppression and identity. The first book explores how individuals are placed into certain groups and societal hierarchies based on traits they may have inherited such as orogeny, ethnicity and social status. The process of racialization in this book plays a large role in reinforcing the systems of power, oppression, and identity, as a central theme in this book follows the dehumanization of a certain group as well as exploitation and violence due to their racial orogeny. This book has allowed me to make a connection about how I view certain things in the ‘real world’ in comparison to how certain groups in the book are treated. 

A primary concept in this book follows the comparison of orogene individuals to “normal” individuals. In the world of the Stillness, orogene’s are individuals who carry certain traits that others do not, such as the ability to manipulate seismic energy. Due to the unique traits that they were born with, the orogene community are subjected to discrimination and stigmatizations that become marginalized within society due to the misunderstanding and fear that surround these powers. Moreover, they are given a discriminatory and vulgar word for orogene, which is rogga. “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). These individuals are treated in the most disrespectful and prejudiced way due to an ability that they are not able to control. This is seen in society today, as an individual who is perceived as different (i.e. skin color, sexuality, ethnicity) are also treated this way. Additionally, the quote stated above explains the potential orogene child will not be treated as a person until they prove themselves to be “normal”, justifying societal decisions to create these marginalized groups, while maintaining their power and place in the hierarchy and ongoing the everlasting cycle. 

Furthermore, the process of racialization in this trilogy could be connected to both myth and science. The myth of the orogenes plays an essential role in this trilogy in that they are believed to be dangerous and uncontrollable, causing society to place them at the bottom of the hierarchy. They are placed in the fulcrum at a young age and are watched and exploited consistently. “The Fulcrum has a reputation to maintain; that’s part of this. So’s the training, and the uniform, and the endless rules they must follow, but the breeding is part of it, too, or why is she here?” (page 59, online). This myth justifies the oppression that they face by the upper class. Myth, however, can also play a role as a source of resistance and empowerment for marginalized communities, and this is shown through Essun, a character in the novel, who despite being discriminated against finds strength in the myths that have been passed down through her ancestors, which allows her to affirm her identify and find hope in a what seems to be hopeless world. The world that N.K. Jemisin makes it almost impossible for orogenes to fit in, and this goes along with Heng’s definition, “race is a structural relationship for the articulation and management of human differences, rather than a substantive content”; ultimately meaning that race is not about the inherent qualities that an individual has, rather how the qualities or characteristics of that individual are perceived by society. Once again going along perfectly with the orogene community. Due to their unique characteristics that they were born with, they are treated and perceived differently and as a threat, therefore treated with disrespect. 

 Additionally, science plays a large role in racialization in this book. Science is used as a justification to distinguish orogenes from non-orogenes. This is done by the upper class society, as they make it a point for everyone else to be afraid of orogenes because they are dangerous and untrustworthy due to their differences that others do not have. As previously stated, this aligns perfectly with societal situations that play out daily, as certain groups who society has chosen to be marginalized against have differences that they were born with, causing them to be put at the bottom of the hierarchy of societal structures. Furthermore, science allows for the groups of power to justify oppression, as they can express that they are scared of what powers the orogene individuals may have that are still unknown to them. By going about the approach in a biased way, their opinions are not going to change even if the orogene community has not shown danger to them. 

The process of racialization is shown once again throughout the book when Syenite fears Alabaster due to his ranking being higher. It is hard for Syenite to defend herself when her ranking is lower even though she does not agree with Alabaster’s decision making. Again, proving that rankings in society are a pivotal factor in how you live your life as well as how you are ranked. Once again mirroring real life situations, as individuals who are minorities do not have the same amount of power or say that individuals who aren’t do. N.K. Jemisin took this idea from the real world and was able to perfectly portray it in the novel. Once again going along with Hugh’s definition, due to the fact that our society has predisposed racialization, it makes it extremely difficult from the start for those who are born as a minority or certain race to succeed, as they are already perceived as less than even though they have no ability to change the way they were born. Society separates people and determines how deserving they are of a successful life for no reason other than their race, gender or sexuality. The fifth season does an amazing job at mirroring this, although it is not about race, it shows the injustices that certain groups face only because of the way they were born. N.K. Jemison portrays orogenes as a perfect metaphor for this, and demonstrates the process of racialization throughout the book in a very unique and interesting way.  

References 

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

After concluding the first novel of N.K. Jemisin’s The Broken Earth trilogy it’s truly not until the end of the book where I start to grasp the nature of this story and start to see it unfold. We can see just how divided each category of people are, especially as we are led throughout Essun’s whole life while not knowing that Damaya, Syenite, and Essun are all the same person. As I navigate this novel and the dynamics in it, I am drawn back to our course epigraph by Geraldine Heng and her hypothesis of race as something that is done to people to categorize them, rather than something that is internally human. It has nothing to do with our actual being and self. The process of racialization is a way of life in The Fifth Season, in one sense it provides structure to a world and society that is crumbling, but in a world with so many issues, structure and discrimination against race seem trivial. Which makes me reflect on the similarities of the science fiction world of The Fifth Season and the real-life everyday world that we experience.

The University of Winnipeg defines the process of racializing as “the processes by which a group of people is defined by their ‘race.’ Processes of racialization begin by attributing racial meaning to people’s identity and, in particular, as they relate to social structures and institutional systems, such as housing, employment, and education”. In The Fifth Season the main group of people who are discriminated against are orogenes, the appendix in the book defines orogenes as “one who possesses orogeny, whether trained or not” and orogeny being defined as “the ability to manipulate thermal, kinetic, and related forms of energy to address seismic events.” There are many instances in the novel where we can see the hierarchy of races presented to us, one in particular being when Binof leads Damaya into an off-limits corridor in the Fulcrum. Binof explains that she is not worried about getting in trouble because she gets in trouble all the time, but as a Leadership Yumenes the consequences are very minimal. Damaya’s response to this is the worry that she will get in trouble, “She isn’t a Leader, or a person; no one will save her.” (pg. 308) This moment stuck out to me as a perfect example of racialization, it shows how Binof is more privileged than Damaya as she is allowed to get in trouble without serious consequences while Damaya fears for her life every time she goes against any kind of law. In connection to a real-world scenario, the Black Lives Matter movement addresses these same kinds of racial inequality issues, specifically with discrimination against black people and police brutality instances. Black Lives Matter highlights how black people fear for their life when encountering law enforcement, while specifically white people are capable of getting in trouble with the law and getting out with a slap on their wrist. In both fictional and non-fictional scenarios, it’s clear to see the different behavior toward both races and the absurdity of it.

One line in Heng’s The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages, taken from our course epigraph is, “’Race’ is one of the primary names we have – a name we retain for the strategic, epistemological, and political commitments it recognizes.” This quote reminded me of Essun’s versatility in her literal names and how those names were each a different version of herself. Damaya, the name she was given at birth by her mother, is her younger self, someone who went through hardships as only a child. When Damaya becomes Syenite she chooses this name for herself, and this is something that seems all orogenes in the fulcrum decide to do once they reach a certain level of orogeny or gain their first ring. Damaya tells Schaffa that she has chosen her name and that it will be Syenite. “It forms at the edge of a tectonic plate. With heat and pressure it does not degrade, but instead grows stronger” (pg. 331), Syenite chose this new name for herself and experienced parts of life as Syen, and no longer Damaya. As Syen, more was expected of her, she was essentially a new person, wiser and stronger. We have yet to learn the exact timing of when Syen changed her name to Essun, and why she chose Essun (perhaps this is something we will learn more about in the next book). Even in the different time periods of Essun’s life with her various names and each with a seemingly different personality we can relate this to Heng’s words of how race is just a primary name. It is something that is assigned to someone and created for a structural hierarchy and with that name comes expected attributes, or stereotypes. With each of Essun’s names we see how people treat her differently based on which version of herself she is in her life. While throughout the novel Essun is always an orogene, we see various people treat her differently based on that fact. This proves Heng’s hypothesis that race is only something assigned to people, and as Dr. McCoy put it in our class notes from February 22, “race” is not “anything that people have in them internally or on them externally”.

I think that based on the book so far and its use of racialization and very human like attributes to characters such as good and bad faith decisions, that there will be a major shift in the dynamics of racialization, but specifically regarding the Orogenes and Guardians. I predict that Orogenes will somehow come into more power than they have now, as they are currently used for training and treated unfairly, I expect there to be a revolt against the current conditions. However, when considering other parties such as Hoa and the stone eaters, I suspect that it won’t be as straightforward as two groups in a conflict. When we reach Hoa’s perspective at the end of The Fifth Season he says, “I am the one who found her first. I fought off the others and trailed her, watched her, guarded her.” (pg.443) This whole time Hoa has had a part to play in Essun’s journey, protecting her in a way we do not fully understand yet. Going forward, I suspect there will be alliances made and trust broken between those alliances. I look forward to learning more about the world that N.K. Jemisin has created and the surprises that she will shock us with. I also feel fortunate to have no prior knowledge of this trilogy, making the journey more exciting for me. I’ve always thought that stories with a map at the beginning are the most intriguing because it is evident the author took time in crafting the story and the characters in it, so much so that a definable map had to be curated to follow along.  

Race is a reason for society to designate a difference between groups of people. This is examined in Heng’s definition; “race is a structural relationship for the articulation and management of human differences, rather than a substantive content.” Race is a way for society to separate people based on a singular characteristic. This divide in society creates a structural hierarchy of power, wealth, and respect. All of which are used to set a certain group of people “above” others. N.K. Jemisin exemplifies this concept in her book, The Fifth Season but this is not our society, it is fictional. However, the structural racism roots that exist in the fictional society are greatly inhabited in our own.

The society in The Fifth Season is structured in a way that is unfamiliar to our society. Orogenes, the ones with the power to create seismic events are seen as unworthy and a nuisance to their world. On the other hand, stills are people without powers and are seen as the ideal members of society. N.K. Jemisin created this fictitious world with the powerful ones as unworthy and the regular people as extraordinary. Uche is an orogene who was killed because of his powers which is a single characteristic that made him different than everyone else; “these people killed Uche. Their hate, their fear, their unprovoked violence. They. (He.) Killed your son. (Jija killed your son.)” (The Fifth Season, 58). This horrible event that occurred was not a coincidence, it was fueled by predetermined notions about an orogene. Uche was discriminated against due to something that was out of his control, it was a characteristic that was a part of him and what made Uche an orogene. This majestic power can create chaos in their world through seismic events. The unexpectedness of what an orogene could do threatens the non-orogenes. This extreme hatred contributes greatly to the violence that ended Uche’s life, all because he has a characteristic that differs from others. Many discriminatory events have created a society that fears and limits orogenes to feel worthless. This action of several events happening over and over to create an environment that favors stills and not orogenes can be related to seismic events. The continuous discrimination of the orogenes can be considered “small” seismic events that lead to a catastrophe. This society has parallels to our own, except our society’s discriminatory factor is the color of one’s skin. Our society has found itself with racism deep in our roots due to a characteristic of a group of people. Furthermore, the society we inhabit makes a certain group of people feel unworthy and less than others due to this ideology that if people don’t appear as the majority then they are not worth the same. Although this is a fictitious world, there are many discriminatory events and structural racism that align with our society.

The process of racialization in The Fifth Season continues into other regions of this fictitious world. There is even racialization and structural inequality within orogenes. The Fulcrum is a training ground for orogenes. This place allows orogenes to earn rings, which distinguishes them from other orogenes. Therefore, orogenes are racialized further, even within their kind. An orogene that has earned ten rings has demonstrated excellent performance and control of its powers. They are now seen as superior to other orogenes that don’t have as many rings. There is inequality that exists between ten-ring orogenes and one-ring orogenes. This inequality is demonstrated through the level of respect and treatment an orogene receives based on their ring count. The value of the individual is based upon the level of the orogene; “[f]or the other grits—and that’s what she is now, an unimportant bit of rock ready to be polished into usefulness, or at least to help grind other, better rocks—”(The Fifth Season, 191). Within this society, there is a vivid inequality structure that exists. Grits is a term used to describe worthless orogenes that are considered nothing more than who they are due to their lack of rings. Therefore, they are treated differently from other higher-ranked orogenes. Their treatment is predetermined by the structural racism that has been crafted by society. This world has made it difficult for orogenes to be accepted by society, but also within their kind. This relates to our society through job occupations. For example, a minority in our society is already discriminated against by predisposed racialization. However, this may go further within their group of people by the occupation they hold. Two men have different occupations, one is a businessman and the other is a plumber, so society will treat them differently. This is because if you are seen as unwealthy and holding an occupation that is not seen as prestige, then you are not seen as worthy. Our society has predetermined notions about what you look like and what you do but hesitates to pay attention to who the individual is. This goes back to Heng’s definition, that racialization is a way to manage differences and not by substantive content. Racialization is a way for society to separate people by differences and use that to determine their worthiness. However, our society fails to acknowledge people beyond their physical characteristics. Without skin color and occupations, we are all human. 

Racialization within The Fifth Season continuously lies within orogenes and their ring rank. This society places a connotation that if you are not highly ranked in the Fulcrum, you are not as worthy. This places low-ranked orogenes into a position of continuous submission to the higher-ranked orogenes. Syenite, an orogene discusses with Alabaster, a very highly-ranked orogene; “[i]f they ever fought, he could turn her torus inside out and flash-freeze her in a second. For that alone she should be nice to him;…”(The Fifth Season, 121). The process of racialization forces the minority to fear overcoming the racial hierarchy created by the majority. N.K. Jemisin exemplifies this in the book by having Syenite fear Alabaster due to his higher ranking. Therefore, even though Syenite doesn’t agree with Alabaster and his decision-making, there is no possible way she could defend herself. This is because Alabaster is stronger both in ranking and in society as well. This parallels our society by the minority fearing what could happen if they were to defend themselves against the majority. The minority is forced into making the decision that trying to defend themselves might cause more harm and chaos for them and in turn, not be successful in trying to make the society equal. N.K. Jemisin took in the aspects of racialization within our society and created many parallels throughout The Fifth Season. This was an action that was purposeful and intentional. The parallels between our world and the fictitious world are meant to be easily digestible by readers reading about racialization and then comparing it to our world. Overall, the process of racialization that occurred in The Fifth Season was not based on skin color but it was based upon a defining characteristic that made a group of people different from others. The many instances of the orogenes being discriminated against represent the minorities that are consistently discriminated against in our society. This book has brought attention to the continuous process of racialization that heavily impacts many lives. Overall, racialization is a process based on finding a structural hierarchy, not about the content of the individual.

In light of Geraldine Heng’s The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages, the process and result of racialization emerges when we as a people culturally accept race as an important name to have. Heng notes its “repeating tendency” to shape what we hold selective importance for—in such a case it is human difference. As a system we are involved in whether innocently or not, we look at what this does for us as we consider others as well as ourselves. When we “essentialize” based on a quality, we choose to ignore the rest of what makes someone a person as we attribute said quality to their “absolute and fundamental” being. It becomes clear to us then how power is held through “practice and pressure” by those who present with a quality or imply a lacking of a quality. The concept of applying meaning generated from one’s position in a culture suggests that race is constructed, it falls upon people to sort them without ever having a meaning alone. And yet, we stay in the face of its consequences for how we’ve accentuated its meaning within relationships and institutions. Racialization as an experience done to others is brought to our attention throughout N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season. 

Notions of good or bad faith return to us in our discussion of Jemisin’s novel as the author incorporates the idea of racialization to convey how layers of structural and interpersonal experiences overlap. In the class notes from February 21st, Professor McCoy highlights Heng’s reference of race shows up with the “substantive content” that is the cultural script assumed in racialized societies. A society that we could draw upon is that of the novel, the Stillness, which orders its people into a handful of comms and use-castes among the Sanze—the nation that was founded before the events of the preface and forward. Of these use-castes or socialized groups, we are asked to closely analyze and read the encounters of orogeny and non-orogeny. 

As ultimately a metaphor for the world we find ourselves a part of, Jemisin asks readers to consider how the humanity of some is denied and even lost at the hands of systems that compose many of our current societies—how we are constantly implied in those systems regardless of our individual actions to reject it. Constantly on the edge of rift, the Stillness reminds us of the arbitrary systems that distribute power and privilege to some and keep it out of reach for others causing tension and a burden for those. Counter-intuitively, orogenes who are the only people that possess the ability to manage and control the energy of seismic events experience a loss of attributed power. The orogenes’ power becomes the presented quality in their racialization from the stills of the land; it then effects a “strategic essentialism” to this quality to induce the oppression we know the orogenes are subject to. 

The myth that lingers across their continent is frequently manipulated and managed out of well-intentioned acts and bad-faith. In more specific terms, the Stonelore that the children are conditioned to learn “in creche” brings about the belief that orogenes are to be feared and controlled if it were to be proven as truth (Jemisin 15). As I stated in Mini Collaboration One, even the possibility of what orogenes could do with their ability generates unfounded assumptions amongst the non-orogenes who then “rationalize to commit bad-faith practices,” including isolation and cruelty toward the orogenes. It is further addressed how these instances of intentional deception affect the orogenic youth. A complex system that contributes to this falsity is the Fulcrum as it facilitates orogeny legally to demonstrate that it is a trait that should only be managed and repressed. Mostly it is an institution that is rather “condemned by society,” but meant to operate the utility of orogeny for the rest of the Stillness (Dion). We see this motive to control the orogenes when Damaya is sent to the Fulcrum to become an Imperial Orogene as it is suggested in a transaction-like giving over of her, “[t]here she will be trained to use her curse. Her sacrifice, too, will make the world better” (Jemisin 24). The thought that the force that she will be subjected to during her time at the Fulcrum being portrayed as a sacrifice is misleading since it conveys a meaning that orogeny removes one’s humanity, so for the sake of others denying its quality is in good-faith. In this sense, we must look onto the text with a skeptic glare of how good-faith actions can fall into bad-faith ones as the myth and tradition claim it is necessary in order to stay in good-faith and to survive to then perpetuate the bad-faith purpose of these cultural scripts. 

The concept of possession of people and controlling them based on ideas of fear and antagonism flows with the myths people maintain to make sense of eclipses, resistant to accept scientifically accurate study for an accustomed cultural belief. I would suppose the faulty cycle of Sanze is most relevant to this incessant belief since the depths of its history are founded in its manipulation of power to dominate the Stillness using potent methods. The standard of the Sanzed being as well as the placement within the hierarchy is alluded to as it is recorded as a standalone comment, “Tell them they belong among us, no matter how we treat them. Tell them they must earn the respect which everyone else receives by default” (Jemisin 55). The line traces to the peritext dedicated to “those who have to fight for the respect that everyone else is given without question” (Jemisin 4). The emphasis of its reference makes us reconsider the people of our world that are immensely mistreated, yet fed this narrative that they should nevertheless try to abide by the system that promptly hurts and kills them senselessly. I could parallel this cruelty and falsehood with industries and complexes that build themselves on labor of disproportionately Black bodies. “Then they’ll break themselves trying for what they’ll never achieve,” feels as though a collision to everything that this same society has told the orogenes that they can hold the opportunities and free life the stills have just by breathing. The fate of how the people on the Stillness are racialized belongs in the hands of those with power; those in power form the representation of what is true or not leaving those not having power immobilized to free themselves or resist. Noticing this should make us critically attentive to how representation in society throughout history, oral teachings generationally, and literature even including The Broken Earth trilogy has a lasting influence on our involvement in these systems that reflect much of our own world—and its erasure of art as well as effacement of traditions and lessons that come from non-dominant cultures. 

Opening up this concept of working within the system involuntarily seeing as there isn’t much of a way out of it or to radicalize it, I wonder about the rest of the trilogy and our course. I have a hope for the novels to come as their very existence challenges a remark from Alabaster, “You can’t make anything better…The world is what it is. Unless you destroy it and start all over again, there’s no changing it” (Jemisin 270). As “strategic essentialisms” in a racialized society such as that of The Fifth Season work in bad-faith, those who are given power based on their lack of a quality actively disallow the agency of those with it. The context of a novel that is worth analyzing since we can relate its context to each of ours. For what is to come, it’ll of course continue to be significant to overlay texts and sources for how we interpret the meanings of racialization, myth, and scientific findings. Though I believe it’ll be even more important to recognize the position I take in the course as a reader, how we look upon what we read and conceptualize those experiences through the lens of our world.

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