Breaking the Status Quo

In The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin, Jemisin forces the reader to question the status quo in the same way that Essun, the main character, is forced to revise her set of beliefs on orogeny and how communities are built. Jemisin uses power structures, as well as the structure of the novel itself, to show readers that nothing is set in stone. 

 A common belief held by the inhabitants of the Stillness is that stonelore cannot be changed. Even before Essun is Essun, she holds this belief. While traveling with Alabaster, he argues that “‘the admonition against changing the stonelore is itself a recent addition’” (125). The Sanzeds, the people that hold the most power, construct a society that secures their spots at the top of the social hierarchy based solely on stonelore written by their own ancestors. The orogenes are the scum of the earth because of what the stonelore commands (124). Stonelore represents the status quo in the Stillness, and because stonelore can change, so can the status quo.

Communities in the Stillness are built according to rules from stonelore, and most comms abide by the stonelore. Two comms Essun encounters break the rules of stonelore and challenge the status quo. While living in Meov, Essun struggles with the customs that separate Meov from other comms of the Sanzed Empire. In Meov, orogenes are leaders, and use names don’t mean anything (349). Essun doesn’t accept this blatant rejection of the status quo until later in her life when she is drawn to Castrima, the strange underground comm also led by orogenes. At this point, she acknowledges that “the goal is survival, and sometimes survival requires change” (409). Essun realizes that stonelore does not tell the whole story; stonelore does not represent the right way or the only way to survive. In Castrima, Essun sees something that she never could have imagined: orogeny for building (332). The revelation that orogenes can lead comms and use their powers to build things is a complete reversal of everything taught to Essun as a child. Both Meov and Castrima show Essun that orogeny can benefit society, and that it is sometimes essential for survival.

 The structure of the novel also goes against the status quo. The novel is not written chronologically, and it comes as a surprise to the reader when it is revealed that Damaya, Syenite, and Essun are the same person. The second person narration of Essun’s chapters also goes against the grain. Jemisin reinforces her ideals of change and progress, even in the structure of the book. Referring to the dismissal of the obelisks as deadciv artifacts, Jemisin asks “Who misses what they have never, ever even imagined?” (151). Just as Essun doesn’t believe that orogenes can work together, build things, or lead comms, the reader doesn’t imagine that all three characters could be the same person (168). In addition to this, Jemisin is an African American woman writing in a field dominated by white males. The very existence of The Fifth Season goes against the status quo. Through unexpected twists and unconventional methods of writing, Jemisin encourages the reader to be like Essun and realize that vast change is possible.
 Overall, The Fifth Season is a novel that celebrates sweeping change, whether it be the change of beliefs, societies, or power structures. And most of all, it encourages readers to see past the status quo in their own lives, especially when it comes to race.