Stereotype Threat in "The Fifth Season"

Stereotype threat and self-actualization bias are real facts of psychology, and the orogenes in this novel are not immune. When one is forced into a certain role by an authoritative figure, they tend to conform to whatever societal pressures are being placed on them, and they behave according to how society views them, not how they would if they were free from judgment. This is seen multiple times in the novel with Damaya. When she is young, she realizes her powers when she is harassed at school and shows her true colors, nearly killing one of them in an altercation (38). After this, Schaffa finds her and takes her to the Fulcrum so she can begin her rigid training (39). The trials and tribulations of her training fundamentally change her personality. She is told that orogenes are dangerous, and that they are “the Misalems of the world, born cursed and terrible (193). While they are powerful, this represents a stereotype bias that influences many orogenes. Since they are told they are dangerous and frightening, many orogenes believe they would act out if unchecked by Guardians.

Alabaster reveals this bias when he suggests that orogenes should run the world, “They kill us because they’ve got stonelore telling them at every turn that we’re born evil – some kind of agents of Father Earth, monster that barely qualify as human” (124). The orogenes are so oppressed, the mere thought of them taking back control from the other groups of the world seems preposterous. The world is so afraid of the orogenes because they are told to be, and orogenes misuse their power at times because they believe they are uncontrollable. In this way, both the orogenes and the rest of the world are impacted by self-actualization bias. Since the rest of the world is told to be afraid of orogenes as they grow up, they will fear the sight of their black uniform alone. Orogenes that are grits at the Fulcrum believe that their power is dangerous unchecked only because the Guardians tell them it is. I truly believe it would be very interesting to see if in the sequel, the orogenes prove their ability to control their power on their own, and overcome the huge bias indoctrinated in them.