Control in The Fifth Season

One of the central themes in The Fifth Season and in the Stillness is oppression. As the oppressors, the Guardians of the Fulcrum go to great lengths to exert their power over the orogenes through striking fear as well as restricting choice. The control the Guardians look to have over the orogenes stems from the powers of the orogenes, where in the eyes of the Guardians, can be useful to them if controlled.

While on the way to the training programs for orogenes in the Fulcrum, the guardian Schaffa looks to teach Damaya how to control her powers while under pain, when Schaffa says, “Never say no to me… 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” (99).  Schaffa went as far as breaking the hand of Damaya just to teach her the value of controlling her powers. Additionally, Schaffa threatens to hurt Damaya even more in order to establish superiority over her and to make her obedient.

The influence the Fulcrum has on the orogenes leads to a lack of choice in the lives of orogenes. While reflecting over the control the Guardians and the Fulcrum have, Alabaster says to Syenite, “Even within the fulcrum we always have to think about how they want us to act. We can never just… be” (123). Here, Jemisin suggests that the oppressors control the choices of the oppressed or marginalized in order to maintain their power or superior status. Even while in the fulcrum, the orogenes are always thinking about how they are expected to act and are never free to make their own decisions.

The scene that stood out the most to me while reading was when Alabaster takes Syenite to see a node for the first time after a major shake occurs. Not only did they find the node dead upon arriving at the node station, after further investigating had realized the node had been lobotomized as a baby so that its only function was to quell shakes. After Alabaster takes Syenite to see a node, he says, “You think any of us matter beyond what we can do for them… The only reason they don’t do this to all of us is because we’re more versatile, more useful, if we can control ourselves” (143).  For the guardians and the people of the fulcrum, the orogenes are nothing more than an instinct to be used to stop the shakes.  The child is an extreme example in the story of the Guardians of the Fulcrum restricting choice of the orogenes, and more importantly, shows how Guardians view the orogenes as nothing more than an item that can be used to help them if controlled.

Identity in The Fifth Season

Identity plays a strong role in The Fifth Season through the characters’ interactions and inner turmoil, which serves to argue how the world can affect someone’s identity. Damaya’s identity change to Syenite then to Essun symbolizes her own growth throughout the novel. However, it also shows her dissatisfaction with herself and the world. The world fears Orogenes, and that fear causes society to oppress them, taking advantage of Orogenes and treating them as less than human. Alabaster tells Syen, “That we’re not human is just the lie they tell themselves so they don’t have to feel bad about how they treat us” (354). Syen grew up being taught constantly that she and other orogenes were monsters, so in this conversation she yearns to become human, even though she already is. This oppression causes the Orogenes to lose their identity and see themselves as monster, as evidenced through Syen. Syen wants to escape her Orogeny, so she hides it as Essun until her husband kills her son.

Syen is not the only character that faces a metamorphoses in the novel. Tonkee and Hoa are similar to Syen in that they too are suppressed by society because they are different. The reveal that Tonkee is transgender does not largely affect Essun or cause her to view Tonkee any differently. The entire trio - Essun, Hoa, and Tonkee - are the direct opposite of the society in The Fifth Season: they humanize each other and find value in their individual characters instead of their labels. They represent the hope of people accepting others and celebrating difference. Jemisin’s argument is the normalization of certain groups, such as African Americans and transgender people, through this allegory of the three characters.

There is a good bit of physical death in the novel but also the death of identity and past selves. This is summed up at the end of the prologue: “This is what you must remember: the ending of one story is just the beginning of another” (14). Damaya sheds her past life when she becomes Syen, and again when she becomes Essun. However, Jemisin’s style seems to argue that the three parts of Syen are essential parts of herself. All of the perspectives are in present tense, which signifies the fact that even though Syen has tried to break away from her past as Essun, Syen and Damaya are still very present in her life. Jemisin also utilizes style in the shift in perspective - Essun is in second perspective and Damaya and Syen are in third - which represents the present day and who Essun has become. It also effectively puts the reader in her perspective, making the events seem more relative despite the novel being in the sci-fi genre. Afterall, the themes of identity and self-actualization are not only felt by Orogenes, but also people in the real world. Jemisin’s allegory of the Orogenes to African Americans argues the importance of normalizing monsters and finding one’s identity despite the restraints of the world.

Systemic Oppression of Orogenes

N.K Jemison’s The Fifth Season takes place on the Stillness, an earthlike, rather unstable world prone to natural disaster. The planet is host to stone eaters, sapient but inhuman beings, as well as humans of both the normal and orogenic variety. Though the orogenes of N.K. Jemison’s The Fifth Season are immensely powerful, able to move the earth and freeze those around them, they suffer under the yoke of systemic oppression. 

Orogeny is a mysterious, powerful ability. As explained by the guardian Schaffa, Misalem, an Orogene of approximately fifth ring ability out of ten, was long ago able to “kill every living soul in several towns and cities” (89). It is natural for humans to fear power that they cannot understand, and this ancient orogene’s supposed rampage caused the formation of a power structure designed expressly to bring orogenic forces under the rigid control of those without the ability.

Key to this oppression was the formation of the Fulcrum and creation of the Guardians, orogenically blooded individuals who undergo surgery and special training to enhance their ability to counter the use of orogeny. The present Fulcrum both breeds orogenes and picks up strays from across the Stillness, as Damaya found when her fearful mother practically forced her into Schaffa’s hands (29). To the Fulcrum, the orogenes are essentially tools. They are indoctrinated in Fulcrum classes with a set of ideals that holds them to be weapons, and taught that they are not human (297). The orogenes’ existence in this separate society, at all times reminded of how different, destructive, and inhuman they are, serves as a great hindrance to any attempt at changing the status quo. After all, if the orogenes believe themselves to be such a destructive force, it becomes harder for themselves to envision integration with the rest of humanity. When Alabaster remarks that they “could try letting orogenes run things” (124), Syenite is immediately dismissive. 

Of course, oppression of a group such as the orogenes also reaches in the other direction, deeply affecting those supposedly in society’s favor and unoppressed. As Alabaster states soon after his remark, “They kill us because they’ve got stonelore telling them at every turn that we’re born evil” (124).  When orogenes are discovered in a village, the citizens panic, and when Essun’s husband Jija is confronted with evidence of his son’s orogeny, he beats him to death (21). Jija is well-liked by everyone in his community (15) – a good man. The same can likely be said of the many other inhabitants of the panicking comm, caught up in a mob and stewing in their mutual hatred of orogenic power they cannot understand. As Essun states, “The kind of hate that can make a man murder his own son? It [comes] from everyone around you” (57). Such is the nature insidious nature of systemic oppression – it is so deeply entrenched that even the normal populace lynches and drives away orogenes with the same willingness that the Guardians, a police force tasked specifically with the oppression of orogenes, do so.

The Refuting of the Status Quo

            Throughout The Fifth Season N.K. Jemisin challenges the status quo that the most powerful and influential people are white males, by establishing female and non-white protagonists. Each of these characters establish their competence and power through supernatural events, while also coping with emotional trauma.

Alabaster is a dark-skinned man who helplessly witnesses the murder of his lover for being an orogene, at the hands of a guardian (289-290), an event that instils in him a distrust in guardians. As the highest ranking orogene, a ten-ringer, he is the most powerful person on the continent. He has so much power that he splits the continent as revealed in his confrontation with Essun where she exclaims, “You split the continent. You started this season. With the obelisks! You did…all of that” (448). Alabaster understands that in order to erect change, drastic measures sometimes need to be taken.

Essun is a woman who just lost her son, triggering a state of grief (1). However, she saves Tirimo by diverting an earthquake (11). Even though she knows that by redirecting the earthquake she will put herself in danger, by alerting the Comm that an orogene is living among them. She still stops the earthquake saving the people. Her pure power and selflessness in the face of tragedy refutes any sexist stereotypes.

Syenite is a teenager, who is constantly having here perceptions altered. Through her interactions with Alabaster she learns there is more to orogeny then what the guardians say, like how Alabaster and her share their power to stop seismic activity (128). She also has enough strength to channel the power of the obelisks enabling her to pass through the earth with the aid of a Stone Eater when attacked by a guardian (262). When thrust into immediate danger she saves herself and Alabaster, which challenges any sexist stereotypes that women are weak and incompetent.

Damaya is just a child in grade school when she discovers her powers and is taken away to the Fulcrum (39). She is naturally curious, to the point that she explores the entirety of the Fulcrum, even the places that are forbidden. She gets caught by the guardians and as punishment is has to take the first ring test immediately, whereas most orogenes are given time to prepare in advance (330). Damaya passes the first ring test without the normal months of preparation (331). She overcomes any obstacles, debunking any sexist or ageist stereotypes.

            N.K. Jemisin creates powerful diverse characters that challenge the ageist, racist, and sexist status quo by having Alabaster, a dark-skinned 10-ringer, Essun, a grieving mother, Syenite, a confused teenager, and Damaya, a curious child. All these characters refute common stereotypes through relatable and supernatural situations to attack the status quo proving that people of color and women are equal to white men.

A Deadly Cycle

Division and alienation are themes throughout The Fifth Season, and manifest themselves in a variety of ways.  The effects of irresolvable disconnects among and between different species in the Stillness demonstrate the chaos that ensues when beings are misunderstood and “monstered”– a phenomena that goes hand-in-hand with estrangement.  Through the othering of these various groups, Jemisin connects her sci-fi universe, including its power dynamics, discrimination, and stereotypes, to very real issues in our world today.

It seems to be a part of human (or other sentient beings’) nature to instantly demonize those who are different.  Whether that is out of fear, misunderstanding, or fervent disagreement, it quickly contributes to a vicious cycle of demonize, fear, divide, repeat.  In The Fifth Season, many beings are vilified due to misinformation, causing the humans of the Stillness to inadvertently create the very thing they fear and leading to a cavernous rift between humans and sentient non-humans, especially the orogenes.  The humans of the Stillness have a deep rooted fear of orogeny that is perpetuated by the guardians’ propaganda, as well as the orogenes’ often unintentional behavior.  When an orogene feels threatened as a result of human fear, their own fear kicks in– causing them to lash out through the earth.  Without human threats to exile, harm, or kill them, orogenes are generally quite peaceful.  Thus, humans’ greatest fear is one of their own creation and is deepened by the guardians.

However, the fact that this fear is somewhat superficial does not put an end to the cycle and does not stop it from contributing massively to societal division and conflict in the Stillness.  Orogenes are demonized, segregated, stigmatized, and dehumanized.  Although they are extremely powerful, they do not hold positions of power, and thus are treated as lesser-than.  They are told that “they must earn the respect which everyone else receives by default… [that] there is a standard for acceptance; that standard is simply perfection” (Jemisin 76).  Because the orogenes are monstered by the guardians who hold power over them, they are feared and surrounded by chaos which spreads wherever they go.  The estrangement and vilification of orogenes only serves to create more chaos than would exist if they were not subjugated.

Jemisin clearly intends for the Stillness and its social and political culture to be an allegory for the world we live in.  The orogenes are treated similarly to African Americans and other minorities in the United States– limited and demonized by the way the people in power portray them.  They are stereotyped as dangerous and criminal simply because it’s a convenient generalization to maintain existing power structures, similarly to how orogenes are kept under the guardians’ control.  The chaos created by monstering these groups is unnecessary and preventable if only those non-othered say enough is enough, standing up and amplifying the voices of those essentially wronged, subverting the power dynamic and leveling the playing field so all are equal– black and white, orogene and still, and everyone in between.

Fictional Flaws

It’s no secret that America currently faces numerous problems in regards to race, class, and gender based discrimination. Contemporary authors such as C.E. Morgan and N.K. Jemisin have challenged these issues, but each have done so in different ways. As opposed to Morgan, Jemisin uses a fictitious world set in the future in a futile attempt to convey racism, sexism, and class division. Jemisin’s novel, The Fifth Season, is exactly what is wrong with America today. No issue will cease to exist if it is not properly addressed, and dancing around serious problems pertaining to discrimination will not solve anything. Problems must be confronted directly, not in a made-up world meant to give readers their own interpretations. 

This fictional society known as The Stillness features numerous classes of “groups and factions” (286) not unlike America. What does differ, however, is that the falsified issues throughout Jemisin’s work are a mere parody on what America legitimately faces in regards to societal strife. While readers are learning a multitude of imaginary terms and definitions, blacks in America still face greater poverty rates, are more likely to fall victim to violent crime, and have a lower life expectancy rate than whites. Furthermore, the problem of racism is prevalent, as hate crimes occur and segregation is less than sixty years removed. When Jemisin utilizes the term “rogga” to describe one race, one can only feel disdain, as it is a poor take on another racial slur with a similar sound used to describe blacks. It is said that “sometimes a rogga can’t learn control” (140), mirroring the negative connotation given towards blacks in other literary works of both past and present. Questioning “friends who talk to an orogene” and how “it sounds ridiculous” (125) is another example of a racist connotation masked by science fiction.

In regards to gender, women have become prominent leaders in American society. In less than one hundred years, women went from not being able to vote to having a presidential candidate. Numerous other women serve in government jobs, within the US Military, and in other professions that were once exclusively reserved for men. Jemisin’s need to give certain women characters dominant superpowers and the ability to warp the weather is meant to elevate women to a powerful status and empower feminist readers. In reality, this has an adverse effect, as women do not need to be inflated with powers to showcase their strength. 

The world of science fiction in literature is meant to escape, not enrich. While the current generation in America has made numerous strides in the effort to curb racism and sexism, these efforts have stemmed from hard work and determination, not fictitious stories meant to convey an underlying meaning. Masquerading an issue does more harm than benefit, and while Jemisin has received numerous  accolades for her work, it is still to be determined if The Fifth Season is culturally significant.

Less is More

Throughout “The Fifth Season” N. K. Jemisin weaves a tight story with many twists as well as delicate topics, all of which she handles beautifully through her use of subtlety. This delicate web she builds through her story is able to handle these topics due to the fact that she effectively targets the readers emotions, without overwhelming the reader. Her subtlety as a strength is best displayed when she handles the provocative topics of gender, and sexuality. When Jemisin introduced Tonkee, a transgender character, she first built the character and later introduces her gender identity. Her identity is introduced as she bathes in front of Essun, in a nonchalant manner ending in her joking about making her a breeder. Jemisin’s use of a nonchalant dialogue as well as the light-hearted comment at the end, elevate her writing because it opens the door to large debates while enforcing the idea that nothing about her character changes because of her gender identity.  This simplistic style when bringing up large provocative topics better touches the readers emotions because the readers have already developed an attachment to the character for all of their other qualities. Her style also perpetuates that something as small as a character’s gender identity does not make them any less of a person. A similar writing style is seen when Jemisin tackles sexuality as well. When she addresses Alabaster’s sexuality the conversation centralizes around a “Guardian”, and the detail that he was a date with a man was just another detail. Similarly, when she introduces a polyamorous relationship, Innon states “Oh? So you have decided to share?” (356) Innon brings up the start of a polyamorous relationship in a casual manner that does not cause the reader to think twice. It normalizes all of these situations and is able to beautifully humanize each typically polarizing issue so that readers think of them as people, not as just their sexuality or their gender. This writing style allows Jemisin to exhibit that they don’t have to hide part of their identity “[b]ecause I want you to like me” (234). Jemisin’s simplistic style perfectly lends itself to humanize polarizing issues.

The Importance of Differing Perspectives in The Fifth Season

One of the many fascinating aspects of N.K Jemisin’s novel, The Fifth Season, is her choice to alternate perspectives in each new chapter. The novel starts with the perspective of a woman named Essun, who just watched her husband murder her son, Uche, because he was an orogene. She interrupts her thoughts by saying “nothing” in order to block out her traumatic memories (Jemisin 17). She feels paranoid that her city will discover that she, too, is an orogene because she just prevented a shake from destroying Tirimo. She willingly leaves Tirimo to search for her husband and get revenge, but kills the guards with her powers after they attempt to kill her. Then the perspective switches to a young girl named Damaya. Her parents have locked her in a barn because they are scared of her orogeny after she accidentally killed one of her classmates. A tall pale man comes to get Damaya and she becomes convinced that her parents have sold her, since “ the other children in creche whisper of child-markets in faraway cities” where misbehaved children go to (Jemisin 26). The strange man turns out to be a Guardian, a person who manages orogenes. He takes Damaya to the Fulcrum to learn how to control her powers, where her curiosity leads her to find things in the Fulcrum that were hidden for a reason and almost get her killed. The final character to be introduced is Syenite, an overly eager four-ringer who has been sent on an assignment with Alabaster, a ten-ringer who could care less about his life at the Fulcrum. Even though Syen barely tolerates his presence at first, she learns to control her orogeny through him. Syen and Alabaster have a son together, but he eventually dies as a result of a Fulcrum attack on the island they have been hiding on (Jemisin 443). At first glance, the only thing that connects these characters is their orogeny. But there are subtle similarities that connect the seemingly separate chapters. All three have had to leave their home as a result of their abilities and if you line up the characters by age you see a gradual increase in their ability to control themselves. Jemisin reveals later on in the novel that all three characters are in fact the same person. But she illustrates each character in such a way that you view them as separate people. She does this to show that your life is a journey and you are not confined to one character as you age. You have the ability to adapt and change, for better or for worse. Jemisin did not want us to see Essun, Damaya, and Syenite as the same person because, while they might be the same physically, mentally they are in very different places. They each struggle with their own problems and deal with their own losses. Jemisin wanted us to see that it is normal and acceptable to change and I believe that this message is one of the most inspiring messages I’ve read in awhile.

Gender Portrayal in The Fifth Season

In her book, The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin paints a picture of a fantasy world that she uses as an allegory for the real world.  Throughout the story, Jemisin uses the world she created to challenge the gender norms of the real world by allowing women to hold just as much, if not more, power than men, and by including transgender characters in a way that does not place importance on gender.

In this story, the majority of the main characters are women.  The story follows Syenite/Damaya and Essun, who are both women.  By making the main characters women in a book about power, Jemisin shows that women are just as powerful and important as men.  Women also hold just as much power as men do in this book. For example, both women and men can be orogenes, and orogenes are judged based on how many rings they have rather than their gender.  This is seen when the deputy governor is skeptical that Syenite will be able to clear the harbor because she is only a four ringer. The deputy governor wants Alabaster to do it, not because he’s a man, but because he is a ten ringer.  When Syenite tells the deputy governor that she will be clearing the harbor instead of Alabaster the deputy governor says “will you be … sufficient?” (212). Syenite then is forced to explain why she will be able to clear the harbor, even though she is only a four ringer.  This discrimination by rings rather than by gender shows that people in this world do not care about gender as much as people do in the real world. By making power between men and women equal, Jemisin challenges the norm in today’s world that men typically have more power than women. 

Jemisin also includes transgender people in her story.  When they are introduced, they are both mentioned in a way that shows that nobody cares that they are transgender.  One is a boy who is in Damaya’s class in the fulcrum and Jemisin slips this into the story when she writes, “another boy has no penis, though he stuffs a sock into his underwear after every shower” (193).  Jemisin introduces this boy in a very matter of fact way and does not place much importance on the fact that he is transgender. Jemisin introduces the other transgender person in a very similar way that does not place importance on gender.  This reinforces the theme that people in this world do not care about gender and shows that less importance should be placed on gender in today’s world.  

Throughout the story, Jemisin shows that people of all genders should be equal in the real world by writing The Fifth Season in a way that does not place importance on gender.            

Gender in “The Fifth Season”

          When N.K. Jemisin’s “The Fifth Season,” begins, Damaya is portrayed as a frightened, Orogene child hiding in a barn from her parents and future guardian. She is at the mercy of what people who deem themselves “above” her decide, even though she has the power within her to overtake them. Damaya’s Guardian. Schaffa, is a man, and begins their relationship by overexerting the power he claims over her by breaking her hand and mocking her, claiming he won’t “tease [her like her] brother did” (Jemisin 104). Later in the novel, when Damaya earns a ring and changes her name to Syenite, she is yet again placed in the hands of a man: this time as a breeder, sent on a journey to pull coral from a reef as well as have a child with Alabaster. As a ten-ringer, Alabaster is yet another man placed in a position of power about Syenite. She is ultimately told that she needs to obey him, and originally seems to try, but her distaste for Alabaster is clear. The inhabitants of the Fulcrum, and most others living on Father Earth, seem to believe in a very patriarchal society. Therefore, Damaya/Syenite begin her life there at the bottom of the ladder because she is not only an orogene, but also a woman.

          However, as the novel progresses and Syenite and Alabaster go forth on their adventures, Syenite’s physical and mental power blossom and she begins to realize how strong she really is. This realization is beneficial in her eventual breaking out of her stereotypical gender role. Syenite begins this transition by talking back to and questioning Alabaster, even though he outranks her, and his respect and like for her seem to grow out of this controversy. It is when the pair finally arrive to Meov that Syenite’s full powers develop and her strength fully realized. Syenite and Alabaster realize that they have both developed feelings for Innon and first, Syenite decides to be the bigger person and “let” Alabaster have him. In this conversation, Innon claims that while Alabaster is a broken person, Syenite is “dented, bruised, but intact,” as well as “the stronger of the pair” (Jemisin 357). This catches Syenite off guard and is a turning point for a breaking of gender stereotypes in the novel. While Syenite is portrayed as strong throughout the story, Alabaster is originally portrayed as stronger: he outranks her, is a man, and has the ability to even control her. In Meov, Syenite gains respect and breaks out of the stereotypical gender role of just being a breeder.

          Following this, Syenite continues to be in an ever growing position of power. She grows restless when Innon wants her to fall into a typical motherhood role with her child, and demands that she is able to use her powers to help the comm. When Meov is later attacked, Syenite is able to fend off some of the Guardian ships and is one of the few survivors, allowing her to become Essun. Essun goes on to be a strong female character as well, overcoming the dangers and obstacles of an impending season as she attempts to seek vengeance on her husband for killing her son. Overall, the novel portrays the difficulties that come with being forced into a stereotypical role by society – Damaya got the shortest end of the stick by being born as not only an orogene, but also a woman. However, she is able to overcome this and flip the typical gender role of women to become to novel’s most powerful character, using her powers to help her and others survive.