In the ninth chapter of The Broken Kingdoms, Oree’s captors begin the process of initiating her into the New Lights. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read The Broken Kingdoms.
Chapter Nine: “Seduction” (charcoal)
Well, this is messed up. No, that’s an understatement. N.K. Jemisin explores racism, imperialism, and assimilation with a vicious understanding of how dehumanizing these forces are, and it wasn’t hard for me to find a lot here that felt way, way to true. Actually, I should also state that most of this chapter is a horrifying demonstration of power that creeps me out FOREVER, and I think I demonstrated in last week’s reviews why this upsets me so much, so let’s not repeat things here. Instead, let’s talk about how MESSED UP the New Lights cult are. I was struck fairly early on by the revelation that the place where they were keeping Oree was chaotic. The House of the Risen Sun had to be built in a specific way because it was partially inside the Tree. Even Oree noticed that it was “[h]ardly a monument to the Bright Lord’s love of order.”
And this was a very specific red flag for me because it showed us that these people were willing to compromise their religious customs to serve their own needs. In fact, I’d argue that these people are way more interested in keeping themselves in power than honoring Bright Lord Itempas. Indeed, do Hado or Sermyn ever even talk about Itempas outside of referencing him? No, it doesn’t appear that they care about Itempas at all. Do they even know what actually happened to him? I’m not sure yet, but I am positive that this isn’t their primary concern. No, they’re eager to return things to their order, and that’s obvious to me in the way they talk. In Hado’s case, he often quick to tell the truth with Oree, but not out of charity or respect. No, it’s because he doesn’t care enough to lie to her. He knows that these people have a lot of power over her, so why hide shit from her? He openly discussing recruiting tactics; he refers to her desire to escape as if it’s a “unique need”; he readily admits that the Arameri helped wipe out dissent over the years.
AND THEN THERE’S SERYMN. I had somewhat correctly predicted that she would use Oree’s Maroneh heritage against her in order to bring Oree around to her way of thinking. Truthfully, though, that’s only half of the reality. The way in which Serymn “initiates” Oree is by using a version of the truth that will hurt Oree the most. And I’m purposely saying a “version” of the truth because this is all about perspective. We know there’s more to the story that Serymn paints for Oree, but we also know that she may not necessarily be lying, either. At least not outright, that is. What’s most grating, though, is the supremacist behavior that Serymn exhibits in this chapter. She refers to Oree as “street folk,” openly admits that she’s not used to “commoners,” and reveals that she was spying on Oree and her family as if this is supposed to comfort Oree. The condescension dripping from this woman is TERRIFYING, y’all, because unlike Hado, we don’t get the sense that she’s quite aware of the implications of what she’s saying. That’s not to suggest she isn’t being manipulative here; oh no, she’s clearly a calculating terror. It’s just that she truly is so used to being Arameri and within that culture that she genuinely doesn’t know how to talk to someone she views as “beneath” her.
There was nothing that Serymn said that made this clearer than her comment about the Maroneh:
“My people were once as wealthy and powerful as the Amn, Lady Serymn. Now we’re refugees without even a homeland to call our own, forced to rely on Arameri charity.”
“There have been losses, true,” Serymn conceded. “I believe those are outweighed by the gains.”
Someone give Oree a paintbrush so she can paint this woman into another fucking dimension. My mind went to twenty different places at once. I thought about the indigenous cultures in America, 95% of which were eradicated through violent cultural genocide. I think about how I was able to trace my own heritage back to some of the Mexican forces who used to occupy what is now California, and how I’ve heard people tell me (to my face!) that they’re so glad that the Mexicans were kicked out of California because we’re such a better place for it. (And for the record, if you’re following my The West Wing reviews, I’ll add some context. This was said to me by the mother of someone I lived with in ORANGE COUNTY. Oh my god, I could not have gotten out of that wretched place any sooner.) I think about how cultural assimilation affected me as a transracial adoptee, how my own mother refused to let my brother and I identify as the race WE CLEARLY WERE because she believed that we would be dooming ourselves to failure and poverty. (Don’t worry, mom, the world was going to try to do that anyway.) And I think about the thousands of applications this has in our own world. Jemisin is showing how dehumanizing this is for someone like Oree. Serymn refers to “gains” that ONLY THE ARAMERI EXPERIENCED. This is not a universal truth; the Maroneh didn’t get any of the gains that outweighed their monumental, culture-decimating loss. And that is such a vital distinction to make, y’all.
IS ANYONE SURPRISED THAT I ADORE THIS BOOK??? YOU SHOULDN’T BE AT THIS POINT.
So, let’s go back to the idea that I was only partially prepared for what happened here. I wasn’t necessarily surprised that Serymn was discussing the obliteration of the Maroneh homeland. I expected that. I didn’t expect Serymn to immediately go for the jugular by bringing up Oree’s father’s death. Admittedly, that’s because I didn’t know how he died, and now that I do know, I AM SO FUCKING MAD. I’m mad because it’s a low blow that might actually work. The difficulty in talking about this comes from the fact that Serymn might actually be right. Is it possible that the Nightlord’s freedom came with a price? Did he actually affect the people in Nimaro to the point that they acted out their prejudice toward’s Oree’s father by STONING HIM TO DEATH?
No, this isn’t fair. It’s difficult, but I actually appreciate that Jemisin isn’t making this easy for us. Well, she’s certainly not making it easy for Oree, either, and that final line about Oree not hating Serymn is so damning, because what if this works? What if Oree comes to believe that the gods can’t ever understand humanity? What if she turns from her friends because of this?
EVERYTHING HURTS.
Please note that the original text/videos contain the words “mad” and “insane.”
Part 1
Part 2
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