In the fourth chapter of The Stone Sky<\/i>, Nassun makes her way out of her home, and then she has an epiphany. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read The Broken Earth<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For discussion of death (including death of a child), grief, abuse of a child<\/b><\/p>\n
Holy shit. Well… it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like Jemisin didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t warn me! I knew at the end of The Obelisk Gate<\/i> that Nassun was sliding towards nihilism because of what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been through, and now? Oh my god, this is becoming not just a struggle for survival, but I think we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to see an epic philosophical showdown as well.<\/p>\n
Is the world worth saving? If so, are people<\/i> worth saving, too?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not lost on me that as Essun just learned that maybe there is a value in community she never truly saw, Nassun is shedding her own, becoming more and more alone. I think we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see that as an intentional thing that Jemisin does. What if Essun becomes less alone as Nassun becomes more? How will that reflect in their respective beliefs about what to do with the Moon?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know yet, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m interested to see how Nassun\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s experience will shape her. Here, in chapter four, we are getting to see deep within a character who has been dealt a great deal of trauma. Some of it was generational, passed on to her by the world and by a mother who was oppressed by the Fulcrum. And ever since she discovered that her younger brother was murdered by her father, look what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s seen. Felt. Had done to her. More than ever, I understand why she has such a deep attachment to Schaffa, even though his history is a goddamn nightmare. (A history that I think stretches back to Syl Anagist, given that he admits to having seen<\/i> the Moon.) He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s consistent. Supportive. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s loving in a way that fills all the vacancies left by her parents\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 love. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not something I put together until this chapter. He loves her unconditionally, which is something that her father could not provide. He also lets her be herself\u00e2\u20ac\u201dher full orogene self\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhich is what her mother denied her. In short, he fulfills her needs in a way her actual parents do not<\/p>\n But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not just about catering to Nassun; I think she recognizes that even when he makes hard decisions, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to protect her. She is the center<\/i> of his decision-making process. Look at the orogene children for an example of this. He doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t kill them all, nor does he ask Nassun to kill them. Despite it being the most pragmatic option, given what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll go through, he knows that this will be a horrible trauma for her to experience. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more important to him is that this journey to Corepoint be something that only he and Nassun make. They cannot have anyone slowing them down, holding them back, or distracting them. So, at the literal crossroads, Schaffa tells all of Nassun\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only real friends\u00e2\u20ac\u201dif you can even call them that\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthat they must not follow them anymore.<\/p>\n This might be the practical thing to do, but guess what? It negates exactly NONE of the heartbreak of the scene. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, this was fucking rough<\/i>. For many of these kids, Found Moon was their only home, and it certainly kept them safe. And now what? What are they supposed to do? Survive as a group? On their own? Until the next bigoted group of stills turns on them, and they have to fight for their lives or prove that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re valuable enough to be spared?<\/p>\n Basically: Yes. Deshati, one of the children, calls it like it is, which inspires Schaffa to give a chilling recommendation:<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Kill only one, initially. Pick someone who tries to harm you\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbut only one, even if more than one tries. Disable the others, but take your time killing that one person. Make it painful. Make sure your target screams. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important. if the first one that you kill remains silent… kill another.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In this, Jemisin reminds us of the calculated brutality not just of survival, but of Schaffa the Guardian. Because of course he would know how to use death and torture to keep a group of people obedient and afraid. Who better to teach a lesson like that than a Guardian? That being said… there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still a tenderness here, even if Schaffa knows that these kids will most likely not survive that long. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m thinking particularly of how he treats Deshati:<\/p>\n When he stands to kiss Deshati\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s forehead, there is so much sorrow in the gesture that Nassun aches afresh. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcAll things change during a Season,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says. \u00e2\u20ac\u009dLive.<\/i> I want you to live.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think he believes<\/i> she is going to live, but I believe he wants<\/i> her to. In a sense, these children are part of his last-minute attempt at redemption, aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t they? (I say last-minute because the dude has lived for AGES and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only now, at what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m guessing is the very end of things, that he is trying to examine what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done and repair what little of the world he can. At least I think<\/i> that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doing, especially since this chapter outright confirms my long-held guess that Earth is speaking to the contaminated Guardians. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s resisting Earth\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s desires this entire time, and Earth wants to wipe out humanity, right? Well, Earth also wanted Schaffa to kill the orogene children, too. Just take everyone out.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Which worries me. It worries me because of what else is revealed here, what epiphany Nassun has. So many pieces fall into place, and while some were things I guessed or were outright hinted at either, this still felt so shocking to have all of it discussed so openly. Nassun, Schaffa, and Steel are bound for Corepoint, the only place where Nassun believes she can properly \u00e2\u20ac\u0153catch\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the Moon. Based on what Alabaster told Essun about Corepoint, I am very<\/i> interested to see how Nassun will be received there. We know that there are tons of stone eaters living around the massive hole that descends to the center of the Earth. Will they enjoy that she is trying to bring the Moon back? I mean… I have to assume so, given that Steel just complicated everything by revealing that HE WAS THE GREY STONE EATER FROM RENNANIS. And he baited Essun as a way to get her to go to Corepoint to capture the Moon! Except she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clearly not doing that, so it makes sense that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d turn their attention to Nassun, who has the ability and<\/i> the desire. And then… Earth. Evil Earth is another variable I have to consider. Doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Evil Earth want<\/i> their child back? If Nassun has made it clear she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to catch the Moon, why would Earth want Schaffa to kill her?<\/p>\n Because this is the chapter where I also find out that EARTH SENT THE CONTAMINATED GUARDIANS INTO THE WORLD TO FIND OROGENES WHO COULD ACTIVATE THE GATE. Oh my god. THE FUCKING NAME. IT JUST HIT ME. FOUND MOON. These motherfuckers were supposed to find the moon and bring it back IT WAS RIGHT THERE IN MY FACE. So… oh god, is that<\/i> why Earth wanted Schaffa to kill the other kids? Because they weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t useful to Earth? Oh, my brain. MY HEART.<\/p>\n Actually, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what I can say about Nassun\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s emotional breakdown in the final part of this chapter. Nassun has lived a short life of trauma, of contradictions, of living in a world that punishes her for who she is, despite that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s never had a choice in the matter. Look, there was something deeply relatable about Nassun\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s desire to be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ordinary\u00e2\u20ac\u009d! I think any of us who have lived a life on the margins know what she was talking about, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m certain a whole lot of you have had a moment in your past where you wished you were \u00e2\u20ac\u0153normal.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d But Jemisin, through Nassun, takes this further. Nassun might feel this at times, but in the end, she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t actually want to stop being an orogene, and she certainly doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to want to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153cure\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the world of them, either. She also recognizes the struggle she and other orogenes will have in the future unless something changes:<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I know they\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe stills\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ever stop being afraid. If my father couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u0153 Queasiness. She jerks her thoughts away from the end of that sentence. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll just go on being scared forever, and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll just go on living like this forever, and it isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t right<\/i>. There should be a\u00e2\u20ac\u201da fix. It isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t right that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no end<\/i> to it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So what is<\/i> that end? She definitively states that she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to fix<\/i> orogeny. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the problem with the world. The problem is other people<\/i>. And in a stunning sequence rife with pain and grief, Nassun revisits the moment she found her younger brother dead, and she is overwhelmed by her rage over what was done to Uche. She draws a direct line between the hatred Jija felt towards Uche\u00e2\u20ac\u201dmurderous, all-encompassing, intensely violent\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand what she<\/i> now feels towards the world. This one line… lord, it BROKE me:<\/p>\n This. This is the Jija in her, making her thrash and shout and weep. She feels closer than ever to her father in this moment of utter broken rage.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Christ. I know Jemisin isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t making an equivalency here herself, but instead taking us into Nassun\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s thoughts over her own grief and the injustice that is possible to divorce from it. Because this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just about loss! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not simply anger at Uche being dead; the reasoning for his death is just so deeply, deeply wrong. How do you rectify that? How can you ever repair or fix a harm that has caused such an extensive loss of life? Remember, many of the quotes at the end of these chapters have addressed orogenes murdered for helping<\/i> stills. HELPING! So, yeah, fixing or repairing this world? Why<\/i>? Why not just burn it all down and be down with it?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what Earth wants, though. And I worry about Schaffa telling Nassun to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153make the end you need.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Because what does that entail? I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s this:<\/p>\n In Schaffa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s arms, safe and accepted, she sleeps at last, amid dreams of a world glowing and molten and in its own way, at peace.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a scary thought, but you know what? As someone interested and invested in things like prison abolition and the abolition of the police, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t claim this is a faulty outlook. You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t reform something designed to break people, designed to enslave people, designed to value some lives over others.<\/p>\n You have to burn them all down.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So maybe that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what Nassun is going to do, which would pit her against her mother, who is just trying to fix the world rather than start over. Again: it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a philosophical battle as much as its personal. And is the Old Man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Pucker located exactly<\/i> where Essun is right now??? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s at the center of a grass forest… okay, so maybe not, but I got worried. I am still<\/i> worried about where this is going.<\/p>\n NOTES<\/b><\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – My second novel, EACH OF US A DESERT, is now out in the world!<\/a> In the fourth chapter of The Stone Sky, Nassun makes her way out of her home, and then she has an epiphany. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read The Broken Earth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569,576],"tags":[571,413],"class_list":["post-5286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-broken-earth","category-the-stone-sky","tag-mark-reads-the-broken-earth","tag-nk-jemisin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5286\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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