Jul-20-2009, 06:12 PM (UTC)
One of the (many) things that impresses me about Robin Hobb's stories is her willingness to address issues of human diversity through a fantasy medium. With regard to gender diversity, many female fantasy characters (including Althea in Hobb's own Liveship trilogy) cross-dress as men in order to evade social restrictions. However, the Fool ventures far beyond this purely utilitarian approach to transgender, expressing a gender identity and sexuality so ambiguous that it subverts the distinction between man and woman.
Hobb is also the only author (of which I am aware) to have created a Down's syndrome fantasy hero (Thick). The issue of attempts to limit human diversity was touched upon through Thick's interactions with the Outislanders. In the Outer Isles, selective infanticide is practiced; any newborn children considered weak or defective are killed at birth. Thick is initially regarded with disgust and derision as a person who should not have been allowed to survive. It is only when Thick exhibits his skill-healing powers that he is accepted as a useful (indeed, revered) member of society.
In Dragon Keeper, this theme moves to centre stage. The Bingtown traders and Rainwilders also practice selective infanticide, killing children that express reptilian traits at birth. The justification for this practice is that children "touched" by the Rain Wilds tend to be short-lived and undesirable as mates; unlikely to contribute to the next generation. It is also believed that such individuals will tend to produce children who are themselves heavily touched, increasing the proportion of such individuals in the population. In essence, Rainwild/Bingtown society has constructed arbitrary limits for human diversity. Anyone falling beyond those limits is judged unworthy to survive.
The Dragons have a slightly different approach. Weak individuals are not killed but neither are they aided. Any individual too weak to survive alone is allowed to die and then consumed by the survivors. Here, nature is appointed judge of who is worthy to survive. This is natural selection but it is artificial natural selection because the stronger dragons could help the weaker if they chose to do so. No-one unable to survive alone is allowed to survive at all.
The contradictions and limitations of institutional care for those regarded as defective are revealed in the Rainwilders' treatment of the hatchling dragons. Because of their contract with Tintaglia, the Rainwilders feel obliged to keep the dragons alive. However, because they see the dragons as defective and useless, the Rainwilders do the bare minimum necessary to meet their obligations and attempt to rid themselves of their perceived burden at the first opportunity. They make no effort to aid the dragons in overcoming their disabilities or discovering their potential and so the dragons fail to thrive, wallowing in despair and self-pity.
In our world, most societies do not practice selective infanticide in the traditional sense. However, in the UK, all prospective parents are offered tests and screens for Down's syndrome and various other "birth defects" with the option of abortion if the outcome is unfavourable. I think that our treatment of the "disabled" is now a little more enlightened than the Rainwilders' treatment of the hatchling dragons. Nevertheless, it does no harm to be reminded that huge potential can exist in unexpected places and that by limiting diversity we may literally be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Hobb is also the only author (of which I am aware) to have created a Down's syndrome fantasy hero (Thick). The issue of attempts to limit human diversity was touched upon through Thick's interactions with the Outislanders. In the Outer Isles, selective infanticide is practiced; any newborn children considered weak or defective are killed at birth. Thick is initially regarded with disgust and derision as a person who should not have been allowed to survive. It is only when Thick exhibits his skill-healing powers that he is accepted as a useful (indeed, revered) member of society.
In Dragon Keeper, this theme moves to centre stage. The Bingtown traders and Rainwilders also practice selective infanticide, killing children that express reptilian traits at birth. The justification for this practice is that children "touched" by the Rain Wilds tend to be short-lived and undesirable as mates; unlikely to contribute to the next generation. It is also believed that such individuals will tend to produce children who are themselves heavily touched, increasing the proportion of such individuals in the population. In essence, Rainwild/Bingtown society has constructed arbitrary limits for human diversity. Anyone falling beyond those limits is judged unworthy to survive.
The Dragons have a slightly different approach. Weak individuals are not killed but neither are they aided. Any individual too weak to survive alone is allowed to die and then consumed by the survivors. Here, nature is appointed judge of who is worthy to survive. This is natural selection but it is artificial natural selection because the stronger dragons could help the weaker if they chose to do so. No-one unable to survive alone is allowed to survive at all.
The contradictions and limitations of institutional care for those regarded as defective are revealed in the Rainwilders' treatment of the hatchling dragons. Because of their contract with Tintaglia, the Rainwilders feel obliged to keep the dragons alive. However, because they see the dragons as defective and useless, the Rainwilders do the bare minimum necessary to meet their obligations and attempt to rid themselves of their perceived burden at the first opportunity. They make no effort to aid the dragons in overcoming their disabilities or discovering their potential and so the dragons fail to thrive, wallowing in despair and self-pity.
In our world, most societies do not practice selective infanticide in the traditional sense. However, in the UK, all prospective parents are offered tests and screens for Down's syndrome and various other "birth defects" with the option of abortion if the outcome is unfavourable. I think that our treatment of the "disabled" is now a little more enlightened than the Rainwilders' treatment of the hatchling dragons. Nevertheless, it does no harm to be reminded that huge potential can exist in unexpected places and that by limiting diversity we may literally be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
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