The bestselling author of the "Divergent" series, Veronica Roth, released her latest fantasy novel "Carve the Mark" this past Tuesday. While many authors tweeted their support of Roth and her latest book, reviewers who received ARCs (advanced reader copies) have begun stepping forward and calling out this book as being extremely racist and ableist.
On January 14, Scott Simon of NPR interviewed Roth about her upcoming novel, a new fantasy novel taking place in a new world of Roth's creation. During this interview, Roth explains the basic premise of her novel, in which everyone receives a "gift" once they come of age. Simon has Roth explain a little bit more about one of her main characters' gift; she experiences and utilizes chronic pain.
Roth goes on to explain that the inspiration behind this character's gift comes from "several friends who experienced chronic pain" who were "underestimated by doctors." This is not an uncommon practice; oftentimes writers draw inspiration from their own lives and the lives of others that they are close to for reference and influence toward their characters actions.
However, the nature of Roth's use of this chronic pain that her character experiences is extremely ablest. In the interview, Roth compares her friends' chronic pain stoires to that of her character, Cyra, saying that, "[this chronic] pain takes over your life and limits your potential," and that, "that's kind of Cyra's struggles."
Members of the book community, particularly on Twitter, have taken on the matter, particularly members of that community who experience chronic pain.
The ableism present within "Carve the Mark" is not the end of the list of criticisms from the community. In Justine Aireland's blog post entitled "The Continent, Carve the Mark, and the Trope of the Dark Skinned Aggressor," Aireland points out the toxic trope often found in fantasy novel world-building where African (and other non-white, non-European) culture is taken and appropriated into the novel, almost always within the "savage race" of the story. Aireland goes on to list the different ways Roth's newest novel takes these cultures and calls them savage and barbaric when compared to the other, more European based, culture the other race of people have.
Racism in books is not a new concept by any stretch, and neither is ablism. However, we are now in 2017. It is time to start allowing representation without any skewed perception. It is time to let the people who belong to these cultures reclaim them in the media and tell their stories. It is time for all of the privileged white people (myself included) to stand up for our brothers and sisters and call out those who choose to enable this unhealthy viewpoint.
And if this isn't enough to make you take "Carve the Mark" off of your reading list, maybe it's time to reevaluate where you stand.
