The Bone Season

The primary conflict in The Bone Season is not just between Paige Mahoney and Nashira or even between human and Rephaim, but on a larger, political scale, it represents a battle between oppressed and oppressor. The conventions of the fantasy genre demand that characters play for the highest possible stakes, where nothing less than the freedom of humanity is at risk. This conflict plays out in large and small ways, sometimes manifesting in explosions and gunfire, but just as often in subtler forms—a defiant look or a passed note. Either way, these gestures represent humanity’s desperate need for autonomy, for people must be able to determine their own destinies free from the fear and control of an overlord. For Paige, the question of whether to rebel is never in doubt, and she defies Warden at every turn until she realizes that he is actually on her side. Even when she seems to comply, it is always part of a broader strategy either to gain trust or to bide her time until the moment is right to strike. For example, she only agrees to train with Warden because further honing her abilities may help her win her freedom. Similarly, she defies his explicit order to avoid the woods because she believes it will offer an escape route, and when she agrees to Nashira’s mission, it is only to try to reconnect with Nick and Jaxon. Paige’s defiance thus earns her numerous beatings, for the oppressor must always make an example of disobedient members of the oppressed group, lest others follow suit—but Paige remains unfazed by such punishments. Furthermore, Shannon is not starry-eyed about the consequences of defying authority and ensures that her characters display their understanding of the risks involved in defiance; she also preserves a sense of realism by penning characters who choose to submit to the dominant regime out of the fear of reprisal. In demonstration of this dynamic, Liss fantasizes about revenge but ultimately admits, “I know they’d kill me first, so I don’t do it” (125). While some red-jackets enjoy holding a relative position of power over other oppressed individuals so as to enable their own natural cruelty (like Kathryn, who burns Liss’s tarot cards), others no doubt wear the red tunics only out of a sense of fear and self-preservation.

Shannon also explores this interplay between oppressed and oppressors with a nod to real-world geopolitical events. When Paige’s cousin Finn is arrested and possibly executed for defying the oppressive Scion government in Ireland, this event deliberately borrows from the historical “Troubles” in Northern Ireland, a relatively recent memory in world history that renders Finn’s defiance against Scion occupation all the more relevant. His insistence that the six-year-old Paige attend the protest despite the danger plants the seeds of activism in her from a very early age, seeds that flower years later as she resists the iron hand of the Rephaim. Just as Finn serves as a role model to the young Paige, she does the same for the countless voyants in Sheol who want to challenge their oppressors but just need that single spark to light the flame of rebellion.