Noughts and Crosses - 2001
Callum is a naught, a second-class citizen in a society run by the ruling Crosses. Sephy is a Cross, and daughter of the man slated to become prime minister. In their world, white naughts and black Crosses simply don't mix -- and they certainly don't fall in love. But that's exactly what they've done.
When they were younger, they played together. Now Callum and Sephy meet in secret and make excuses. But excuses no longer cut it when Sephy and her mother are nearly caught in a terrorist bombing planned by the Liberation Militia, with which Callum's family is linked. Callum's father is the prime suspect...and Sephy's father will stop at nothing to see him hanged. The blood hunt that ensues will threaten not only Callum and Sephy's love for each other, but their very lives.
The book Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman is a dystopian fiction based in a 21st-century parallel universe. Their world, technologically at least, is similar to the one we live in today: about the same jobs, same type of government etc. But there is one key difference: the state of equality between races is somewhat lacking and there aren’t many laws or constitutions to protect from discrimination. There are two races in the book: the Crosses (darker skinned people who we in our current universe would call ‘black’) the superior race with the individuals owning lots of money, good jobs different and better schools etc. Whilst the second race: the noughts (lighter skinned people who we would refer to as "White" are at the poorer end of society usually doing manual labour or being servant to Crosses, with poor schools – if any at all – they are not slaves. It is important that that’s clear in the book: the races are still segregated in any way the Crosses find possible.
Oh, my! Is all young adult fiction this dark now days? At times I didn’t think I could drag myself to keep reading, and at other points I wanted to see what happened. Technically it bogged down with occasional flashes of good writing. Certainly its premise is unique and instructive. I had to keep reminding myself which group was black and which white. That proves the success of its goal to allow the reader to experience what he can’t under long held societal caste. Obviously that’s the dominant theme of the book, with lesser ones of violence, love, world politics, good vs evil and their mix in each person, motives, family, suffering, and on and on. Maybe that’s why it seems to try to cover too much and become heavy to tread, or maybe that is brilliant creation of depression that paints the whole dystopian universe as hopeless, as if looking at it through a dirty cloth.
ReplyDeleteMy copy had the short novella that follows and leads into the rest of the trilogy, which I have no desire to pursue. Malorie Blackman turns the world upside down and disturbs our notions about racial injustice, but to me she speaks through a brutal horror that repels rather than encourages change and redemption. The cover advises it is not suitable for younger readers, so I’m not sure where it fits into young adult age.
This book continues to haunt my waking and sleeping hours I think because of its raw basis in truth. Whether through our own Civil rights abuses from Native Americans to Negro slaves to any immigrants of different shades or faiths or ethnicities, genders, sexual persuasion or any other us vs them situation. We can extend to finances or even political choices. Our country was founded on the promise of equality, which may forever be pie in the sky, but aside from slavery, I don't think we’ve experienced such blatant suppression and punishment as exaggerated by the author. It is telling that it took me half the book to correctly assume the racial exchange. Walking in the shoes of the discarded group shook me to my core. The author has been able to open eyes which centuries of real life have not. We find ourselves shocked that generations born after the Civil Rights actions can’t conceive of blackface as being a normal entertainment and not intended to mock. How could we have been that cruel and accepting with no thought to degradation or hurt? But we learn on a slow curve, and the Crosses were no worse in their disdain and disregard of the Noughts. We killed by hanging for minor perceived crimes just as the Crosses did. Throughout history and around the world it has been and remains the same. We seem to have to feel superior to some other group.
ReplyDeleteI credit Ms Blackman for her courage and her original presentation of this thought- provoking work of fiction to challenge and disturb the status quo. I don’t find much of her art to be on a high level, but it is cataloged as young adult reading. I understand why Callum’s HS teacher was terrified it would be found that he had a Nought in his family tree, but why did Callum’s mum keep secret that she had a Cross tie? It adds to the bleak hopelessness that a person can lose, but he can never rise above. The author’s construction is well crafted and complex. The writing itself seems elementary. I suppose the horror and drama are necessary to make her point, but it feels to me that much is added to sell to her young audience.
ReplyDeleteSomehow trying to write about this book is like attempting to catch a bubble. Maybe that is its highest cause.
It should be noted that this post was supposed to come after, "The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat."
ReplyDeleteThis is a powerful book. Its strength is the sum of its parts. The writing is not the strongest, characters aren’t always complete, and has a message that wavers in how much it wants to say. Lines and boundaries aren't always clear. Mixed all together, however, and sprinkled with an interesting setting, it works and it works well. It can easily turn into a page turner even though as much as one wants to know what happens, there is a consistent fear that the worst is yet to come It has enough angst and character to draw in a younger audience to read this version of Romeo and Juliet when that same audience might not have enjoyed the original play.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part, the only characters that are developed beyond the bare minimum are Callum and Sephy. Fortunately for this book, their confusion, anger at, acceptance of, and defiance of their situation are enough to carry the book and make the rest of the cast just plot points on the ride to answer the questions, “Is love enough?” I am not saying they are the most masterful characters but they both go through similar bouts of moral questioning, disillusionment, and growth. They are realistic and their opposite personalities make the split narration work as we get to learn both characters’ reactions to the same events. The tension, either positive or negative, between them is tangible and taut throughout the book and that might be what kept me going. It also left me feeling drained at the end. Again for all it lacks as a great book, it has enough parts and implication to let it land punches above its weight.
I did get into the atmosphere. A modern novel facing issues from the American Civil rights era but all wrapped up in the conflict and powder keg historically found between England and Ireland while taking place in a geographically unaltered Pangaea. It did not break ground by flipping historic race roles and was not entirely interested in explaining the reason history lead the setting to the point at which the reader joins in but does enough with the tone, bleakness, and feeling that the book has a fascinating anachronistic feeling. On top of the time periods mentioned above, I almost felt a griminess reminiscent in the Industrial Revolution in some of description.
ReplyDeleteFlipping racial roles does go against our own historical knowledge does attempt to play with subconscious tendencies and understandings based on that knowledge. It is not a treatise and not meant to shake the reader to the core but does enough to bring one out of one’s comfort zone and give pause to a “What if” line of thinking. At the end of the day, hate is hate. It is also one of the strongest human emotions as the book shows us. Crosses is not solely focused on race relations, a tiresome trend in so much media one comes across. It imparts encouragement to fight for what one believes in, to be brave, to do the right thing despite societal norms, to be compassionate, to never judge a person before you know them, to be understanding, to be fair, etc. All of these strive to counter the hate.
I do feel fortunate that I didn’t know this was a trilogy until after I had almost finished it as it might have spoiled me a little on the book. While I enjoyed the story (enjoy might be the wrong word), I am not sure I want to know more. I think the ending, however grisly, is exactly what a book of this tone needed. The rest should be left to imagination about as to what came next. Even the short story, “An Eye for an Eye,” was more than I needed. It might be lending itself to my point that all but the main characters were bordering on being paper-thin as I really didn’t care what happened to them once they left the narrative. They were devices to move the story along but ultimately didn’t affect what I took away from it.
ReplyDeleteCallum’s family and the entire Liberation Army arc is awkward and seems beyond the scope of Blackman to capture or incorporate into the greater story. It, too, serves its purpose as a plot point but in an uncomfortable sort of way. While I did mention the tension serving to keep me interested, it was the tension between Callum and Sephy as opposed to the tension created by forced cliff-hangers. Privilege through the lived reality of these characters, their experiences, reactions, and adaption to institutional racism and classim works. The attempts to describe a society on the brink can feel rushed and unnecessary. Perhaps the lack of background hurts the book here. The ideological message would be more powerful if it focused more on the subtle ingrained racisms of modern society (“They don’t sell pink Band-Aids. Only dark brown ones.”) and less on a formalized type of apartheid which might not be understandable to the bulk of the readers of this series. Perhaps using history in the way that it does is one of the appeals for younger readers. There is enough of a version of it there to make it feel “real” but not enough to feel like a lesson in school.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that I came across this book as it was different than the rest of the poster to date. There have been clumps of books that have been thematically or stylistically too similar. This was a nice change and I didn’t know it was held in such high self-esteem as the general reviews of it are mixed at best. I suppose if you can evoke that much emotion on either side, you did something right. In literature at least.