As it often is for me with Science Fiction and Fantasy, I see other species as being an analogy for how us humans see race.
I don't remember what book it was, but Rachel and Tobias were talking about their frustration with their relationship, and Rachel makes a comment around the lines of: "this isn't like how Jake's white and Cassie's black. Only idiots care about that." This one line was super powerful to me to show how much K.A. considered (human) race a non-issue. I think she also sees sexism in a similar way, but she does touch on the issue a little bit more. I believe she encourages the reader to judge the characters based on the content of their, well, character, this way.
By taking out "race" and moving on to species, we the reader get the chance to see how stupid an idea of racism is. We see this as we slowly see the broader views of each species explored. The best example of this is the Andalites, I think, because in the beginning they are painted as the saviors. It isn't long before we start seeing cracks in this facade, but how much more crushing is it to the Animorphs when these are the people they were putting their hope in? Elfangor gave them the power to buy them time, not to win the war. While he believed that kids could have a profound impact, the odds were overwhelming.
I guess, for me, one of the biggest messages of the books was how damaging speciesism (and within that analogy, racism) is, how stereotypes hinder understanding, and how if you're going to solve a problem you're going to need to keep an open mind.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-10-02 03:19 am (UTC)I don't remember what book it was, but Rachel and Tobias were talking about their frustration with their relationship, and Rachel makes a comment around the lines of: "this isn't like how Jake's white and Cassie's black. Only idiots care about that." This one line was super powerful to me to show how much K.A. considered (human) race a non-issue. I think she also sees sexism in a similar way, but she does touch on the issue a little bit more. I believe she encourages the reader to judge the characters based on the content of their, well, character, this way.
By taking out "race" and moving on to species, we the reader get the chance to see how stupid an idea of racism is. We see this as we slowly see the broader views of each species explored. The best example of this is the Andalites, I think, because in the beginning they are painted as the saviors. It isn't long before we start seeing cracks in this facade, but how much more crushing is it to the Animorphs when these are the people they were putting their hope in? Elfangor gave them the power to buy them time, not to win the war. While he believed that kids could have a profound impact, the odds were overwhelming.
I guess, for me, one of the biggest messages of the books was how damaging speciesism (and within that analogy, racism) is, how stereotypes hinder understanding, and how if you're going to solve a problem you're going to need to keep an open mind.