Seeing Myself as The Villain
Seeing Myself as the Villain
“…Yet Jemisin’s depiction of the Woman in White has none of Lovecraft’s repulsion. Rather, the villain is given its own story and we see that it’s working to save itself. The City We Became isn’t simply a jarring attack on white privilege, it’s a necessary nudge towards reality. When Aislyn befriends the Woman in White, the novel’s antagonists become its two white women. By inverting white savior tropes, Jemisin shows how systemic advantages have weakened cities while diversity remains their strengths.
Over the summer, I cut my shoulder-length blond hair into a pixie with shaved sides. I also dyed it an ashy violet, and of all the characters in the novel, I most closely resembled the Woman in White. The woman who’s turning New York City into a soul-less shell of itself….”
October column for Epiphany Magazine about N.K. Jemisin’s The City We Became, diverse protagonists, and resembling a villain.