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The 13th Child [By Patricia C. Wrede]
Dec. 30th, 2009 08:14 pmAlright, first off- you all should know that I am (to my knowledge) a teenaged female of German/GermanScotchIrish decent. Yep, I'm white. Sorry about that, but I hope that this post makes sense still, and it doesn't get dismissed right off the bat because of that.
Alright, now on to some actual content.
I first read “Thirteenth Child” by Patricia C. Wrede about a month ago. I rather enjoyed it, to be honest. It was one of the few Patricia C. Wrede books I have read outside the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, and I found myself enjoying the tale of a mid-West populated by Mammoths, and Dragons.
Only recently did I discover that there were many people who didn't like the book- for one reason.
There are no Native Americans in “Columbia” (America).
I have to admit it, I did not know anything about the controversy- or realize anything was “wrong” until this point in time.
And, yes, I put “wrong” in quotations.
See, the thing is, I can kind of see how that might come about. Go with my for a sec, okay.
1. The world is populated by ginormous buggers who might eat you. They're not friendly.
2. You/your family/your nation attempt to cross a land bridge from your home (Thirteenth Child's Asia) across a land bridge to a place where there is more land.
3. You don't make/you don't survive/etc. for one of several reasons.
a) Because of the giant animal of some sort ate your family/race/you
b) The giant animals how diseases that you/your family/your race succumb to, and you die off sooner then you would have normally
c) Do to many people dying, you end up retreating back across the land bridge- telling all you know about the horrible new land. The story spreads, and no one wants to take the chance. Eventually the land bridge vanishes, but the story continues. This leads many people in that world's “Asia” to decide to focus their attention inward. Any stories that reach the west (if at all) are regarded as “mere superstition”- or the stories or forgotten, or something- I don't know what might come about.
*And, please don't think that I mean any disrespect toward the Asian culture by saying European's would think of their stories as “mere superstitions”. European's were annoying buggers who believed that they were the only one's who could possible be correct. I don't much like those kinds of people as a general rule, but sorry.
Anyway, I can understand people are (justifiably) angry at the lack of Native Americans, but it kind of makes sense given the world Patricia C. Wrede has (attempted) to create. Now, if she had included Native American's, but she had made them horrific stereotypes, I would understand the anger, and I would be angry too. But, I can see too many ways that what she has done made sense. And, didn't she say that her world's “Asian” culture was different because of the lack of travel between “Asia” and “North America”?
But, hey, what do I know. I'm white.
Alright, now on to some actual content.
I first read “Thirteenth Child” by Patricia C. Wrede about a month ago. I rather enjoyed it, to be honest. It was one of the few Patricia C. Wrede books I have read outside the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, and I found myself enjoying the tale of a mid-West populated by Mammoths, and Dragons.
Only recently did I discover that there were many people who didn't like the book- for one reason.
There are no Native Americans in “Columbia” (America).
I have to admit it, I did not know anything about the controversy- or realize anything was “wrong” until this point in time.
And, yes, I put “wrong” in quotations.
See, the thing is, I can kind of see how that might come about. Go with my for a sec, okay.
1. The world is populated by ginormous buggers who might eat you. They're not friendly.
2. You/your family/your nation attempt to cross a land bridge from your home (Thirteenth Child's Asia) across a land bridge to a place where there is more land.
3. You don't make/you don't survive/etc. for one of several reasons.
a) Because of the giant animal of some sort ate your family/race/you
b) The giant animals how diseases that you/your family/your race succumb to, and you die off sooner then you would have normally
c) Do to many people dying, you end up retreating back across the land bridge- telling all you know about the horrible new land. The story spreads, and no one wants to take the chance. Eventually the land bridge vanishes, but the story continues. This leads many people in that world's “Asia” to decide to focus their attention inward. Any stories that reach the west (if at all) are regarded as “mere superstition”- or the stories or forgotten, or something- I don't know what might come about.
*And, please don't think that I mean any disrespect toward the Asian culture by saying European's would think of their stories as “mere superstitions”. European's were annoying buggers who believed that they were the only one's who could possible be correct. I don't much like those kinds of people as a general rule, but sorry.
Anyway, I can understand people are (justifiably) angry at the lack of Native Americans, but it kind of makes sense given the world Patricia C. Wrede has (attempted) to create. Now, if she had included Native American's, but she had made them horrific stereotypes, I would understand the anger, and I would be angry too. But, I can see too many ways that what she has done made sense. And, didn't she say that her world's “Asian” culture was different because of the lack of travel between “Asia” and “North America”?
But, hey, what do I know. I'm white.
