Critical Analysis Of The Novel 'Tank Born'

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Recommended: Women oppression in literature

It is clear, after reading the novel Tank Born that there are many aspects involved in the story that relate closely to the ideas and terms we have discussed thus far. In this final response, I will be critically analyzing the novel, and will bring forth certain aspects of the novel that can be brought back to our class discussions about race, gender, class, and body politics. In particular, I would like to focus on Kayla, and the struggles she went through as a young woman who was oppressed by the society in which she lived.

First, the topic of race is one of the first things that comes into play in this novel. With dark coloured skin being oppressed as well as very light coloured skin, it is safe to say that the most desired skin colour …show more content…

I found that throughout the first half of the book especially, males were often seen as being true-borns, rather than GENs. In the novel we learn about Kayla and Mishalla who are both young girls, and they are both GENs. The people that Kayla meets who are true-borns are, for the most part, men, or boys. I found this riveting because our course focuses particularly on the oppression and struggles of girls in different cultures, while the novel depicts very similar problems for young girls. Since Kayla is being raised and told that she is a non-human, she is the outsider, and she is the one who is oppressed, along with her friend Mishalla. In the novel, Kayla says ““I speak. I feel. I laugh and cry.” She broke off and looked away briefly. "Some things I want so badly I think I 'll die of it. I do worship the Infinite. But to be told everyday that I 'm not human…”” (Sandler 57). We can see here that Kayla feels trapped in a world where she is not even a human, compared to others around her. We also see that true-borns, like Devak, Kayla’s love interest are completely brainwashed into believing that GENs deserve what they got, and that they don’t mind being of such low rank. This mindset is a common one among humans on Loka, because they are simply conditioned that way, which is very similar to the real world in which we life. Eventually, Kayla helps Devak into realizing that the caste system is not fair, and that GENs do not like their rank, and are not happy like he has been told his whole life. GENs are given the mindset that if they are working, they are free, this part of the story really upset me because GENs are lead to believe that they are free and kept safe by working for status humans, like slaves. GENs must eventually get an assignment, where they are placed within the human sectors of Loka and are required to work for them. This is not freedom, and Kayla, as well as all of

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