Pillowfort Premiere
After a long absence, I’ve finally made another article-post: a review of the book Force of Fire.
Preview:
The villainous snake-folk, which parallel British colonialists in India, are bad for believing there is only one right way to be, and systematically enforcing their ways upon their subjects. The rakshasha (rakosh) and humans, meanwhile, resist them, both through violent confrontations and continuing to clandestinely disobey the Snakefolk’s laws and continue to perpetuate their own cultures.
Overall, Force of Fire has a message of supporting cultural diversity, rather than having colonized people adhere to the supposedly superior ways of dominant groups. It clearly supports keeping and celebrating one’s culture, heritage, and distinct identity in the face of colonialist cultural derogation, if not outright erasure. However, this message was inadvertently undermined by the narrative predominance of the more humanlike rakshasha (or “rakosh”) characters. [
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