I saw a post in one of my fantasy book groups the other day for International Women's Day. It asked people to post their favorite female characters in fantasy literature. I had several that I listed, but the one that stood out to me most was Fire, the titular character from the book Fire by Kristin Cashore.
Fire came out when I was 17. I'd already read and loved Graceling, and I asked for Fire for Christmas that year. I read much of it in a half delirious state on a long bus ride from my home in the North East USA down to Disney World with our high school marching band. I can never sleep much in vehicles, especially when surrounded by a hundred band and chorus kids on a 20 some hour trip. So, when all else failed, I read.
If I did a complete reread of Fire now as an adult, I doubt that I would find any shocking revelations within the pages that I haven't experienced in real life, but as a 17 year old girl Fire talked about the experience of being a woman in a way I'd never read about before, at least not in such an accessible format. Ideas and issues of womanhood brought up in Fire still bounce around in the back of my head sometimes as I go about my day.
The main character, Fire, is a "monster," a type of human that is pretty much magically alluring to everyone and has the ability to influence and even control the minds of those around them. Fire inherited this trait from her late father, who used these abilities to gather power and generally to hurt and abuse everyone around him for his pleasure. As a result, Fire grew up disgusted with these abilities and with her own family legacy, and she lives in fear of using her powers lest she become like her father.
Now, obviously Fire's experiences are exaggerated compared to a regular woman, but her condition and her abilities are very clearly meant to hold up a mirror to the experiences of real, living women in our world.
Fire lives under an almost constant state of threat. She hesitates to travel far from home or without guards because so many people are drawn to her as she just tries to simply exist. Some people only want to fawn over her, but others want to possess her, or harm her, or they feel such hatred simply at the sight of her that they attack her things or her horse. After she plays her beloved fiddle one day, a man takes it and smashes it to pieces, and Fire is devastated by this random attack that she truly did nothing to provoke. Even the people who only want to bask in her attention make her unhappy and uncomfortable, and she often has to use her mind control powers to turn them away, something that makes her doubly unhappy.
It's easy to look at Fire and see the parallels to real world women. How many women walk about the world in a constant state of anxiety and fear, keys clutched in their fingers like knives, afraid that a random man will approach them and try to hurt them? How many women have been told they were flirting or trying to get attention from men, when really they were just trying to be as friendly as they are to everyone else? You don't have to be some great beauty like Fire to have experienced this. It happens to all of us eventually, regardless of how much you try to hide from it or to hide yourself.
And Fire does try to hide herself. Not only does she try to keep away from unfamiliar people, she always tries to keep her hair covered, the most alluring feature of any "monster." Again, I remember growing up, wearing hoodies and baggy jeans for much of my teen years, desperate to avoid attention. But somehow, someone always takes notice, no matter how much you don't want them to.
The thing about Fire's world is, it it possible to resist the allure of "monsters." You simply have to be willing to do so, and you have to close your mind. It's the kind and respectful thing to do, as it allows a person to behave normally and treat Fire like any other person. It's something anyone can learn to do, and yet there are some characters in the story who consistently refuse to put in the effort. It's easier for them to blame Fire for their bad behavior because she is "too beautiful" for them to control themselves. So Fire has to continually take precaution after precaution, even when she's just trying to go for a walk. Sound familiar to anyone?
And then there's the issue of Fire's own self image. Even though she's beautiful, it's done little for her but cause her pain. She considers at one point doing something to marr her beauty, simply to see if it would get her some relief. And then she has to consider the possibility of pregnancy. What would happen if she had a child? Would it have to suffer through the same difficulties she had? Or worse, would the child inherit her gifts and use them to hurt others, like her father had? Ultimately, Fire decides to make herself infertile rather than risk having a child. And that brings it's own separate pain because Fire would actually like to be a mother, and she begins to wonder what the point of everything she's suffered in her life is. What's the point of her beauty, the main source of her pain, if she doesn't even use it to attract someone to give her a child? Isn't that the point of beauty, she wonders?
And I think that's another issue most real world women have dealt with. What is the point of beauty, and how much is it worth to us? Do we attempt to beautify ourselves because it brings pleasure to us or to other people? Are we ready to bring children into the world who might suffer the same way we have, or who might take on the worst traits of the people who came before them?
This character and this book made me reflect on the nature of womanhood in a way 17 year old me never really had.
Anyway, if all that isn't enough to entice you to check the book out, here's some more. Some of the other major themes in the book are: the thin line between proper use and abuse of power, the duality of loving and hating the same person, the legacy of families, and the nature of forgiveness.
Also, in case it sounds like a real doom and gloom kind of book, it really isn't. There's a nice slow burn romance, lots of moments of joy, and an intriguing bunch of characters. It's definitely worth the read.
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