Jess
Awakening
Jess and Erica are similar except Jess begins life privileged.
She grows up protected inside the system. She has everything she needs, and because of that, she does not initially understand what life is like outside her world.
Then she meets Sina, and something changes.
She begins to see that refusing to follow the beliefs of Christantin’s regime—and refusing to follow the masses—can be dangerous.
She discovers that there are people who refuse to simply go along. People who are willing to stand up, resist, and fight for their freedom, even when doing so could cost them their lives.
And eventually, Jess decides that she wants to stand against the regime too.
Privilege Does Not Define Character
For me, it is important that privilege does not automatically make someone good or bad, just as poverty does not automatically make someone good or bad.
The circumstances we are born into do not determine our character.
Our choices do.
I think awakening often begins when we become willing to look beyond the world we personally know and question what everyone around us seems to accept.
The Power of the Crowd
In my story, Christantin could never become as powerful as he does without the people who follow him.
And that is not only a fantasy idea.
History has repeatedly shown how powerful leaders and movements can become when large numbers of ordinary people support them, remain silent, or participate in turning against those who think differently.
We can look at Mao’s China or Hitler’s Germany and see extreme examples of what can happen when loyalty to an ideology becomes more important than loyalty to other human beings.
Even families could be affected. Children could be encouraged to place loyalty to the state or movement above loyalty to their own parents.
What Would We Do?
But for me, the more important question is not simply what people did in history.
The question is:
What would we do?
Do we look away because the truth makes us uncomfortable?
Do we defend a system simply because it benefits us?
Do we remain silent because speaking up could cost us something?
Would we stand against our friends, our family, or even the majority if we truly believed they were wrong?
When Standing Apart Has a Price
It is easy to disagree when there is little at stake.
It becomes much harder when standing apart could cost us comfort, status, security, friendships, family—or sometimes even our safety.
Following the crowd is especially tempting when following allows us to keep everything we already have.
But what happens when doing what we believe is right means becoming one of the few standing against the many?
That becomes a very different question.
What COVID Made Me Question
During COVID, I thought about this a lot.
There were moments when it felt to me as though society had divided itself into acceptable and unacceptable opinions. Questions about the origins of the virus, protests and riots, restrictions, vaccines, masks, and government policies could quickly become emotional and polarizing.
What stayed with me was not one particular political position.
It was how difficult it could become to question the prevailing opinion of the group you belonged to.
And I think that is something worth remembering far beyond COVID.
Awakening Is a Choice
Awakening is not simply discovering that something may be wrong.
It is deciding what we are going to do with that realization.
We can follow the crowd because it is easier.
We can remain quiet because it is safer.
Or we can step into the light, think for ourselves, question what needs to be questioned, and choose the path we genuinely believe is right.
