Marching Onward Through Fields of Gray
(Warning: mild, general spoilers ahead. Don’t read this if you want to be completely surprised by what happens in Book III, Hate's Profiting.)
Book II, Crass Casualty, ended on a decidedly grim and despairing note, and that bleak tone carries over into Book III, despite some significant positive developments in the intervening decades.
Hate's Profiting alternates between two parallel frames of reference, one set in October of 1923 and the other set in October of 1993, 70 years later. (It’s not a coincidence that Book I takes place largely in the spring, Book II takes place largely in the summer, and Book III takes place largely in the fall.)
I really wanted to explore the theme of moral ambiguity as it relates to social progress. On one hand, in many ways one might validly argue that Victoria lost in her struggle against systemic economic and social oppression. She did not accomplish her objectives during her lifetime (although there are some hints in the text that suggest how she spent the decades after she is last seen by the other main characters).
On the other hand, here we see our newest protagonist, Daytona: a mere three generations after the events of Crass Casualty, she is living a life that in more than one sense epitomizes everything that Victoria believed in and fought for. She is a college graduate with a high-paying career, she is independent and self-reliant, she is a skydiver and a motorcyclist. Victoria would have been thrilled to see the headway that had been made. She would have been delighted about the freedom and opportunities that Daytona enjoys compared to women of her own era. Yet we also learn that the circumstances that led to Daytona’s relative affluence and privilege are sordid, stained by a shameful old family secret.
And as Lillian and Pearl remind Victoria and Constance at multiple points throughout the story, people of color are often the last to see the benefits of cultural advancement, and frequently find themselves left behind in the self-congratulatory progressive parade.
I also wanted to shine a spotlight on the banality of evil. For Percy and Tatiana, sadistic cruelty is not an active choice but a course of least resistance, carried out casually and mindlessly as a series of mundane tasks. They have each so deeply internalized Bam’s homicidal career into their normal boring daily routines that they are utterly untroubled by conscience, and instead spend their time complaining about how unfair life is and wishing for greater personal fulfillment, all while trying to gain the advantage over the other and position themselves in Bam’s greater favor. All remorse—if they ever had any—has been ground out of them along the way by the tedious and repetitive life they lead.
But we would be mistaken to think this is purely a reflection of their intrinsic moral vileness. Reality is messy and complicated, and it has a way of corrupting and tarnishing even the most virtuous people in the most righteous movements. Nothing is immune.
Hate's Profiting, above all else, is intended to illustrate that no great social advancements come without great costs, and no great struggles remain untainted by great human atrocities.
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My author page:
www.AustinScottCollins.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Recent popular posts:
I Interview the Lovely Dalia Lance
Sleeping With My Editor
The Unique Challenge of Writing Sequels
The Perfect Ending
Book II, Crass Casualty, ended on a decidedly grim and despairing note, and that bleak tone carries over into Book III, despite some significant positive developments in the intervening decades.
Hate's Profiting alternates between two parallel frames of reference, one set in October of 1923 and the other set in October of 1993, 70 years later. (It’s not a coincidence that Book I takes place largely in the spring, Book II takes place largely in the summer, and Book III takes place largely in the fall.)
I really wanted to explore the theme of moral ambiguity as it relates to social progress. On one hand, in many ways one might validly argue that Victoria lost in her struggle against systemic economic and social oppression. She did not accomplish her objectives during her lifetime (although there are some hints in the text that suggest how she spent the decades after she is last seen by the other main characters).
On the other hand, here we see our newest protagonist, Daytona: a mere three generations after the events of Crass Casualty, she is living a life that in more than one sense epitomizes everything that Victoria believed in and fought for. She is a college graduate with a high-paying career, she is independent and self-reliant, she is a skydiver and a motorcyclist. Victoria would have been thrilled to see the headway that had been made. She would have been delighted about the freedom and opportunities that Daytona enjoys compared to women of her own era. Yet we also learn that the circumstances that led to Daytona’s relative affluence and privilege are sordid, stained by a shameful old family secret.
And as Lillian and Pearl remind Victoria and Constance at multiple points throughout the story, people of color are often the last to see the benefits of cultural advancement, and frequently find themselves left behind in the self-congratulatory progressive parade.
I also wanted to shine a spotlight on the banality of evil. For Percy and Tatiana, sadistic cruelty is not an active choice but a course of least resistance, carried out casually and mindlessly as a series of mundane tasks. They have each so deeply internalized Bam’s homicidal career into their normal boring daily routines that they are utterly untroubled by conscience, and instead spend their time complaining about how unfair life is and wishing for greater personal fulfillment, all while trying to gain the advantage over the other and position themselves in Bam’s greater favor. All remorse—if they ever had any—has been ground out of them along the way by the tedious and repetitive life they lead.
But we would be mistaken to think this is purely a reflection of their intrinsic moral vileness. Reality is messy and complicated, and it has a way of corrupting and tarnishing even the most virtuous people in the most righteous movements. Nothing is immune.
Hate's Profiting, above all else, is intended to illustrate that no great social advancements come without great costs, and no great struggles remain untainted by great human atrocities.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
My author page:
www.AustinScottCollins.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Recent popular posts:
I Interview the Lovely Dalia Lance
Sleeping With My Editor
The Unique Challenge of Writing Sequels
The Perfect Ending
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Upside-down, Inside-out, and Backwards
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