Episode 241: Diversity in Six of Crows

This week on Fable and the Verbivore, we’re back from our summer vacation and talking about the Six of Crows duology as a great example of a diverse cast of characters with some thoughtful and nuanced disability representation.

In this episode, we open by talking generally about how quickly Leigh Bardugo sets us within her characters shoes both emotionally and mentally, how she plays into common stereotypes and snap judgements we tend to make, and how over time she peels back the layers on her characters often flipping what we thought we knew about them on its head.

Her choice to use seven points of view over the course of the duology, to hold back key pieces of information until characters are pushed to the brink, and to strategically decide who carries the narrative at different point in time allow her to create tension and distrust at certain points (especially towards the end of Six of Crows).

We touch on the diversity of her cast from several different lenses, but mostly we focus on the aspects of the characters in these books that reflect disabilities. Some of these disabilities are more obvious and brought directly up as part of the narrative, but others are more coded a certain way rather than being explicitly stated. But most importantly these disabilities are treated with empathy and understanding, and none of these characters are solely defined by their disability. 

The examples we bring up are:

  • Kaz Brekker - (mobility impairment, cane user, PTSD, haphephobia)

  • Inej Ghafa - (Complex PTSD from recurring abuse at the Menagerie, possibly Checking OCD)

  • Jesper Fahey - (PTSD, ADHD, Novelty-seeking in the form of a gambling addiction, Masking of his Grisha abilities)

  • Wylan Van Eck - (Learning disorder - likely Alexia or Dyslexia, possibly PTSD)

As we close this episode, we note that we highly recommend reading Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom as a study of how to write well-developed and well-rounded characters as well as just how to write a damn good duology.

We hope you enjoy this episode! Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!

Into the woods,

Fable & The Verbivore

Notes:

Though we don’t directly mention them by name, these previous episodes are connected with this series:

As part of this discussion, we use the CDC’s definition:

  • “A disability is any condition of the body or mind (impairment) that makes it more difficult for the person with the condition to do certain activities (activity limitation) and interact with the world around them (participation restrictions).”

  • “There are many types of disabilities, such as those that affect a person’s: Vision, Movement, Thinking, Remembering, Learning, Communicating, Hearing, Mental health, and Social relationships.”

  • “Although ‘people with disabilities’ sometimes refers to a single population, this is actually a diverse group of people with a wide range of needs. Two people with the same type of disability can be affected in very different ways. Some disabilities may be hidden or not easy to see.”

Here are a few articles we consulted in preparation for this series:

Books and Films Mentioned:

Music from: https://filmmusic.io
 ‘Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Bethany Stedman