By Jacob Dehart

The work that I have selected is called The Castes and The Outcasts. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting, where all of humanity lives in isolated cities across the world. The reason is that there is this powerful being that is trying to wipe out humanity with its army of chimaeras. The only reason that humanity hadn’t been wiped off of the face of the planet was because of a mystical barrier that stopped this great being from attacking humanity directly. Each city was divided into seven castes, with each castes having distinct looks and abilities. An example of this is caste Kumma or the warrior castes, which had the ability to increase their speed, strength, create a shield around themselves and throw fireballs from their hands. Any relationship between the different castes that goes beyond friendship is strictly forbidden, with the normal punishment being banishment. In order for the cities to stay in touch with one another they send out caravans with trade goods to the other cities and they call these caravans trials. The story starts with the main character, Rukh, a young kumma warrior beginning his first trial. Because of the society that he was raised in, his initial view on the world is that his side is the only right side and that the side of his enemy is wrong, but as he experiences the world he is forced to realize that the world isn’t as neat as he was raised to believe. He is forced to confront both physical, psychological and social issues, as he tries to protect those that he loves. This is why “The Castes and The Outcastes” is hands down my favorite book that I have read. It isn’t just some mythical adventure tale about a hero overcoming an enemy. It is a tale about a boy growing up and recognising that in order to protect those he loves the world must change from what it currently is. The story doesn’t just deal with physical issues but issues of philosophy and social ideals. I myself have read this book front to back five times now and each time I am able to pull something new out of the story. The main problem in this book is the extremely powerful being that wants to wipe out all of humanity but the driving force of the story is love. The entire reason that the main character does many of the things that he does is to protect those that he loves even if it costs him his life. 

He had nothing left to give. With his strength fading, Rukh’s thoughts turned to Jessira, his family, his love for them. It was those memories that saved him. Remembering them rekindled his will, and rukh firmed the oasis just as spears of stone plunged upward. Like stabbing knives, they thrust at him. His will hardened as the granite bones of the earth pressed against the edge of his oasis. He refused to allow them purchase. They shattered with a sharp crack and the rubble slid off in the grating scream. Rukh gasped with the gratefulness of a drowning man reaching air and realized that the strength of the oasis was a matter of his will. if he was strong enough, he might prolong the battle a few minutes longer. In the end, it might not matter – it likely wouldn’t- but for now, every breath was a boon and every heartbeat a gift. (1384)

The reason that I chose this passage from the book is because it shows the power of the main problem of the story as well as depicting the driving force for our main character. The only reason that Rukh didn’t give up was because of the love that he felt for his wife, family, and city. The one thing that really sets this story apart is the amount of depth that each character has. Each and every character in the story feels real, not just in the sense that they need to be real for the story to continue but they all have a purpose beyond simply the plot of the story. Every character has a dream. Every character has good character traits as well as flaws. None of the characters feel perfect, which is a common flaw for a lot of character development. Even the bad guys have solid reasons for why they do what they do and from their point of view they are the good guys. Throughout the story there are very few simple characters and those that are have very little significance to the story as a whole. Just the way that the characters are portrayed allows you to completely immerse yourself in the world and look at all sides of the story through the eyes of each character, not just the main character. 

As I said before the main theme of the story is love, but not as we normally think of it. It isn’t just love for your family and significant other, but simply loving your other humans in your life. A large part of the story is forgiveness through love instead of holding onto hate; even if the hate is justified, it always comes back to bite you in the end. Love for those around you will open paths that normally would have never even been thought of and ultimately lead to a better future. Throughout the story there are many conflicts of ideologies on things such as ethnicity, race, and religions. Those that try to use violence to enforce their beliefs end up tasting the other side of the double edged sword they wielded, while those who used love to understand and forgive those with different views were able to move past those differences in views and improve the situation they were in. I believe that this message is even more important now given the current situation that our world is in now. To answer violence with violence will simply continue to drive the wheel of revenge and the only way to get off of this loop is to look past our instinctive reaction of hate and instead reach for love and forgiveness to move past and solve the actual problem not simply create more. This is the ultimate message of the story and one that everyone should try to understand and accomplish.