How much difference is there really between fantasy and reality? In the series the Mortal Instruments by Clarissa Clare, not as much as you would think. The Shadowhunters are society of magical warriors that keep the world safe from demons. But magic doesn't mean perfect, they have quite a few moral problems. The interesting thing is that the moral problems the Shadowhunters face are similar to a few of the moral problems that plague us today.
One similar problem is homophobia. This is a problem that we are just starting to get over in the U.S. It is a big problem for the Shadowhunters though. Alec, a central character is gay, but he has to hide it from his parents and almost everybody else except his sister. In the end of the third book he comes out and is largely accepted. I think that this is similar to what is happening on a larger scale in the U.S. right now, with gay marriage now legal in many states and gay rights are now federally recognized. However in later books Alec hints that he still has trouble with many Shadowhunters about his sexuality. This reminds me of a time I was web surfing and I went to bored button, a website that sends you to a random URL every time you hit the button. Thus time it sent me to a website called "How Far We Have to Go," it showed stats on homophobia. I think it is a good reminder that we aren't done yet.
Another problem that we share with share the Shadowhunters is racism. In our world it is Stop and Frisk, and the Supreme Court striking down color blind college enrollment and regulations to make voting fair while allowing unfair regulations to sprout up around the country. In the Shadowhunters world it is faeries, vampires, werewolves, and Warlocks who face discrimination and profiling. Collectively they are called Downworlders, they are subject to unfair laws and a lack of representation in the government of the magic world. They can gain respect only through power and fear. This has a mostly happy ending in the books as the Downworlders and Shadowhunters team up to fight of a demon army and then the Downworlders gain representation in the government. However in the real world we have not yet had a breakthrough like this and it seems that we have taken steps backwards. This is a stark reminder that we always have to fight for social change.
What I am really trying to say is that if you look past certain elements fantasy can be a good allegory for the real world. I think that this book is a very good example of this because it deals with big, contemporary issues. I think books like this are also good because they teach tolerance and respect, two characteristics that often seem in short supply nowadays.
This blog post is beautifully crafted! I haven't read this book, but this post makes me want to read it. I really like how you made a text-to-world connection with Alec's gayness and the homophobia of the residents of the United States. Another thing that I liked was the text-to-self connection with the bored button website; it really shows you in your blog post. One thing you left that was unclear was the Shadow-hunters and their connection with homosexuality. Why was Alec in trouble with the Shadow-hunters?
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