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| Cover of The Core of the Sun |
The Core of the Sun by Johanna Sinisalo follows the story of Vanna as she tries to find her sister that has disappeared. Set in Finland under an "eusistocracy" in which the public health and social stability is the main concern of the government. The Eusistocratic Republic of Finland bred what they call eloi, sub species of women who are receptive and submissive that are used for sex and reproduction. The intelligent women are forced to work menial labor and are forced to be sterilized in an attempt to prevent them from continuing their lineage that is viewed as defective. Vanna herself is an eloi, but is secretly intelligent, and sets off to find her sister. During this search she meets a man named Jare and they start buying and selling chili peppers, which is an illegal stimulant in this world. They then learn of a religious cult that is in possession of The Core of the Sun, a pepper so hot it causes someone to hallucinate.
Discussion of Gender:
This novel offers plenty to talk about in the way of gender. Discussions can involve the creation of this sub-species of women who are created to be submissive and what that means. A second topic revolving around the eloi is the fact that they are made for sex and reproduction and how some people in the real-world view women's roles as having kids and taking care of the house. Another topic can be the forced sterilization of women and talks about where that happens in the real world. These could be engaging topics of conversation in a classroom setting.
Discussion of Dystopia:
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| Author Johanna Sinisalo |
Discussion of Dystopia:
This novel also offers great discussion material about dystopian worlds. One topic of discussion is the idea of this eusistocric government, this extreme welfare state, and how they focus on public health and social stability. The discussion could be about how they control the country to reach the goal of what they believe will benefit the public health and social stability. The discussion would also cover the idea that they control the women and birth through the forced sterilization of women and the creation of eloi. The conversation would then talk about real world scenarios where governments have disregarded people's rights to do things they say will "help" them.
Chili peppers being a stimulant was not on my 2025 bingo card. Does it only affect eloi, or the Finnish in general? And how are the people that aren't eloi impacted by this society?
ReplyDeleteThis novel would work great as assigned reading for our dystopia and gender class, since government control is such a dystopian but relatable topic, and the "hiding in plain sight" trope would be very interesting to analyze in terms of gender. Amazing recommendation!
Hi Roman,
ReplyDeleteGood job on your blog post! When I first read the title of this book, I wasn’t expecting it to reference the name of a chili pepper banned in the dystopian world! Since the chili pepper is considered illegal and used as a hallucinogenic, I wonder if the author was commenting on the government controlling the economy or banning substances/ingredients in the name of public health.