the fact that they had become used to seeing one group of people as subhuman meant that they could so easily apply that label to any other group.
This. It's probably the strongest statement The 100 makes: that classifying -- or de-classing? -- other human beings is a state of mind and culture, and unless a society works actively on all levels to overcome it, it will inform everything they do...and doom them, depending on how the story plays out. The Mountain Men overall may not have planned out to go as far as killing the Ark kids, but they ultimately they decided to do so when push came to shove: The MM leadership and presumably a majority of them remained locked into their destructive mindset. It's perhaps a less overt point, because The 100 is not as good about background worldbuilding as it is about spotlighting leaders, but -- we do not see a civil war at Cage's announcement; we do see the few who helped being rounded up, the rest of the Mountain silent.
Clarke learned to sacrifice individuals to save the group in the Ark, Cage to treat humans as tools in Mount Weather.
The Ark in particular fascinates me; it's such dysfunctional society, these humans who believe they are the last of their kind lost in space with dwindling resources. The decisions Jaha and Kane make are understandable, though they are terrible, and of course Clarke emulates them when she sends Bellamy into Mount Weather. She loves him*; she does not spare him -- neither did Jaha when it came to Wells (and I guess you could also look at Abby and her husband, whose name I have conveniently forgotten).
* I am fine with any and all kinds of love re: Clarke and Bellamy.
Lexa is used to being responsible for the wellbeing of the group, I guess, which is why she would walk away from the alliance, but I wonder what she thought Clarke would do.
Me too -- but I generally want to know more about Lexa. I read some fanfic last night that stressed Lexa did not technically break the alliance of Arkers and Grounders (though of course she did break the spirit of it, and the trust and faith Clarke had in her).
Lexa, as undoubtedly so often before, was facing a dilemma: There was not a single good solution in sight for her and her people, so she went with what seemed to her like the lesser evil:
Losing a few of the benevolent Others -- many Ark kids and a few of their adults -- was the price to pay for getting hundreds of Her People home, with the malevolent Others still locked in another battle: Even if the Arkers had failed, here, if Clarke and Monty and Bellamy had *not* killed hundreds and hundreds of Mountain Men, the Grounders would probably have been fine for the foreseeable future: The struggle of the Arkers vs. Mountain Men would have continued, especially with Clarke at the helm, and a Clarke who in the likely scenario had just lost her mother in addition to many of her friends.
Now, what she thought Clarke would personally think -- and feel! -- is pretty clear: She was willing to give up Clarke's love for her people's life.
What is she going to do, out there in the wilderness? (My hope is: search for Lexa, culminating in hatesex.)
God, I want these two crazy kids to work it out so badly. I wish there were more epic fanfic featuring Clarke and Lexa, and there is some indeed! Maybe I too will have to contribute at some point...
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2015-04-18 09:14 pm (UTC)This. It's probably the strongest statement The 100 makes: that classifying -- or de-classing? -- other human beings is a state of mind and culture, and unless a society works actively on all levels to overcome it, it will inform everything they do...and doom them, depending on how the story plays out. The Mountain Men overall may not have planned out to go as far as killing the Ark kids, but they ultimately they decided to do so when push came to shove: The MM leadership and presumably a majority of them remained locked into their destructive mindset. It's perhaps a less overt point, because The 100 is not as good about background worldbuilding as it is about spotlighting leaders, but -- we do not see a civil war at Cage's announcement; we do see the few who helped being rounded up, the rest of the Mountain silent.
The Ark in particular fascinates me; it's such dysfunctional society, these humans who believe they are the last of their kind lost in space with dwindling resources. The decisions Jaha and Kane make are understandable, though they are terrible, and of course Clarke emulates them when she sends Bellamy into Mount Weather. She loves him*; she does not spare him -- neither did Jaha when it came to Wells (and I guess you could also look at Abby and her husband, whose name I have conveniently forgotten).
* I am fine with any and all kinds of love re: Clarke and Bellamy.
Me too -- but I generally want to know more about Lexa. I read some fanfic last night that stressed Lexa did not technically break the alliance of Arkers and Grounders (though of course she did break the spirit of it, and the trust and faith Clarke had in her).
Lexa, as undoubtedly so often before, was facing a dilemma: There was not a single good solution in sight for her and her people, so she went with what seemed to her like the lesser evil:
Losing a few of the benevolent Others -- many Ark kids and a few of their adults -- was the price to pay for getting hundreds of Her People home, with the malevolent Others still locked in another battle: Even if the Arkers had failed, here, if Clarke and Monty and Bellamy had *not* killed hundreds and hundreds of Mountain Men, the Grounders would probably have been fine for the foreseeable future: The struggle of the Arkers vs. Mountain Men would have continued, especially with Clarke at the helm, and a Clarke who in the likely scenario had just lost her mother in addition to many of her friends.
Now, what she thought Clarke would personally think -- and feel! -- is pretty clear: She was willing to give up Clarke's love for her people's life.
God, I want these two crazy kids to work it out so badly. I wish there were more epic fanfic featuring Clarke and Lexa, and there is some indeed! Maybe I too will have to contribute at some point...