Stereotypes and Discrimination Theme Analysis

In the fairytale “Cinderella,” characters largely overlook the titular protagonist because of her poverty. In Cinder, a futuristic adaptation of the original classic, people avoid Cinder because she is a cyborg—that is, part robot, with a computerized brain interface and several mechanical limbs. Cyborgs are widely discriminated against on Earth in the novel, but they aren’t the only group that’s stereotyped. Humans on Earth, or “Earthens,” also despise those who live on Luna (the moon): they view Lunars as greedy and self-serving people because they have the ability to telepathically control others’ minds and thoughts (called their “gift”). In turn, Lunars discriminate against shells (people who do not possess this gift and who are immune to it). With this two-sided discrimination, the book suggests that it’s easy to prey on people for qualities that differ from the norm, particularly for those who do not belong to that minority. But sometimes, the qualities for which people are singled out are the very qualities that give them advantages in society or make them special.

Cinder faces discrimination as a cyborg, because the majority of Earthens (who are not cyborg) view her as unnatural or subhuman. Cinder received surgery to become a cyborg at 11 years old, after getting in a severe hover crash. She has a prosthetic hand and foot, which she tries to cover up, as well as a computerized interface in her brain. While Cinder is largely a normal teenager, her stepmother Adri still treats her cruelly because, as she notes, Cinder “[isn’t] even human anymore.” Although Cinder is still a regular teenage girl despite her cyborg elements, Adri feels that she can mistreat her stepdaughter because she believes Cinder is abnormal and subhuman. Furthermore, the government discriminates against cyborgs on an institutional level as well: they are drafted as involuntary research subjects for scientists to experiment on as they develop a cure for letumosis (an infectious disease that’s plaguing Earth). Cyborgs are not immune to the disease; the general population simply believes that they are “lucky to have lived this long,” and that they should help the scientists who helped them survive. Cinder thinks that the draft is “it was really just a reminder that cyborgs [are] not like everyone else,” suggesting that the general non-cyborg population views them as more expendable simply because of their differences.

Even though Cinder experiences discrimination as a cyborg, she (and Earthens at large) discriminate against Lunars, reinforcing the ease of buying into stereotypes about a group to which one doesn’t belong. Cinder provides some backstory on Lunars early in the novel, explaining that “Their unnatural power had made them a greedy and violent race, and Queen Levana was the worst of all of them.” Though Cinder understands the pain of stereotypes, she is equally willing to buy into them when the bias is turned against others. Cinder even maintains this belief about Lunars when she discovers that she herself is a Lunar fugitive who was brought to Earth as a child. She thinks, “Lunars were a cruel, savage people. They murdered their shell children. They lied and scammed and brainwashed each other because they could. They didn't care who they hurt, so long as it benefitted themselves. She was not one of them.” Cinder’s staunch opinions highlight the difficulty of counteracting stereotypes, as she would rather distance herself from the group than reconsider her biases.

Lunars, in turn, have their own minority that they discriminate against: shells, Lunars who do not possess the gift and who are impervious to it. Lunars kill their “ungifted” children because the Queen believes it is dangerous to have Lunar citizens who cannot be brainwashed. Dr. Erland, who escaped Luna when his shell daughter was killed, explains, “I agreed with the laws in the past, thought the shells were dangerous. That our society would fall apart if they were allowed to live. But not my little girl.” This situation illustrates how easy it is to discriminate when someone is not affected by discrimination—but when someone identifies with minorities, the injustice becomes clear.

Yet, sometimes, it is precisely the qualities that make people different that enable them to help others and themselves—suggesting that people should not be victimized for differences but celebrated for them. Cinder’s skill as a mechanic, which allows her to help Prince Kai (the prince of the Eastern Commonwealth, where Cinder lives) fix his android and enables her to escape from New Beijing, is only due to the fact that she is a cyborg and has had to fix many problems with her prosthetics and interface over the years. Because of this, people call Cinder the “best mechanic in New Beijing,” suggesting that being a cyborg has given her skills that are of high value to others. Additionally, when Cinder eventually learns that she is Lunar, the combination of her identity as Lunar and a cyborg means that she is both immune to letumosis and immune to the Lunars’ gift—as Dr. Erland explains, her cybernetic surgery prevents others from controlling her thoughts and actions. This allows her to take on challenges that non-cyborg and non-Lunar people wouldn’t be able to: for instance, she can try to save Kai from Queen Levana’s influence without falling under the Queen’s control, hide weapons and other things in her prosthetic compartments, and use her retina display to know when people are lying (enabling her to see through Lunar ruses). Thus, while Cinder and many others experience discrimination for their differences, such differences can also be the very qualities that make people special and uniquely capable of helping others.