Being in school means I’m trying out a lot of different books and theories and ideas, and it looks like sometimes I’m going to be writing multiple papers deciding what will work. The first example of this happened this week. To be honest, I’m pretty sure the New Historicism proof part is crap but the following is my analysis of Somewhere Beyond the Sea, with some spoilers, and with a heavy political opinion because this book is full of political opinions and they deserve to be discussed.
I am so excited to be sharing another one of my favorite series this week. Again, I’ll be focusing on the sequel, but I will do my best to keep as many spoilers out of my discussion as possible. However, in order to make a few of my points I must use the second novel, so there will be some spoilers. Our Shmoop reading claimed, “After all, plays, poems, novels, art in general are a product of a specific time and place. We’d be pretty dumb to ignore those contexts, because arty things reflect the values of their culture, of the specific time and place, and it also comments on those values” (Intro) and it inspired me to speak about the most “in its time” novel in my repertoire. This will be a particularly political discussion post because of the nature of my book but I will not be entertaining political arguments. The book I have chosen and the commentary I have included are to the point of historicism, and right now we are in a time of major political context. I completely understand that not everyone will agree with me, nor with the author I have spoken about, but that does not take away from the context of the book and the commentary that I have provided.
The House in the Cerulean Sea and its sequel Somewhere Beyond the Sea by Tj Klune fit New Historicism Theory perfectly because they both embody the current time, and the author has a historically significant identity as well. The universe that Klune creates is one of magical creatures and humans living together with a human government controlling magical creatures through the “Department in Charge of Magical Youth” and its counterpart “Department in Charge of Magical Adults” with the protagonist of Cerulean Sea, Linus Baker, being part of DICOMY and seemingly a devoted government worker and the antagonist, Arthur Parnassus a suspicious orphanage Master he must review for the department living on Marsyas Island with a gaggle of the world’s most dangerous sentient creatures. Only through Linus’ moment of realization does the reader discover that Arthur is not a villain at all, but a true protector of the children Linus had always looked after in his own way. Linus is a metaphor for all of the people who have to see the truth to believe it, even if it feels too late to make a difference. In the second book, another DICOMY employee comes to the island with nefarious intentions and they are forced to decide how far they will go to protect the children they have come to consider their own.
There’s a bonus that Klune also has outspoken commentary on current political issues both in his work and for himself. The entire series, and much of Klune’s books, is a metaphor for the fight for LGBTQ+ rights in our current reality. Instructor Weisman made a great point, “New Historicism does point out that we should be careful not to assume that literature represents the culture of its creation exactly as it was because literature is still made up and created by authors, and therefore it presents an author’s individual take on the issues of the time” and this holds to the Cerulean Sea series’ as well. Not everyone in our time agrees with the stance Klune has taken, for a number of reasons. However, Klune himself has taken his opinions and made them hills he is willing to stand on. And in total transparency, I stand on them with him. He cares for and champions marginalized people and speaks proudly against bigotry, and I find that commendable.
Shmoop also says New Historicism aims to “study how a work of literature reflects its historical and sociocultural context” and “understand how a literary work comments on and relates to its context” both of which can be examined at length in Klune’s books. Klune uses his imagination, privilege, and position to shine a light on the issues in our society that he believes are hurting us as a human race. Issues like intolerance, sexism, and racism sit heavy both in Klune’s mind and on the pages that he writes.
To do this, he writes protagonists like Arthur Parnassus and Linus Baker, two men who came from opposite sides of a deeply skewed and grey morality line. When the two met, Arthur believed Linus to be prejudice against the very magical children he protected with his entire life and Linus had been sent to make sure it wasn’t Arthur that mistreated the poor creatures who’d already lost their parents and been abandoned by society. It’s a heavy commentary on the line drawn in our own current society: some believe that LGBTQ+ poses a risk and must be monitored for the sake of themselves and others, and those who are part of the LGBTQ+ community or tolerant and accepting of everyone know that those people are harming the very fabric of our identity as humans.
But not only does he write heroes of the cause, he also writes characters that perfect envelop the cause itself. The magical creatures that take the stage in this series, especially in Somewhere Beyond the Sea, where Klune himself claims to have worked hard to give these creatures a louder voice. Innocent juvenile creatures who look to Arthur and Linus, but can also stand up for themselves and each other. There is a deep understanding and pointed commentary that connect to the tolerance and social change themes. A great example of this is when Arthur is being questioned and Burton questions him about them. He uses callous words like “occupying” and “orphanage” and Arthur fights back. He says, “‘As a reminder the children have names. Hello, Lucy. Hello, Chauncey. Hello, Talia. Hello, Theodore. Hello, Sal. Hello, Phee.’” It’s one of my favorite lines of the book so far, though I’ve only read it once and not as deeply as I plan to in my lifetime. It is a direct and indirect commentary on the way people treat children in general: as objects to own, direct and control, rather than small humans with large identities who deserve to learn and be heard.
In this vein, Klune also addresses themes of grief and abandonment in a safe and digestible way for readers. Heather Davis mentioned in a seminar I watched recently for a ProWritingAid Science Fiction Writer’s Week that speculative fiction, which Klune absolutely writes, has “something profound to say about the world in a safe unrealistic setting” (ProWritingAid.org). Marsyas Island is a fantastically otherworldly haven for magical creatures, but it deals with the very heart of foster care in our very own system. Klune said it himself in the interview I was present for last week, though I’m paraphrasing as I didn’t take close notes or record. This goes along with what the textbook says Stephen Greenblatt claimed, “literature should be understood in relation to the collective beliefs, social practices, and cultural discourses that prevailed when it was written” (Literary Theory, 153). Klune, and readers like me, all hold a core belief of tolerance, and he himself is part of the LGBTQ+ community. This book is about people who care about marginalized people, because Klune is a person who cares.
To combat the issues Klune sees in our society, like anti-LGBTQ+ people and legislation, problems in the foster and education systems, he has created a broken society with the heroes being some of the few who know how truly awful the system is. Magical creatures are placed under scrutiny from the moment they are identified by the government, just like many LGBTQ+ folks are scrutinized by society anytime they want to exist out of their own safe environments. Our lecture notes say, “Cultural Studies aims to examine works that have traditionally been ignored in academic study, including those produced by marginalized or oppressed groups” and this work not only fits that fact but does so with intentionality.
Shmoop claims, “That is, even as cultural studies can be eclectic and playful, embracing texts of all shapes and forms, it’s also interested in cultural politics—how power operates within culture and how power dynamics are reflected in texts” (Intro). The House in the Cerulean Sea and Somewhere Beyond the Sea give an excellent example of how power can be used for good or evil, along with pointed commentary on how the politicians are currently using their power for our country. This is a series ripe with political and cultural allusions that add power to the characters in astounding ways. Arthur and Linus’ enemies-to-lovers romance (my favorite) is a lesson in change, tolerance, and trust.
Without giving too much away, the climax scene also fits into this criticism in a way I feel is worth mentioning. In the final fight with the villain, everyone in the village come out and watch the interaction. This is a clear commentary on the real truth that all of us are watching the choices of our government right now, and there are more people who see the truth through the propaganda. In fact, in the epilogue of Beyond the Sea, the narrator says, “The picture-taken by a visitor on vacation with a birdwatching group-became the indelible image of the battle for magical rights” (384) which speaks to the themes of community and comments on the particularly true-to-our-time fact that cameras and the internet are out of the control of the government, no matter how hard they try to control the narrative. The universal, almost cliché saying, “there is strength in numbers” is what this entire series thrives on, and does so beautifully.
Works Cited:
- Weisman, Jennifer. Lecture Notes, What’s New With New Historicism? September 2024.
2. Davis, Heather. “Science Fiction Writers’ Week 2024.” Prowritingaid.com, 2018, prowritingaid.com/sci-fi-week/hub. 4 Easy Steps to Master Backstory Without Info Dumping. Accessed 21 Sept. 2024
3. Tj Klune. The House in the Cerulean Sea, a Novel. New York, Tor, 2020.
4. Klune, Tj. Somewhere beyond the Sea. 12 Sept. 2024.
5. Klune, Tj. Live Interview. For Somewhere Beyond the Sea. 13 September 2024
6. “New Historicism.” Shmoop.com, 2024, http://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/new-historicism/.
7. Ryan, Michael. Literary Theory : A Practical Introduction. Chichester, West Sussex ; Malden, Ma, Wiley-Blackwell, 2017.
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