Welcome to my stop for the blog tour for Allison Alexander’s book Super Sick: Making Pace with Chronic Illness! It was launch day for this amazing book yesterday and I shared about it with you all here! I am thrilled to be part of this unique tour and host Allison for a guest post today. Each stop in the tour features a fictional character who experiences chronic pain or illness. She is sharing about Raven Reyes from The 100, one of my favorite shows.
About the author
Allison Alexander is an earthbending Ravenclaw from Hoth who’s more comfortable curling up at home with a video game than venturing out into the wild. As an author, editor, and blogger, Allison aims to make spaces for minority characters in science fiction, fantasy, and pop culture. Also, her favourite character class in Dungeons & Dragons is a bard, so that should tell you everything you need to know about her.
From her home in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada—which she shares with her husband, Jordan—Allison writes books, edits novels, and mentors aspiring authors.
Raven Reyes & Pressing On
Often, when a book or movie represents a disability or illness, the entire thing is about that illness; think Forrest Gump or The Fault in Our Stars. These characters’ identities are entirely swallowed up by their disabilities. In other shows, characters with illnesses are only there on the sidelines to “inspire” the protagonist, in the way that Tiny Tim’s only purpose in A Christmas Carol is to be pitied by Scrooge.
Writers have also excluded characters with disabilities from stories due to the idea that once you’re disabled or chronically ill, you’re done. You’re no longer a hero until you have found a cure or have “overcome” your disability.
As someone with a chronic illness, I appreciate it when I see three-dimensional protagonists who have conditions and are learning to deal with them while taking part in a larger narrative—characters like Raven Reyes.
Raven Reyes from CW’s The 100 is the spunkiest, cleverest, and most creative character among the group of teenagers attempting to survive on post-apocalyptic Earth. She doesn’t let anything stop her—rules, she’ll break ‘em; mechanical problems, she’ll solve ‘em; her boyfriend’s death, she’ll grieve and carry on. Until she’s shot in the spine, that is. After surgery, Raven has to live with chronic pain due to nerve damage, and it almost destroys her.
Anyone who lives with chronic pain knows the toll it takes on your mind and body. It’s exhausting. It’s frustrating. And when there’s no end in sight, it’s difficult to find hope or purpose in life.
In Season Three, Raven responds to her pain by refusing to slow down or admit she can’t do all the things she used to. She feels like accepting her condition would be admitting she is weak, and resists that—until she’s presented with a chip she can swallow that will supposedly take away her pain. At first, she responds with scorn at this “miracle cure,” but then she gives in because she just wants the pain to stop. And who can blame her?
Many shows would end her character arc here, with a cure, and let her go on with a “normal,” healthy life where she can run around stabbing enemies in the face like the rest of the characters. Except, The 100 doesn’t do that. The chip works, sort of. It removes Raven’s pain, but at the cost of her memories and agency. In the end, she accepts that her disability is a part of her, that she has purpose and hope even with her limitations. Her technological brilliance allows her to defeat the season’s villain, disability and all.
I love her arc, because those of us with disabilities and chronic pain don’t get miracle cures, either. If we think people like us can’t contribute to the exciting adventures in a science fiction or fantasy novel, we’re wrong. Raven proves that.
Do you struggle with chronic pain or illness, or do you know someone who does? What have you noticed about how fictional characters with these conditions are portrayed?
** Super Sick: Making Peace with Chronic Illness is now out in stores so get a copy and let me know what you think! Below is my reading experience for this book. **
Amazon Print
Amazon Kindle
Be sure to visit other stops on the tour and learn about other characters with chronic illness as portrayed in popular media! Also, connect with Allison on Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads.
Cover image: Photo by Deanna Lewis on Unsplash
Hurray! Thanks for having me!