48 pages • 1 hour read
Downsiders
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Themes
The Fluidity of Binaries
The world of the novel is a mutable one, in which characters have imperfect and incomplete knowledge of the world at large. At first, many of the characters view the world in strict and simple binaries between the Downside and the Topside. As characters learn about the world, their perspectives shift dramatically. Though Downsiders present themselves as separate from Topsiders, Downsiders depend on Topsiders, with Talon snapping at Railborn, “Where do you think lightbulbs come from? And batteries, and pens, and conditioning shampoo?” (27). In the mutable world, objects flow from the Topside to the Downside, where Downsiders can use or repurpose them. For example, Downsiders turn socks into currency. Talon gives Lindsay a sock in exchange for the medicine, and Downsiders leave socks when they take a library book. Likewise, Topsiders rely on Downsiders for utilities such as gas, water, and electricity, and New York City grinds to a halt when Railborn demands that these utilities be cut off as punishment for the Topside’s “incursion.” The flow of goods and services between the Topside and the Downside highlights their interdependence.
Although Downsiders would prefer to maintain a strict demarcation between the two worlds, in reality the boundary between the two is porous. For example, in Chapter 1, Robert changes from a Topsider to a Downsider. While Railborn and other Downsiders portray Topsiders and Downsiders as staunch adversaries, characters like Robert undercut this binary and illustrate that Topsiders can adjust to Downside life. Robert flourishes in the Downside and earns a new name, Flake. Likewise, Downsiders can adapt to Topside life. When Talon escapes death and experiences the Topside, the new surroundings bring him bliss, and he realizes Topsiders aren’t the threat he assumed them to be. At the end of the novel, Railborn and Gutta become Topsiders and flourish there just as Robert flourishes Downside. The characters’ identities are as mutable as the world they inhabit.
As Talon grows, he learns to embrace the fluidity of binaries instead of fearing it. As Most-Beloved, he changes some aspects of the Downside but preserves other elements. After the “trial by fire” (214), he realizes that the Downside has to evolve to survive, and has the idea to start moving displaced Downsiders into abandoned skyscrapers in the Topside. The image of Downsiders living above and below Topsiders symbolizes the porousness of boundaries and the way human agency shapes the world. Talon recognizes that Downsiders may not be prepared to coexist with Topsiders yet, but he holds out hope that the world can change again when they are ready.
Breaking Rules and Norms
Rules and norms define life in the Downside. They provide stability and predictability, and give Downsiders a way to approach and navigate the world. The Brass Junction features the engraved warning “FEAR THE TOPSIDE, OR BE CRUSHED BY ITS EMBRACE” (117), and the all-capital letters and hyperbolic diction speak to the importance of “the single most powerful piece of Downside doctrine” (117). The norms and rules coalesce around the belief that the Topside is a categorical enemy. Ironically, however, the diction of this commandment undercuts its message. The term “embrace” has a positive connotation, suggesting that Topsiders would warmly welcome Downsiders, not crush them. Even in their foremost directive, subversion reigns, because the world is not the stable, predictable place they want it to be.
This theme is therefore closely tied to The Fluidity of Binaries. Because the world is mutable, its laws and codes are liable to change. They can also be ignored or transgressed, just as physical boundaries are routinely transgressed. Talon literally transgresses when he brings Lindsay on a tour of the Downside, and he isn’t the only one:
Everyone—even the Wise Advisors—knew small acts of treason were committed every day […] for as much as the Downside’s beliefs depended on shunning the Topside, Downside reality depended on using it (123).
Talon’s conduct punctures the illusion of stability that the Downside’s rules and norms are meant to uphold. By breaking rules and norms, Talon threatens the Wise Advisors’ authority, so they make an example of him and sentence him to death.
Talon continues to manipulate rules and norms when he becomes Most-Beloved. Most notably, he changes the rules governing where Downsiders can live to help the community grow after disaster. However, he doesn’t reject established rules and norms altogether. He lets Downsiders continue to believe that they have existed since the world began, telling Beach’s grave, “You had to be forgotten, or the Downside wouldn’t take. You knew that, didn’t you?” (231). Likewise, he maintains the separation between Downsiders and Topsiders in recognition that it serves a purpose, at least for the time being: Downsiders don’t yet have the knowledge to live in Topsiders’ world. Talon’s policies as Most-Beloved illustrate that some rules and norms are beneficial for a society, but when they get in the way of growth, they should be changed.
Compassion Versus Cruelty
The rules and norms of the Downside do not foster compassion for Topsiders. They present the Topside as an inimical place, and this bias is ingrained in the characters. When Talon displays interest in the Topside, Railborn snaps, “That place is their curse, not yours” (71). Talon, though he shows more curiosity about the Topside than others, also circulates the cruel doctrine. He tells his little sister, “The people’s minds have been scorched by the sun until they can’t tell up from down” (24). When Talon becomes Most-Beloved, he modifies the hostile rhetoric, but he remains wary of Topsiders. Lindsay asks Talon if they’ll ever let Topsiders discover them. Talon replies, “We will when we know all the things that you know. Only then can we face the Topside and not be swallowed by it” (241). The term “swallowed” preserves the combative relationship between the Topside and the Downside and recognizes the potential for cruelty.
Because Downsiders view Topsiders negatively, relationships between members of the two worlds are necessarily fraught. For example, Talon and Lindsay’s relationship begins on a combative note when she pepper-sprays him, and Todd hits him and chains him to her bed. Yet Lindsay’s compassion—she gives Talon medicine for his little sister—elicits compassion from Talon. Their connection shows Talon that Topsiders and Downsiders can get along and help each other. Railborn vehemently detests the Topside, but the Topside shows him and Gutta compassion. A Topside hospital saves Gutta’s life, and the Topside gives them new lives in a home for young people without parents.
Like the world and the codes and laws that govern it, compassion and cruelty are fluid. Talon goes back and forth between the two, and Lindsay’s dad experiences their jarring fluidity firsthand. After the Great Shaft Disaster, New Yorkers exalt him because he has discovered a hidden world. Once the gas, electricity, and water stop, however, they turn on him: “Mark Matthias went from urban Indiana Jones to Public Utility Villain faster than you can say, ‘Help, I’m stuck in the elevator’” (182). Despite this, during the outages, New Yorkers react largely with compassion. They don’t loot or behave lawlessly––instead, they come together and party. Lindsay faces the fluidity of compassion and cruelty when she debates her choice to tell Talon the truth about the Downside. She intended to help him but acknowledges that perhaps the truth hurt him. For Lindsay, compassion and cruelty aren’t always easy to separate.
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