Dark Life

“‘What I know is that such crackpot theories are ruining Benthic Territory.’ I couldn’t stifle my anger. ‘Folks are scared to settle down here because they think their kids will turn into mutants.’”

Ty is passionate about Benthic Territory and the opportunities it provides. Ty hides his authentic self in service of the only home he has known, highlighting the importance of his community to him while undermining his self-worth.

“As always, surfacing threw my senses into shock. Overbright colors and sharp-edged sounds assaulted me. How was anyone comfortable up here? The light alone kicked every thought out of my mind and swapped my personality for a headache.”

Another element of worldbuilding, this moment reveals just how accustomed Ty is to living subsea. Like the Dark Gifts he and other children have developed, his reaction to sunlight and the sounds Topside reveal how his body has adapted to life underwater. Ty’s physical discomfort and his emotional discomfort both stem from the surface, a world where the people and the natural phenomenon hurt him.

“‘Why didn’t you want that woman to touch you? She was beautiful.’ I grimaced. Topsiders sure had a warped notion of beauty—like preferring skyscrapers to coral reefs. ‘Who cares what she looked like?’ I asked as we started down the outer corridor. ‘I don’t want to be poked by some stranger. The staring and questions are bad enough.’”

This passage illustrates Ty’s lack of confidence in his own appearance and his differing sense of “beauty” from Topsiders. The passage also reveals his preference for kindness and sincerity over beauty. If someone invades his space, he does not want to be around them.

“All of the forty-five states had two representatives in the assembly to vote on the state’s behalf. As a lowly territory, we got one representative, who wasn’t allowed to vote, and we didn’t even choose him. The assembly assigned us Benton Tupper and there was nothing we could do about it. At least he was better than no representative at all, which was what the ocean townships had. Truth was, the states didn’t have it that much better. The Commonwealth only held elections for new representatives every twenty years or so. Ever since the Rising became an official catastrophe, we’ve lived under Emergency Law, which means certain rights get suspended.”

This passage provides further worldbuilding, providing the reader with a picture of the government and how it functions. The description also foreshadows the darker government secrets discovered by the characters by building distrust in the Commonwealth’s motives from the beginning.

“But lots of pioneers came subsea looking for a fresh start and it was understood that if a person worked hard and contributed to the community, nobody would bring up his past. Let alone in front of a crowd. For all their overblown manners and convoluted etiquette, Topsiders could be ruder than a card shark spitting chewing weed.”

Ty’s observation reveals another way that Benthic Territory pioneers have created their own family-like community by accepting people on merit. Ty’s metaphor uses tone and syntax to paint the pioneers as rural by mimicking rural American speech patterns.

“‘Why does one family need so much space?’ I smiled at the judgment in her tone. Unlike light and air, we didn’t need to import space. ‘Vehicles, for one thing.’ The equipment bay alone took up the whole right side of the wet room.”

Gemma’s question reveals how deeply she has been affected by living in the crowded Topside—so much so that subsea homesteads seem extravagant, rather than necessary in their size.

“I was proud of what my parents had created out of the ooze, four hundred feet below the ocean’s surface. Especially since people had said it couldn’t be done. An unexpected tentacle of sadness wrapped around my heart. I’d picked out the land for my own homestead, measuring out the hundred acres of unclaimed terrain more times than I’d admit. The land was perfect, too – beautiful and rich with wildlife.”

Ty has a deep connection to the land through his parents’ contributions to making subsea living possible. He is proud of his parents’ accomplishments, and he is proud to live in the community they helped create. The freedom to move and create meaningful systems and communities underwater contrasts against the stale atmosphere Topside, where people are stuck in cramped apartments.

“‘Why? Are you scared?’ ‘Yeah,’ I replied, without a twinge of shame. ‘I’m not.’ ‘That’s because you haven’t heard the stories.’”

Gemma is often brave to the point of making bad choices and putting people in unnecessary danger. Ty, however, has developed a keen sense of when he should approach danger and when he should step away. His stable community and home life have helped him to recognize that it is alright to be afraid sometimes.

“My temper boiled. As if the settlers weren’t already breaking their backs to keep their homesteads running, raising fish and shellfish for Topsider dinner plates and creating crops out of mud—a gang of lazy, no-good outlaws had to turn all this hard work into a dead harvest?”

Echoing Quote #6, Ty uses the language of honest work and laziness to define worth. This value system reflects the hard life in Benthic Territory that sees most of their labor stolen by a government that does not listen to their concerns. Ty’s description of the Seablite Gang as lazy is ironic, given the eventual revelation of their very real grievances against the same government that Ty dislikes.

“Doc’s medical case thumped onto the bench next to me, sweeping Ma from my mind. Just the sight of that metal briefcase made me choke. […] I dug my nails into my palms to give myself something to concentrate on.”

This is the first indication that Ty has some sort of trauma related to medical supplies and/or doctors. Moments like these allow the text to address mental health concerns that underline the novel’s conflicts.

“Not us. She couldn’t possibly mean our family. I looked to Pa, but when he offered no reassurance, I felt my future sink into the abyss, where it was bleak and unfathomable.”

Ty’s bleak realization makes him even more determined to help resolve the Seablite Gang problem and to take risks like searching the Seablite prison he learns of from Doc. The threat of losing Ty’s home makes him courageous and willing to face danger.

“Why did government deception still surprise me?”

Commonwealth corruption is not new information. Despite this knowledge, Ty and others seem to hope that the deception is not as bad as it could be. Growing up under the Commonwealth has conditioned the characters to hope for legitimacy behind the legal system.

“Doc was the only one who hadn’t recoiled. He was studying Zoe thoughtfully. Too thoughtfully. I caught her attention and tipped my head fractionally toward Doc. She pasted on a smile, oozing innocence as she stuck out her unusually long tongue and touched it to the tip of her nose. A chorus of ‘Don’t,’ ‘Stop,’ and ‘No’ rang out from around the circle. Doc settled back with a forced smile.”

Doc’s behavior foreshadows the revelation of his role as an antagonist. Ty recognizes that Doc is obsessed with finding out if Ty and Zoe have Dark Gifts. He is revealing his intentions even before the pioneers discover his misdeeds.

“I can’t even remember my parents. And I haven’t seen my brother in three years. If we could all be together, I wouldn’t care if we lived in a closet.”

Gemma has not grown up in a tight-knit community like Ty has. Without a larger community to support her, she has been adrift, breaking rules to try to bring what remains of her family back together. Ty cannot resist this call for family and decides to break rules to help her. Gemma flaunts the usual Topsider desire for space in favor of her family, showing how deeply she misses having family.

“‘I’ve been a government employee too long for that. I know better. The ‘wealth has a whole department devoted to pushing its agenda on the public.’ He rubbed his scarred palm. ‘Or discrediting anyone who’s viewed as a threat.’ ‘Like the scientists who say the oceans have stopped rising.’ ‘Exactly. If the Commonwealth isn’t in the midst of a crisis, there’s no reason to operate under Emergency Law. The state representatives aren’t about to give up that kind of power.’”

Seeing Ty has discovered the reformatory and his role in it, Doc chooses to dole out bits of information, twisted to suit his purposes and obscure his connections to the Commonwealth. He also reveals that the Commonwealth is even manipulating the public’s knowledge of science and the environment, a parallel to real-world attempts to obscure the effects of climate change for political leverage.

“‘But you’re born-and-bred Dark Life,’ he went on, ‘and that’s something.’ His fingers bit into my flesh. ‘Don’t you ever’—his grip tightened—‘let anyone tell you different. Especially not some government stooge.’”

This is the first moment that reveals Shade has motives other than simple robbery. His admiration for “Dark Life” citizens and his admonition to Ty foreshadows the revelation of Dark Gifts to the rest of the pioneers and Shade’s call to resist Commonwealth domineering.

“‘We’d never place a ward in an experimental settlement on the seafloor.’ Anger propelled me forward. ‘Sending her to a reformatory is better?’ ‘Than living with Dark Life?’ Ms. Spinner scoffed. ‘Please. There’s no telling what the water pressure is doing to you people. And I’m not going to have that ungrateful girl serve me with a lawsuit ten years from now because she has brain damage. I’m afraid, Mr. and Mrs. Townson, you do not meet the Commonwealth’s qualifications for suitable foster parents.’”

Ms. Spinner represents the worst of Topsider prejudices. The Commonwealth encourages systemic exclusion of the pioneers despite requiring their crops to survive. By encouraging prejudice, the Commonwealth can continue exploiting the pioneers.

“You’re a lot like him—the way you look out for people. Richard did that. Not just for me but for the boys in his dorm. He’d stand up for them even if it meant getting himself into trouble.”

Gemma’s view of her brother is important foreshadowing for when Shade’s identity as Richard is revealed. He is not a typical outlaw; instead, he’s taking action to protect his fellow Seablite escapees and to get back at the government that abused them.

“I’m sick of people watching me. The settlers watch to see if I’m healthy, because if I am, they think they don’t have to worry about their kids. Topsiders watch to see if the water pressure is affecting me. I don’t want to be a prototype—I want to be normal.”

Ty’s outburst reveals just how much pressure he has felt for most of his life. Ty’s desire to be “normal” is a typical challenge placed in front of YA dystopian protagonists, who are often exceptional individuals on the margins of society. Ty’s eventual pride in being “not normal” symbolizes his maturity as he grows.

“‘You make a good poster boy. […] That helps all of us. Including you.’ ‘I don’t need help. I’m not the one in a cage.’ ‘Not all cages have bars. A reputation can cage you.’ He was nothing but a rumbling voice now. ‘So can a secret.’ ‘So can being an outlaw.’”

Shade views Ty similarly to pioneers and Topsiders, but from a different perspective. He believes Ty could be the poster boy to change people’s minds, allowing him to reclaim his authentic self while remaining in the spotlight.

“‘The rangers ain’t my worry. I got a bigger threat hanging over me. You got the same one, you just don’t know it. […] You don’t want to be dependent on the ‘wealth, kid.’ His tone turned sardonic. ‘Someone might take advantage of the situation.’”

Shade alludes to the larger enemy of the Commonwealth. He understands himself as a minor antagonistic force in their lives, despite their preoccupation with the Seablite Gang.

“‘Why can’t I live with you on the Specter?’ Shade threw back his head and laughed. It was a deep, rumbling sound like an underwater earthquake. ‘Live with outlaws?’ he snorted. ‘That’s why I gutted fish for three years?’”

Shade’s care is shown through his gruff characterization. He pushes Gemma away to protect her, putting her best interest above his desire to be with his sister.

“The posse, men I’d known all my life, stared at me. And so did Doc, except that his look was triumphant. Probably because he’d finally gotten me to admit what he’d suspected all along.”

The denouement of Doc’s role as an antagonist appears just as Ty claims his Dark Gifts. Ty must face his neighbors and their shock, recognizing that they now see him differently, along with Doc’s ulterior motives. Ty’s decision to reveal his gifts is a critical point in his journey of Self-Acceptance in the Face of Prejudice.