83 pages 2 hours read

Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

Illuminae

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2015

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Themes

The Slippery Nature of Truth

Although many of the files contained in the Illuminae report are supposed to be factual in nature, the way facts are represented, the order they were given in, the emphasis they are given, the facts omitted, and the audience they are supplied to shape the reality of truth. One example of this is the withholding of information. If Kady trusted her superiors to supply her with truthful information, she’d likely be dead, or at least unaware of the story that needs to be told to stop BeiTech. The story would be much simpler if the protagonists trusted the information provided, and if everyone was totally trusting, BeiTech’s narrative would likely reign supreme: There is nothing to see here.

Even when Kady and Ezra are distrustful of the narratives presented to them, this alone isn’t enough to capture the full extent of the truth, as they also must battle their way through propaganda to get to the heart of what’s happening. For example, the poster circulated to those aboard the Copernicus urged general hygiene measures, which is not a lie and is, of course, always a standard healthy practice. However, it was framed as a way to prevent the spread of the

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