Content Warning: This section contains references to bigotry and enslavement in a fantasy setting, as well as to forced reproduction and child abuse.

The Obelisk Gate is dedicated to “those who have no choice but to prepare their children for the battlefield” (no page). This battlefield is not any of the literal ones present in the text, but rather that of systemic oppression, when a group must fight every moment for the right to exist. Through the parallel narratives of Essun and Nassun, Jemisin explores the myriad ramifications of living under the weight of this oppression.

Systemic oppression involves the deliberate disadvantaging of one group for the benefit of another group. It is usually based on some shared aspect of identity—race, gender, social class, cultural beliefs or values, etc.—and is often self-perpetuating. The Broken Earth trilogy is rife with examples of orogene suffering and oppression: Children are taken from their homes and raised in an abusive school system at the Fulcrum, they’re forced to breed and killed if they question anything, and they live under constant threat of physical and emotional violence. This abuse is not a mere byproduct of prejudice. Rather, the oppression of orogenes is intentional: It allows the current regime to remain in power by both mitigating the destruction wreaked by natural disasters and by neutralizing a group of people who would otherwise have the ability to challenge the regime’s authority.