An Essay of Annihilation by Jeff Vander Meer

Topic             : Feminism issue.

Sub Topic    : The main character selection, the equality of education, and the woman strength in conducting research at area X of the 12th expedition.

By                   : 

• Alfiah Oktarika Nurul Khasanah NIM A320180278
• Rofi Khoirunnisa NIM A320180280
• Erica Kusuma Mayangsari NIM A320180288
• Nabila Nur Ilmy Shohiby NIM A320180290

           Annihilation is a novel by Jeff Vander Meer released in February 2014. Annihilation is the first novel in the Southern Reach trilogy with the second and third novels in a row titled Authority and Acceptance. The novel depicts a team of several women who have different skills such as, biologists, anthropologists, psychologists, languages and surveyors. They are on a mission to research a mysterious area known as Area X. They are the 12th expedition team sent to the region after several previous expedition teams were lost, committed suicide, aggressive cancer, and mental trauma so no results have been obtained until then. This novel uses a back and forth storyline, so the reader must be able to understand and interpret the author's intentions. Annihilation has won the Nebula Award and the 2014 Shirley Jackson Award for best novel. The novel has been published in 35 countries. The 2014 novel was adapted into a film released in 2018 with stars Natalie Portman, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, and Oscar Isaac.

            The topics raised in the novel use women as the main characters portrayed face-to-face in a dangerous and mysterious study. Whereas most novels usually use men as central figures who are always depicted as having strength and determination when there is a dangerous mission. From the character chosen, shown indirectly the writer has portrayed feminism issue in his novel. Feminism issue has start in the beginning of 1970 but until the end of 1980 people still afraid to do something about feminism issue. As time went on, the issue of feminism began to resurface and became one of the issues that attracted the attention of the world. Feminism today is referred to as the fourth wave of feminism. The fourth wave of feminism began to emerge around 2010. The issue of gender equality is being fought for today, including focusing on gender norms, eradicating injustice in the social environment (such as health, education, employment, and etc.) and empowering women who are oppressed. The feminist movement has been heavily voiced for the past few years.

            Because of the feminism issue history, we want to discuss about the feminism issue in this novel which the writer tried to deliver to the readers. Such as, the main character selection, the equality of education, and the woman strength and determination.

            First, the main character selection in this novel is women. Each of them has an important role in the expedition that is on the mission of the novel Annihilation. In this story they are members of the 12th expedition team sent to unravel the mysteries that exist in the X area. The reason the author chooses the female lead is because he wants to show that women have the same toughness and courage as men. It is shown in the part when they can adjust to nature. "We also needed to acclimate ourselves to the environment. In the forest near base camp one might encounter black bears or coyotes. You might hear a sudden croak and watch a night heron startle from a tree branch and, distracted, step on a poisonous snake, of which there were at least six varieties. Bogs and streams hid huge aquatic reptiles, and so we were careful not to wade too deep to collect our water samples."

            Secondly, the equality of education that shown in this novel can be seen from the storyline. It tells us about the expedition which had done by the experts and it definitely shows that they have good education. This has broken the public stigma that "women don't need too much education" or "so women don't need to be too smart". Furthermore, this has shown that women also deserve a good education and career on a par with men. According to Mary Wollstonecraft on A Vindication of the Rights of Women in 1792, arguing that women should have the same access as men to economic and educational opportunities. Departing from this theory, the author of the novel Annihilation has provided a fairly good implementation through the depiction of characters who have equal educational status between men and women.

            Third, the women strength and determination which the writer described it by telling many of the failures that had occurred on previous expeditions carried out by male researchers." Knowing this, the women were undaunted and accepted to continue the study. Despite the obstacles and threats they would pass through, they persisted in trying to complete their mission. In the feminism Marxism, which emphasizes inequality between men and women, is not due to individual actions intentionally but the result of social, political and economic structures that are closely related to the capitalist system. Whereas the writer also shows that the role of women in this novel is equal to men, while at the same time dismissing the capitalist system that exists in society.

             Overall, this novel is good reading, easy to understand due to the simple language style and recommended for those who like science-fiction novel and want to know the role of women in this novel that clearly gave great implementations of feminism issue. This novel is suitable for 15 years old above, because when you read this novel  you will need a good understanding of the storyline and having high imagination.