EnclaveA Book By: Ann Aguirre

Presentation By: Alta Sprague

In his written work, “The Allegory of the Cave”, Plato sought to explain the human scope of understanding within the realm of forms. Through this story, Plato

wanted to explain that we accept our existence based on our conceptual experience. We give names and meaning

to what we know to be true through familiarity and observation. We can only grasp concepts under our

available conditions.

Ann Aguirre’s “Enclave” is a dystopian novel that in some ways echoes Plato’s story of the cave. In “Enclave”, we are able to visualize a society of people who have spent

their entire lives underground. From birth to death, these people have experienced their entire lives in a dark and barren setting, surrounded by smoke, shadows, and

danger around every corner.

Plato’s Allegory: A Comparison

The HeroThe hero in the story is a young girl named Deuce. Deuce is given her name in a ritual ceremony that marks her fifteenth year of age, which is customary in her society. Due to such a high mortality rate, members of the enclave are only given names if they survive their first fifteen years. Before the age of fifteen, children are simply called “brats” and instead of names, they are given a number for identification purposes. Those who live to their twenties in the underground are considered the “elders” as it is unheard of for anyone to live to be much older than that.

Deuce has grown up in an underground enclave amongst a small population of people. There are other enclaves in the underground realm, but they each tend to keep to themselves, unless there is a need for supply trade or other necessary communication. The scarcity of food among other dangers creates a difficult setting for large populations to live together in the underground. The members of Deuce’s enclave must live under a strict set of rules and codes of conduct in order to ensure survival.

The Hero (Continued)Each enclave member is given a specific job or purpose when they reach their fifteenth year. Some members are to become breeders, who’s soul purpose is to maintain the population, and take care of the brats. Others are builders and laborers, who are responsible for furnishing the enclave with all purposeful items, working the kitchen, and completing general tasks. Deuce’s purpose is to be amongst the hunters, and as a huntress, she is expected to be strong and fearless. Deuce has been trained from a very young age for her position as a huntress, and she takes pride in her calling. Where others are fearful of the grounds outside the enclave, Deuce is trained to enjoy combat and has been taught to embrace death if it may come to her.

Hunters and huntresses are assigned partners. They are sent out to patrol outside the enclave on daily routes. The purpose of the patrols are to serve as protection and to find food, specifically meat to bring back for the enclave. Deuce is assigned a partner named Fade, who is considered an outsider among the enclave members.

The FreaksOne of the dangers the people of the enclave must face is the presence of a mutated and diseased race of humans who have evolved into mindless flesh-eating monsters. The freaks, as they are called, dwell in the darkest corners of the underground. They prey on any kind of flesh and will even eat their own dead.

Through a series of events, Deuce and her partner Fade discover the nearest neighboring enclave has been overrun by freaks and that there are no survivors. Deuce and Fade realize at this point that the freaks have begun to show some signs of intelligence and reasoning, a trait the freaks had previously not been known to have. In desperation, Deuce and Fade try to warn the elders of the impending danger that their enclave will surely face, but their warnings are dismissed as ridiculous imaginings.

Deuce’s DilemmaOn top of new concerns over the activities of the freaks, Deuce

begins to notice hidden flaws and hints of corruption amongst the motives of the enclave’s leaders. She doesn’t want to believe there could be corruption in the system of rules that have been set out by her elders, but her concerns become confirmed after the death of a fellow member who was also aware of the hidden corruption.

Determined to remain safely in her position as a huntress among her peers, and to avoid further trouble, Deuce attempts to put her worries aside and continue following the rules as set out by her elders. But, when one of her closest friends who had been a fellow brat during Deuce’s younger years is accused of a serious offense, against her better judgement, Deuce steps in and takes the blame for the offense she was sure her friend couldn’t have committed. The consequence of such an offense is to be immediately exiled to the “topside”. Not being willing to let Deuce be exiled alone, Fade steps in and also confesses to the crime that they are both sure no one has committed. The two are immediately sent away and are set on an unknown journey to a world above ground that Deuce has never seen before.

A New WorldIn the remainder of the story, Deuce experiences her first view of the world above ground. At first, she is very afraid, because she was always told by her elders that the topside is very dangerous. She had been raised to believe the topside had been completely destroyed many, many years ago. She’s been told all that remains of the topside is a barren wasteland, the air and water poisoned and deadly. Survival is sure to be impossible.

But, it’s not long before Deuce begins to see that what she had always been taught about the topside was not the real truth, and with Fade’s help, she sets out on a vast journey in search of other survivors. On her way, Deuce faces the challenge of understanding this strange new world, a place in which she is no longer a huntress, but simply a girl who must struggle to survive. Likewise, she must also learn to understand the growing feelings she has toward Fade, who is now her only companion in a big and dangerous world.

The WarningAnn Aguirre’s “Enclave” seems to impress upon her

readers the dangers of what society might look like when broken down to a critical degree. To imagine a world where humans are left to fend for themselves in a depleted population, we are forced to acknowledge some striking aspects of our core nature.

Like Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave”, we are shown how adaptable we are as humans in what might seem like the most unfit circumstances.

Deuce was raised in a society that never experienced sunlight, or the taste of fresh rain. Food sources were limited and a ceaseless alertness to potential danger was their normal nature. The people of the enclave had adapted to this kind of living, and were not interested in experiencing anything other than what they knew. The possibility that there was an entire world up above them to explore was beyond their awareness, so the enclave dwellers simply never strayed from home.

In our current United States super-power society, we like to believe ourselves to be free thinkers. For the most part, we feel we are in control of our own destinies. We choose our jobs, our homes, our lifestyles, our friends, our lovers, our food and our clothes. We can read what we want to read, go where we want to go, and do what we want to do. The possibilities are endless for us it seems.

But, are we really in control, or have we simply adapted to how our society is set up? Is there any other way of life we could be living that is better than what we live in now? How would we know what to choose if we have never been given the option?

If our world was destroyed or significantly altered, would we learn to embrace such a change? Or, would we stumble and falter under our sudden loss of stability, while consumed by our fear of the unknown?

Our Society

Note: All images in this presentation were acquired via flickr.com.