More Than Human was published a year before the Supreme Court ordered the desegregation of schools in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. In other words, public schools were still segregated between black students and white students when the novel was written. Its inclusion of black characters, the twins, in the system of main characters, the gestalt, was a big step forward for science fiction as a genre; but, at the same time, Bonnie and Beanie are relegated to playing very small roles. The book makes it clear, however, that all people should be included in humanity, something that won't happen, one character claims, because people have a need to feel superior over others.
Questions About Race
- Can you point to any differences between Bonnie and Beanie, the two black twins? What do the differences or lack thereof say about race in the novel, if anything?
- Find any mentions of minorities other than black characters in the novel, be they different non-white ethnicities or individuals with disabilities or non-human animals, and discuss how those mentions relate to the treatment of race in the novel.
- Pick out two or three characters who notice race and two or three who do not remark on it. What does that difference say about them as individuals?
Chew on This
More Than Human is progressive in its treatment of black characters, given the time in which it was written.
More Than Human is not progressive in its treatment of black characters, given its use of stereotypes and the minor roles afforded to the twins.