Dread Nation

When Mayor Carr first mentions Summerland, his tone becomes dreamy as he describes “a utopia on the Western plains, safe enough to withstand any shambler attack” and “America, as it should be, once more” (181). While Baltimore County claims to be safe, the cracks have started to show both literally and metaphorically, and people like the mayor have decided that Summerland is a symbol of hope and rebirth. However, as Ireland demonstrates, Summerland is a microcosm of what can happen when a society is built upon the back of prejudice, cruelty, and manipulation.

When Jane arrives in Summerland, she sees a massive barrier wall that shields the town from shamblers. Another wall patrol worker tells her that the wall was built “like the pyramids: most of the builders didn’t live to tell about it, and ain’t no Moses come to liberate them” (261). The mention of the Biblical story in Exodus hints that the wall-builders were treated as slaves, and the allusion reminds the reader that people like the preacher believe that slavery is part of the “natural order” of the world. The irony is profound: Summerland is meant to be “a new Jerusalem” and a “righteous city on the hill” (245), but it is being built in a manner similar to how the Egyptians built their oppressive empire, on the backs of slaves. The preacher and the sheriff are more like Pharaoh than they choose to acknowledge.

Gideon claims that Summerland was supposed to be “a shining beacon of hope, a noble Egalitarian vision for the future, a place to carve out a new idea of what our country could become, rise from the ashes of oppression and death” (308). It’s a nice idea, and when Jane notices children running around town playing, she wonders briefly if perhaps Summerland isn’t so bad after all. However, the thought is short-lived as she is quickly exposed to the unconcealed racism, sadism, and instability of a place like Summerland. While the white townspeople “waste their time having tea and drinking” (311), people like Jane lay their lives on the line day in and day out to try to keep the town safe. Lily warns Jane: “This whole town’s got a rotten soul [...] Everything is built upon a house of cards that’s gonna come crashing down sooner or later” (300). Her premonition turns out to be true, and in Summerland’s time of greatest need, the white people in town refuse to join in the fight against the shamblers. Gideon’s utopian dream has become a nightmare, because until the seeds of prejudice and privilege are replaced with a sense of community and personal responsibility, no society will stand the test of time.

When Jane is first seen at Miss Preston’s in chapter 1, she is running drills with Miss Duncan and must practice wielding a scythe. Jane is irritable, because she prefers to use sickles, which she calls “my best weapon” (8). Sickles are a difficult weapon to wield, and Jane’s sickles come to represent her unique fighting style and the shift from traditional to non-traditional roles for girls like her.

Jane was born on a tobacco plantation, and if she had been born a slave, she would have likely used tools such as the sickle to harvest the tobacco. However, after the shambler uprising, the roles for young Black women shifted, and instead of becoming a slave or a servant, Jane was trained to become an Attendant and fight shamblers. Jane’s personal set of sickles are “well made, balanced and sharp” (110). She places a great deal of care and pride in them because she has worked hard to master the use of them. Jane calls the act of killing a shambler with her sickles “harvesting,” and she seems to understand that the tools that once symbolized subservience and slavery can now represent her self-confidence and power, if only she can wield them appropriately.

Jane’s sickles also hold sentimental value. She has two personal sets: “Both sets came from Red Jack [...] The set that Katherine holds were a birthday present. The set I hold? A parting gift” (128). Jane prefers to use the second set of sickles: “There is probably something to be said about the fact that the gift I got when he put me aside was nicer” (128). The sickles represent her relationship with Jackson and the ways in which he empowered her. As difficult as their breakup was for Jane, she sees the second set as a symbol of her independence, and a firm reminder that although she loves Jackson, she doesn’t need him or any other man’s attention to affirm her value.