The Toll

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2019

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Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Character Analysis

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Background

Series Context: Arc of a Scythe Series

The Arc of a Scythe series explores a post-mortal universe, in which death by disease, aging, and accident became virtually impossible in 2042. In this world, people are implanted with nanites that control pain, regulate moods, and accelerate healing. People can turn a corner, or reset their age when they please, and “deadish”—clinically dead—people can be revived at healing centers.

With immortality a reality, scythedoms have been set up to glean people, or deliver final death as a mechanism of population control. Scythes are free from the control of the Thunderhead and are supposed to operate by a strict code of ethics, such as gleaning without bias and within limits. However, as time goes on, many scythes grow corrupt, killing for cruelty and personal gain. Events in the series begin at this juncture, nearly 300 years after the Thunderhead was set up.

In Scythe, the first book of the trilogy, teenagers Citra Terranova and Rowan Damisch are chosen as apprentices to the honorable scythe Michael Farraday. The two talented young people fall in love. Farraday fakes his death to prevent a deathly face-off between his proteges, but Rowan still falls into the hands of evil scythe Goddard. Goddard turns Rowan into a killing machine, but Rowan ends up killing him and escapes. Citra is trained by the compassionate scythe Marie Curie and becomes Scythe Anastasia.

The Thunderhead sees Rowan grow more notorious, gleaning corrupt scythes to cleanse the world. He becomes known as the dreaded Scythe Lucifer. Anastasia makes a name for herself as a compassionate gleaner. The Thunderhead, programmed to keep away from the affairs of scythes, witnesses scythes turning more toxic and begins evaluating loopholes to indirectly influence the state of affairs and save humanity. It chooses Greyson Tolliver, a former Nimbus Agent, to act as its emissary.

Goddard is revived and wishes to become the High Blade of MidMerica. When he learns Rowan and Anastasia plan to thwart his bid before the Grandslayers, the most important scythes in the world gathered at Endura, Goddard sinks the island. At the last moment, Marie Curie locks Rowan and Citra in a vault so they can be revived if found. Marie self-gleans. The rest of the story continues in The Toll.

Cultural Context: Authoritarianism and Technological Control

Although the Arc of the Scythe series is set in a far future where death has been defeated, the series reflects contemporary concerns about authoritarian governments and surveillance technology. In the series, national governments no longer exist, with the Thunderhead managing people’s lives, including assigning them careers and marking rule-breakers “unsavory.” The world is divided into seven continents, which are further divided into regions: For instance, North Merica is divided into MidMerica, WestMerica, Caribbea, and others. Each region has a Scythedom responsible for population control. Scythes are the only group of people exempt from Thunderhead rule.

The fact that the scythes have disproportionate power over others—in that they can glean people and are not subject to Thunderhead laws—makes them inherently prone to corruption. In The Toll, Robert Goddard has become the chief scythe or High Blade of MidMerica and goes on to concentrate power further by coining the new position of Over Blade of the entire continent of North Merica. Goddard’s dictatorial tendencies speak to contemporary concerns about even democratic governments resorting to authoritarian methods. The novel was published in 2019, when concerns about the possibility of authoritarian governments were spreading in countries such as the United States, India, and Brazil (Merelli, Annalisa. “The state of global right-wing populism in 2019.” Quartz, 30 Dec. 2019).

Another pertinent concern the novel reflects is the free availability of private data, which facilitates the control of individuals and governments. In The Toll, The Thunderhead is a benevolent entity that, while knowing everyone’s secrets, acts to their benefit. However, the fact that the Thunderhead possesses Jerico’s body without Jerico’s consent makes Greyson realize that boundaries are needed between technology and individuals. The fact that Greyson marks the Thunderhead unsavory, an unprecedented event in their world, suggests that the age of complete surveillance on Earth may be coming to an end.

The Thunderhead itself is aware of the dangers of freely available data, which is why it prepares to save humanity by using its “blind spot.” Since the AI itself cannot freely reveal the coordinates of this location, it knows the location is relatively safe from the eyes of despots like Goddard. The uneasy relationship between people and technology in the novel can thus be seen as a parallel to the real world, where governments and corporations increasingly use private data to influence and control people.