Elizabeth Moon's "The Speed of Dark


 Biography

Elizabeth Moon, born Susan Elizabeth Norris on March 7, 1945, is an American author that specializes in the science-fiction genre. Her story telling and writing started at the young age of six when she wrote her first short story about the family's dog. She later evolved to writing science fiction as a teenager. Later on in 1968 she attended Rice University in Houston Texas where she earned two bachelor's degrees in biology. The same year she joined the United States marine corps as a computer specialist where she climbed the ranks to be 1st lieutenant. In 1969 she married Richard Moon who she had attended university with and who was also serving in the marine corps. Moon began professionally writing in the 1980's, her first novel wasn't published until 1988, five years after her son Micheal was born. She didn't publish "The Speed of Dark" until 2003, it later went on to win the Nebula award the same year. The protagonist in the book was inspired by her own son and other autistic individual's parents she had met online.

Book Summary

    Elizabeth Moon's "The Speed of Dark" is set in a near-feature society where prejudice still roams. The story follows Lou Arrendale, a high functioning autistic man that works in a large pharmaceutical company as a pattern analyzer. Lou lives by himself, attends church every Sunday, and is a part of a fencing group. He has many friends in and out of work and even has a love interest.  His life revolves around patterns and schedule but when his employer introduces a controversial procedure that claims to "cure" autism, Lou's pattern gets interrupted. You will start to see the true abilities of one determined man as Lou contemplates if his life or sense of self would be better is he changed, even though he doesn't see himself as defective. Lou starts to understand how others act and how to decipher what it all means and how he should react. Moon invites readers on this journey of self-discovery, identity, autonomy, and what it means to be "normal". Will Lou choose treatment or will he and his coworkers find a way around their disrespectful boss? Follow Lou as he learns how individuals define themselves and how society measures worth all in The Speed of Dark.


My Review

    The Speed of Dark has been one of the better novels I have read in a while. Its themes of identity and adaptability really intrigued me, and I couldn't put it down. Lou's story definitely pulled on the heartstrings at times, but it's just proof of Moon's excellent writing style. Following Lou through his journey of discovering himself and the human mind was very insightful. Watching Lou change and realize he was actually normal was one of the highlights of this book. He was coerced into believing he wasn't normal until he discovered, "This book makes it clear that brains are a lot more complex than any computer and that my brain is normal- that it does function exactly like the normal brain- in many ways" (Moon146). He realized he is in fact normal, he has just been mislabeled. Yes, he is autistic, but he is not as disabled as his peers, his evaluation is at a much higher level and the professionals around him hadn't grasped that idea.

    As the book continues it opens up into a major theme of choice and autonomy. Lou thinks more freely about himself. He ponders on what he wants and what could be possible for him if his autism did restrain him. He finally comes to the decision, "I do not want to be used. I want to use my own mind, myself, for what I want to do. I think I may want to try this treatment. I do not have to. I do not need to: I am all right as I am. But I think I beginning to want to because maybe, if I change, and if it is my idea and not theirs, then maybe I can learn what I want to learn and do what I want to do" (Moon 209). Lou is making decisions for what interests him best. He's trying to make a change to better his future all on his own.

    The book had a very powerful message that I truly enjoyed, watching Lou change and discover more and more made this an enjoyable read. The ending really bummed me out, because in my opinion he had changed too much but he was happy and healthy, so it wasn't the worst outcome. I feel like more people should take on this read to broaden their views on society.

Further Reading Web Links

The Autism Today Foundation.
 https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=2ab827ee0443a5c38a477c30442e56edba27fee2b5a126ae262e84c0d25471a5JmltdHM9MTc1OTQ0OTYwMA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=4&fclid=16c69299-c2e5-63d1-22f3-84a2c36e62f8&psq=Autism+today&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYXV0aXNtdG9kYXkuY29tLw

  • The Autism Today Foundation is an active organization dedicated to bringing awareness to autism and autistic individuals. This ties in with the story because not many people were fully aware of Lou's ability.

Neurodiversity and what it means
https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=030d32288201381bc53a0427511acd0d413a51aa6b852a62d67aae4302a469e1JmltdHM9MTc1OTQ0OTYwMA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=4&fclid=16c69299-c2e5-63d1-22f3-84a2c36e62f8&psq=neurodiversity&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudmVyeXdlbGxtaW5kLmNvbS93aGF0LWlzLW5ldXJvZGl2ZXJzaXR5LTUxOTM0NjM

  • A good website to familiarize yourself with all the technical definitions and terms for better understanding of all the different types of neurodiversity. Many types were displayed by Lou's coworkers.


10 Ways to Support Neurodivergent People in the Workplace 

  • A good article to read to fully understand the workplace with the addition of neurodivergent people. In "The Speed of Dark" Lou and his coworkers were being forced out by their boss because their worth was fully misunderstood.

Bibliography

Elizabeth Moon Biography

Lou Antonelli, Texas author un-invited as convention Guest of Honor over remarks on Islam Archived November 26, 2017, at the Wayback Machine (October 23, 2010), NewsOK.

MoonScape—personal blog at LiveJournal

Image Generator


All Other Works Cited





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