"You can't let the truth bring out the worst and let it get the best of you." - Criss Jami -
Pic Credit: Corruption Starts Here [Photograph]. Flickr. https://bit.ly/2A6qMCr
EXAMPLES OF MISTRUST FROM THE GOVERNMENT...
- David Bowden's book about Orciny is banned: Between the City and the City
- Breach - is basically the tyrannical power over both cities despite both political powers already established
- Unsensing - forces citizens to only focus on their city; isolates citizens, and creates division among people who essentially live on top of each other
Pic Credit: Trust No One [Cartoon]. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=gravity%20falls%20
Pic Credit: Between Cities [Photograph]. Flickr. https://bit.ly/2ZwA718
"Between the City and the City"
Bowden's illegal book speaks about the hidden city Orciny, which is said to be between both Ul Qoma and Bezel. However, his supposed findings and "proof" of this third city has been made illegal in both cities by both governments.
Why?
- Draws them away from their two cities
- Makes them want to act out and question their governments
- Leads to rise in crime -- people want to find evidence so they steal things from dig sights like Mahalia did for Buric who she thought was part of Orciny, but was actually just using her for financial gain for Bezel
- Causes conflict between Breach and the nationalists of both cities: nationalists want to defend their cities from the people who believe in this "third city"
Pic Credit: The Between [Photograph]. Flickr. https://bit.ly/3g8eutU
Pic Credit: Trust No One: Subway Car [Photograph]. Flickr. https://bit.ly/3ecosZz
BREACH
Who are they?
Pic Credit: Unseen [Photograph]. Flickr. https://bit.ly/3cWZ4H2
No one knows who Breach is, because they are essentially this tyrannical power over both cities despite both political powers already established. The relationship between Breach and the cities is blurred between trust and fear. No one interacts with Breach directly unless they themselves have breached. Breach avatars are essentially field agents that walk between both cities, or in one city, watching everyone to make sure that no one does anything illegal.
Breach governs even the police forces of both cities, which creates almost a political and ethical power struggle.
The U.S. Ambassador in Bezel explains to the Gearys the relationship between the government and Breach:
- "Unique powers,” “extremely secretive,” and “We, the embassy, have no contacts with… any representative of Breach” (79)
- Breach’s abilities and “sanctions” are “limitless”
Pic credit: BBC. The City and the City. 2018. United Kingdom. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7205264/mediaviewer/rm35866880
Unsensing
Unsensing is when the citizens of each city are forced to make themselves almost forget, or really ignore, that there is another city, person, building, etc. that is different from their own when walking or traveling through their city. For example, a man in Ul Qoma can walk in a crosshatched area but if a woman from Bezel also walks in the same crosshatch simultaneously, he is forced to not acknowledge - or unsense - her because in his city she does not actually exist.
This creates confusion and disruption between borders, as well as distrust and paranoia among the citizens of both cities.
Foreigners will be paranoid of breaching, as well as citizens being paranoid of breaking any little rule could be breaching.
The rules that the government has enforced on both cities has caused a distrust between the citizens and the government because the citizens do not know if they should be following the government or fear the tyrannical rule of the invisible Breach.
This results in border conflict and unsensing confusion in both social cultures because no one truly knows who to trust and which rules to follow, particularly when governing.
Pic Credit: BBC. The City and the City. 2018. United Kingdom. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7205264/mediaviewer/rm35866880
References
Mieville, China. The City and the City. Macmillan, 2009.