Who Are You, Really? Fractured Identity & 'Ancillary Justice'

Ann Leckie's novel examines divided natures, how we change & grow

Essential Theme

Who are you? Does your answer change depending on the day? On your mood? Has your DNA shaped you into your current form, or have you grown in response to the world around you?

Ann Leckie places a lot of importance on identity in her novels. Her extended Imperial Radch books, Translation State and Provenance, place sharp focus on alien ideas and experiences of identity and how those reflect our own. The Raven Tower, her lone fantasy novel, explores the power of an overlooked god knowing and staying true to their identity as The Strength and Patience of the Hill.

I've previously written about Ancillary Justice & its universe a few times:

• As a Book that Redefined Speculative Fiction

• In the context of Today's AI

• With regard to its use of Neopronouns

Without further ado, let's dive into the complex identities of Breq and Anaander Mianaai.

Fractured Identity, by Justin & Alexis Hernandez

Justice of Toren // One Esk // Breq

Ancillary Justice's protagonist begins life as the AI mind of a military troop carrier, the Justice of Toren (Justice being the standard classification for troop carriers, Toren being a minor deity in the sprawling Radchaai pantheon).

Like many older Radchaai ships, Justice of Toren carries a complement of human officers who each oversee groups ('decades') of 'ancillaries': human bodies from conquered planets, given implants which allow Justice of Toren complete and direct control over them.

However, it isn't quite as simple as the unified ship's mind simultaneous controlling hundreds or thousands of limbs. When on deployment in a star system, some decades of officers & ancillaries will often be sent planet-side, while others remain aboard the ship. Even the few seconds of delay for signals to travel between ship and planet would be disruptive to a cohesive mind, let alone emergency situations where a greater distance would leave planet-side ancillaries totally non-functional.

Leckie's narrative-defining solution is to have Justice of Toren's mind effectively split in these situations; still communicating as much as possible, but with each ancillary decade allowed the ability to function (and grow) independent of the whole. This is how Justice of Toren One Esk (the first 'Esk' decade of ancillaries aboard) was born.

Justice of Toren / Breq from Ancillary Justice, by quarksparrow

We learn that One Esk has frequently been deployed for planetary annexations, spending more time interacting with the world beyond the Radch's military and developing an interest in local music totally absent from the rest of Justice of Toren. While all Radchaai ships are programmed to love their commanding officers, we also see One Esk develop a surprisingly strong attachment to Lieutenant Awn and widening the gap between its identity and that of the whole.

When disaster strikes in the form of the even-more-fractured Lord of the Radch Anaander Mianaai and Justice of Toren is utterly destroyed, One Esk is able to save a single one of its segments: One Esk Nineteen, later called Breq. Here's a fascinating passage where she attempts to parse her identity:

Nearly twenty years later “I” would be a single body, a single brain. That division, I–Justice of Toren and I–One Esk, was not, I have come to think, a sudden split, not an instant before which “I” was one and after which “I” was “we.” It was something that had always been possible, always potential. Guarded against. But how did it go from potential to real, incontrovertible, irrevocable? On one level the answer is simple—it happened when all of Justice of Toren but me was destroyed. But when I look closer I seem to see cracks everywhere. Did the singing contribute, the thing that made One Esk different from all other units on the ship, indeed in the fleets? Perhaps. Or is anyone’s identity a matter of fragments held together by convenient or useful narrative, that in ordinary circumstances never reveals itself as a fiction? Or is it really a fiction? I don’t know the answer. But I do know that, though I can see hints of the potential split going back a thousand years or more, that’s only hindsight. The first I noticed even the bare possibility that I–Justice of Toren might not also be I–One Esk, was that moment that Justice of Toren edited One Esk’s memory of the slaughter in the temple of Ikkt. The moment I—“I”—was surprised by it. It makes the history hard to convey. Because still, “I” was me, unitary, one thing, and yet I acted against myself, contrary to my interests and desires, sometimes secretly, deceiving myself as to what I knew and did. And it’s difficult for me even now to know who performed what actions, or knew which information. Because I was Justice of Toren. Even when I wasn’t. Even if I’m not anymore. - Ann Leckie, Ancillary Justice

Haven't we all felt surprised or even betrayed by ourselves at one point or another, at the suggestion that our idea of who we are could be inaccurate, malleable, vulnerable? Breq must question her entire history to sort out what formed her, divided her from herself; and she also has external, abusive influence to worry about. And she's not alone. Not by a long shot.

Anaander(s) Mianaai, by Meredith Alden Lewis

Anaander Mianaai

The Imperial Radch is a vast expanse of human-controlled space, made possible by the guiding hand and under the watchful eye of three thousand year-old Anaander Mianaai. Unlike the long-lived AIs she commands, Anaander has achieved her effective immortality through cloning herself thousands, if not millions, of times.

Similarities begin to emerge, however, once you take into account that Anaander faces the same difficulty of distance in maintaining her supposedly unified consciousness across her many bodies throughout the Radch. Far-flung versions of herself might inadvertently go days or weeks without receiving updates from the rest, potentially allowing them to evolve as individuals just like Justice of Toren One Esk did.

The books suggest a single incident ultimately caused the culture-spanning schism we see: Anaander's decision to completely exterminate the defiant Garseddai people and their planet. Half of Anaander reacted in horror and regret at this decision, while the other half doubled down on their commitment to militarism and tyranny. From this moment forward, the Lord of the Radch worked against herself in secret: violently, politically, and in many more fields besides.

Anaander Mianaai, by Lauren Saint Onge

Anaander's self-conflict is tough to follow; I really only got a grasp on it with my recent third reading of the novel. Yet I think it speaks volumes to the societal damage that occur under unstable autocrats who fully believe they're in the right.

One side of Anaander, bent on reforming the Radch by eliminating the creation of ancillaries and halting its millennia-long conquest and expansion, seems genuinely good in a lot of ways. Breq will have none of it though, treating any and all of the Lord of the Radch with varying levels of grave suspicion and malice. After all, both Anaanders attempted to subvert Justice of Toren and were partially responsible for its destruction. That much power probably shouldn't be in anyone's hands.

Takeaways

There are further complications I could get into: the AIs relationship with free will, the hint of a third Anaander faction, the Lord's attempt to overwrite Lieutenant Tisarwat's mind and personality with her own. One of the most interesting is the scenes we get of ancillaries being newly connected to Justice of Toren, clearly implying that some of the body's identity remains and must be coaxed into merging with or playing host to the AI.

Along with Tisarwat's journey and Breq's growth after her ship's destruction, Leckie seems to be suggesting an important biological component of identity: the mind must work through the brain it's in, and is potentially shaped in turn. This is an idea I've looked a bit at in regards to transhumanism, and would love to focus on more in a future piece (including this incredible short story by Ken Liu).

Even excluding conditions like Bipolar disorder, I think we're all a lot more varied in our identities than we tend to believe. The slightest change in our brain chemistry can see us undergo vast emotional swings, energize us or knock us flat. Never mind external stimuli, which can bring back our past in an instant (I'm reminded of this bit of Lily and her friend reverting from HIMYM).

Like Leckie says, perhaps identity is just a convenient narrative, fictional or otherwise. But as always, it's important to be mindful about that narrative; what story we're living and showing the world.

Thanks for reading and until next time <3