Justice And Inequity In 'The Winner's Curse'

In the world of today, picking out injustices around the globe often fairs easier than looking for justice in life. In Marie Rutkoski’s The Winner's Curse, similar sentiments seem to be felt as a struggle between the Valorian people, who have captured and enslaved the Herrani people in their own home develops and inequity seems to be the only possibility. As Kestrel lives life as the upper class conqueror, she struggles to keep her own free will and freedom in a struggle against her father the Valorian general, while simultaneously sympathizing with slaves, buying one out of impulsiveness and sympathy for a very high price. The irony is evident as she remains one part of a people group who has taken the freedom of others, but her impulsiveness,

In one instance, after she had just purchased a new slave out of sympathy she voices her dislike over the broken system and laments to her friend who was with her at the time of the purchase of the slaves how could she not “feel uncomfortable with the gritty details of purchasing people.” (Rutkoski 16) She also admits feeling “guilty under the slave’s gaze,” (Rutkoski 45) his presence reminding her how her people had conquered and taken the homeland of everyone they now ruled over. Kestrel may not have taken the step to sway the minds of all her people, but she is certainly aware of the issue, and is willing to verbally express her opinions on slavery in a society where that might not be taken so well. To Kestrel, owning the slaves is not a symbol of power and braun, but a constant reminder that she is the leading force behind the hurt and suffering of so many. The reminder serves to show humanity can become numb to both the brutality and cruelness of the world when it remains existent in everyday

This ideal is evident when considering the slave, Arin, who Kestrel bought on impulse out of sympathy towards the beginning of the novel, and his treatment throughout the course of the story. He overhears insults like “You lazy slug,” (Rutkoski 19) and “We’ll see how this animal gets along with the other ones.” (Rutkoski 74) Somehow the term animal had become possible; somehow animal had named him. Kestrel also notices how Arin “hardens himself” before each interaction with a Valorian, as a way of closing off his mind to the insults and obvious way the Valorians thought so little of him. As a Herrani, Arin is an outcast and a slave, yet this known fact doesn't stop Kestrel from noticing his discomfort and she doesn’t brush it off. Instead it becomes a physical nagging presence and speaks to her sympathy for others and her desire for change in a world that, while it may be comfortable and “ideal: for her, is not perfect in any way shape or