A Review of Tepper’s
"Sideshow"
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by
Spryte
__Despite many contradictions and the riddle-filled plot, I really enjoyed
Sheri Tepper’s Sideshow. I felt that I really knew the characters in the
novel because Tepper gave such detailed backgrounds for Nela, Bertran, and
Fringe. I was able to empathize with their feelings and anticipate their
next move or reactions. At first, I felt that Tepper’s detailed presentation
of the backgrounds of the three characters was interesting but pointless.
However, I eventually discovered that all the development was not pointless.
It was just that Tepper took her sweet time in bringing both the story lines
together.
__When Fringe, Nela, and Bertran join Danivon on a quest to save their planet
from egotistical ‘gods’, they encounter many opportunities where they
struggle to apply personal moral codes to events that defy interference. Nela
and Bertran, who were raised Catholic, are appalled at and condemn many of
the actions of the people on the Planet Elsewhere. They just don’t
understand how Fringe and Danivon, the Enforcers from Elsewhere, can just
stand by and allow atrocities to occur. In turn, Fringe is finding it
increasingly more and more difficult to continue her job as an Enforcer
without showing the unprofessional feeling of revulsion at some of the acts
she observes and her urge to judge others, something she is not supposed to
do even the relativistic laws governing Elsewhere.
__The number of contrasts and contradictions in Sideshow is great, making the
characters wonder constantly who is right. The capital of Elsewhere is
ironically named Tolerance. I say that the name is ironic because the foreign
policy of Elsewhere’s provinces is that each province must leave other
provinces alone. The planet’s whole history is based on this idea.
Tolerance is the headquarters for the Enforcers, the police system of the
planet, but the Enforcers are only used if a dispute arises between two
provinces. If a situation comes up, then an Enforcer is sent to “attend to
the situation”, without passing any judgment. The funny thing is that while
the Enforcers will not tolerate disputes between different provinces, they
are not supposed to have any opinions about what goes on inside of a
particular province. Any kind of activity is acceptable if it is seen as a
part of a specific culture and thus contributes to the general theme of
“cultural diversity.” Fringe says that she hates herself as an Enforcer,
because of all the people she has seen abused in various provinces and yet
could not help without violating her oath to protect and preserve diversity.
__Throughout the quest, Fringe and Danivon are able to see the contradictions
and hypocritical ideas their jobs as Enforcers require them to uphold. They
learn that the only way to survive is to reject the recommended attitude of
indifference and be themselves by believing and acting upon their instinctive
morals.