Direbound

Within the book’s world building, the social structure is based on typical medieval classes: the nobility, the merchants, and the peasantry (or commoners). Wealth within this structure is unevenly distributed: The nobles live in luxury and opulence, while the peasantry lives in poverty and squalor. The author uses this context and the exceptional case of the Bonded, however, to emphasize how those in power use social classes to cultivate dehumanization and collective societal collapse.

The public’s lack of knowledge of the kidnappings in Sturmfrost’s impoverished neighborhoods signals the dehumanizing impact of social classes. As Meryn narrates, “Kids have been getting kidnapped for as long as I’ve been alive; maybe as long as this entire war has been going on. And we all know who the Nabbers actually are. Siphons, our ancient, monstrous enemy from the neighboring country of Astreona” (24).

Despite their longstanding occurrence, the kidnappings are never considered a social emergency by anyone except the commoners themselves. Though few are aware that the Siphons in question are King Cyril and Killian, the novel suggests that an intentional use of class division helps maintain the royal family’s secret kidnapping scheme. As Meryn discovers, no one in a position to help the townspeople (specifically, the Bonded) is aware of the kidnappings. Venna and Izabel, who are legacy applicants to the Bonding Trials, have never heard of the kidnappings. Likewise, Egith, who participates in the war effort, is oblivious, as are other Rawbonds. The novel thus suggests that the bulk of the kingdom’s power and protection (the Bonded) are all unaware because they’ve all resided within the Bonded City and have minimal interactions with commoners.

The intentional widespread ignorance effectively achieves three goals. First, it ensures that commoners remain isolated and without resources to counter the kidnappings, leaving their children vulnerable to becoming the king’s blood source. Second, ignorance fosters civil discontent and mistrust, as Meryn exemplifies when she learns that Egith is unaware of the kidnappings: “Of course, she doesn’t know. I just thought…she’s important, right? Everyone’s always known that the king doesn’t give a shit about the commoners, but even such a high-ranking Bonded doesn’t know? Doesn’t care to know?” (139). For commoners like Meryn, therefore, the Bonded’s ignorance seems willful, given how long the kidnappings have occurred and especially since the king himself has never bothered to address the issue. For Meryn and other commoners, the Bonded’s ignorance is proof that they don’t consider commoners proper citizens but rather fodder for war and a means of enriching the nobility. Third, it portrays the Bonded as an institution for the specific intended use of the nobility. The Bonded may well fight in the war, but for commoners, their inaction and lack of involvement in the matters of common citizens imply that they do so for the king only and not for the kingdom or its inhabitants. The novel thus exposes the exploitation of social classes to cause fissures within the kingdom’s collective unity, allowing the Siphons to use those gaps for their own gains.