The Problem With Being Special

I've always thought that everybody wants to be special. Everyone wants to matter and have some sort of significance in the grand scheme of things. Everyone wants a purpose, a goal, and we all want to know that although there are seven billion people on the planet, yes, I matter.

Books are an escape, and one of the most common escapes pertains to being special. Being "the chosen one". That's pretty much the setup for most fantasies- a prophecy, or some seemingly ordinary person who ends up being absolutely remarkable. Heroes are brave, they have special powers, and they are different from other people. They save people- they don't need saving. They are the people with some special secret, some knowledge of a whole other world. 

Look at Harry Potter, who was some dorky orphan until he learned that not only was he a wizard, he was "the boy who lived" and he was famous. 

Look at Percy Jackson, a guy bouncing from boarding school to boarding school, who learns that he's actually the son of Poseidon, the god of the Sea and he's one of the most powerful demigods in existence. 

Look at Bella Swan, who moves into a new town, and is the only person whom Edward Cullen can't read the thoughts of. 

Now that I think about it, all of my favourite books are about this: ordinary people with crappy lives realizing that they aren't just ordinary, there's something more to them. We can analyze that later. The part I want to talk about is the not ordinary people. The Muggles. 

:(

One of the most fascinating parts of these mythologies is that normal humans, often the vast majority, are often ignorant of the world around them. They are blind to the magic and mayhem surrounding them. That isn't a big problem, except that they're often considered to be lesser.

It's like anyone who isn't special isn't really worth it, and it has kind of gotten me thinking. The special groups always seem to be the minority, and one on one, they are definitely more powerful than a human. Maybe it's my optimism, but I totally believe that in groups, humans can achieve wondrous things. People without some God-given talent can join together and use technology to be a force in the world. I've read two books with people like this.

In The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, vampires are revealed to the world and humanity reacts. Humanity puts them in cities, labelled Coldtowns, that the vampires can be part of, and humanity fights for existence and supremacy. There are obvious issues, like the commercialization of vampires, but it's still fascinating to see the power of a knowledgeable humanity. 

Partials by Dan Wells is another example that comes to mind. Society was destroyed in a war between humans and Partials, and since then, no baby has survived. Humanity is dying, but it won't break. People make laws, defend themselves, commit themselves to research. People don't give up. 

I'd like to see more stories about people who aren't special because of a super anything, but special because they work together with other people to enact significant social change.

I'd also like to see less of minimization for anyone who doesn't possess a god-given power. It's a little bit snobby to fault people for not seeing the truth only because you hide it from them.

While I think I will always love stories about "specials", I think I will also try to be more conscious of the amazing abilities of normals like the people around me.

What do you think of the focus on 'special' in books?
-P.E.