82 pages • 2 hours read
Scott WesterfeldLeviathan
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2009A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Background
Historical Context: World War I & Charles Darwin’s Contributions to Biology
Westerfeld considers his novel to be an “alternate history” (260). Many of the basic events of the book are true to history, but many were altered or made up entirely. On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie Chotek, were shot to death by Serbian nationalists in the afternoon. Bending history, Westerfeld plotted his novel to begin at night, and in the story, the Archduke and his wife are poisoned, not shot. While rumors spread at the time that Germany was secretly behind the murders, very few historians believe them to be true. The real Archduke Ferdinand and Sophie had three living children, Sophie, Maximillian, and Ernst. Alek is completely fictional, but his struggle to inherit the kingdom is based on truth. In real life, the Archduke and Sophie were never able to legalize their marriage, so their children did not inherit any of their father’s property or titles. This is a major struggle for Alek’s character, and the tension between his royal upbringing and common blood characterizes his journey from boyhood to manhood.
Charles Darwin is also a real person whose contributions to science laid the framework for modern biology. Darwin proposed that all species descend from common ancestors, and his research helped establish the field of evolutionary biology. However, in the story, Darwin’s studies unlocked the ability to create new species using DNA strands from living creatures. In reality, DNA was discovered in 1860, just a year after Charles Darwin wrote On the Origin of Species. However, the impact of Friedrich Miescher’s discovery was not apparent until decades later, and scientists did discover that genes were composed of DNA until 1944, 30 years after the beginning of World War I (Pray, Leslie. “Discovery of DNA Structure and Function: Watson and Crick.” Nature Education, vol. 1, no. 1, 2008). Darwin’s granddaughter, Nora Darwin Barlow, was also a real person, though she was not a zookeeper or diplomat. The fictional leap from Darwin’s study of biology to the ability to create fabricated life is the basis of Westerfeld’s world, and the conflict between fabricated life and mechanical devices is a major part of resolving conflict between competing groups.
Literary Context: Steampunk as a Genre
Westerfeld defines the steampunk genre as “blending future and past” (261). Steampunk is inspired by Victorian industrialism. The first use of the term is credited to science-fiction author K. W. Jeter, who used it to describe fantasy stories that featured inventive Victorian-era technology, especially steam-powered technology like airships and robots. The genre also blends Victorian aesthetics with futuristic worlds, blending Victorian fashion and architecture with technology. The genre is rooted in works like The Time Machine by H. G. Wells, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, 19th-century works that all feature some kind of advanced technology. In the 21st century, steampunk imagines alternate futures in which society’s progress took a different branching path from the 1800s. This is the case in Leviathan, in which Darwin’s work follows a different trajectory. Many contemporary works incorporate steampunk aesthetic elements into dystopian futures, such as the video games Bioshock Infinite and Dishonored.
Westerfeld writes, “Leviathan is as much about possible futures as alternate pasts. It looks ahead to when machines will look like living creatures, and living creatures will be fabricated like machines” (261). While the technology in the book is futuristic, the social commentary is accurate to the time period. During World War I, women were not allowed to serve in the military, which is why Deryn must disguise herself as a boy to enter the Air Service. Similarly, women were not highly educated, which is why Dr. Barlow’s character is surprising and unexpected. By combining social elements with futuristic technology, Westerfeld creates a universe in which the past and present meet in unexpected ways.
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