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Important Terms

  • Lunar: an individual born in the city, Luna, which is located on the Moon.

  • Cyborg: a human that has some part of him or her replaced by a mechanical part.

  • Android: a human-like robot

  • Letumosis: a deadly disease that spread world-wide, killing thousands, with no discovered cure.

Terms found in: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Meyer, Marissa. Cinder. New York City: Feiwel & Friends, 2012. Print.

Cinder and Emperor Kai, both would do anything for the people they love (in Kai’s case the people he rules over). Cinder volunteers for the “cyborg draft” in order to try to find an antidote to letumosis that was killing her little sister, Peony. The cyborg draft was created, to the public’s knowledge, as a way to find a cure and continue testing possible cures for the letumosis disease that was sweeping the Earth; it was really created as a way for Dr. Erland to find the lost princess Selene, who turned out to be Cinder. “With your help, we could save hundreds of thousands of lives. If you are what I think you are, we could – well, we could stop the cyborg draft, to start with” (Meyer 102). When Cinder first learns she is a princess, she has a hard time accepting it. She has difficulty wrapping her mind around ruling over an entire country when she had been discriminated against and hated by her family for as long as she could remember. She draws strength from Emperor Kai, who assumed the throne sooner than he had expected, after both of his parents died from letumosis. Prince Kai felt inadequate when he was told to begin preparations to assume the title of emperor: “The true emperor was there, in that bed. He was an imposter” (107). Prince Kai had the support of his father’s advisor, Konn Torin, to guide him into his new position as emperor; without Konn Torin, Kai wouldn’t have someone to help him make decisions regarding the welfare of his country and how he should proceed with Cinder. Torin acts as a father figure for Kai after Kai’s father passed away. Cinder’s support consists of Iko and later Dr. Erland as well as Emperor Kai. Iko is Cinder’s android who helps her around her shop and is always there for support and encouragement when Cinder needs it most.

Cinder Book Cover. Digital image. Marissameyer.com. Racket, n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.

Soon the whole world would be searching for her - Linh Cinder.

 

A deformed cyborg with a missing foot.

 

A Lunar with a stolen identity.

 

A mechanic with no one to run to, nowhere to go

 

But they would be looking for a ghost.-

 

-Marissa Meyer,

     Cinder pg. 387

Cinder changes throughout the course of the novel, at first when her little sister is diagnosed with letumosis, then again when she develops feelings for Emperor Kai, and finally when she learns she is the Lunar princess Selene, whom everyone believed to be dead. At the beginning of the novel, Cinder is introduced as a kind, hard-working cyborg who is very loyal to her friends: the family’s android Iko and her younger step-sister Peony. Cinder does what is asked of her, with little to no complaining to her “evil” step-mother and step-sisters. She keeps to herself and works to help her family. However, when Peony is first found to have the deadly disease with no cure, letumosis, Cinder begins to show her true self to everyone: she is passionate, kind, and caring. She begins to learn that she has the ability to lead, which allows her to accept her position as the rightful heir to Luna and begin planning how she will retake her throne. She begins to overcome the discrimination that she faces throughout the novel since she is a cyborg, making her a stronger individual, which will shape her for her coming battles against her aunt, Queen Levana. Cinder is terrified of how Kai will react when he discovers that she is not only a cyborg, but a Lunar as well. “To retrieve it now would be to reveal herself to Kai and everyone around her” (Meyer 346). Cyborgs have always been considered “half-human” since they have manmade body parts, and Lunars become hated as they are associated with Queen Levana, who all Earthens believe to be a dictator

One of the main conflicts in the novel Cinder is finding a cure for a disease known as letumosis. Nobody on Earth can determine the origination of letumosis or develop a cure for the disease. When Cinder’s favorite little sister Peony becomes infected, Cinder sets out to find a cure for her by contacting the head doctor at the palace, Dr. Erland. Dr. Erland discovers that Cinder is immune to letumosis after injecting her with the disease to see how she would react to the exposure. After learning of her immunity, the doctor begins running numerous tests on Cinder, trying to discover the reason for her imperviousness to the disease. Once Dr. Erland compiles all of his data concerning Cinder and her immunity, he concludes that she is likely the lost Lunar princess, Princess Selene. It was believed that the princess had been killed in a fire, but many believed she survived and was taken to Earth to heal. This revelation to her true identity makes Cinder the only hope to save both Earth and Luna from Luna’s current Queen Levana’s cruel reign. Levana is trying to become empress by marrying Emperor Kai, who is in love with Cinder. Through this marriage alliance, Levana will provide an antidote to the letumosis disease, but the marriage also ensures the ultimate death of Emperor Kai and any of his supporters. Since the cure for the disease is needed, as it has killed millions of people, Emperor Kai sees no other choice but to marry Levana, unless Cinder is able to take Luna’s throne back, as it is rightfully hers. The end of the novel has Cinder escaping to Africa to meet up with Dr. Erland after she has been declared an illegal Lunar fugitive. This resolution is satisfying only because it allows a hope that Emporer Kai and Cinder will eventually have their happily ever after, if Cinder is able to defeat Queen Levana and convince Lunar citizens that she is, in fact, the lost Princess Selene.

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One of the major symbols in this story is that of discrimination. Cyborgs in Cinder’s society are greatly discriminated against and thought of to be lower than humans, since they weren’t fully human anymore; they had experienced a traumatic event or were in an accident that resulted in the loss of a limb or other body part. This discrimination is seen several times throughout the novel: as Cinder’s step-mother refuses Cinder any freedoms, despite the fact she is the only one who makes money for the family; Cinder is ashamed of her cyborg hand and foot and always makes sure she has both adequately covered up so nobody will see her metal body parts; she doesn’t want Emperor Kai to know she is a cyborg for fear of him no longer wanting her in his life; the cyborg draft that is created to continue research for a cure or antidote to letumosis, the deadly disease that nobody who has been diagnosed has survived. The research and testing has an extremely low survival rate, and the test subjects are required to have a certain percentage of non-living body parts in order to be selected. This selectivity is found favorable to the general public, as the public doesn’t care about the fate of cyborgs; this method is considered more humane. Towards the end of the novel, Cinder discovers that she is Lunar and the lost Lunar princess Selene. She then faces the discrimination from being not only a cyborg, but a Lunar as well. After the Lunar queen Levana proposes a marriage alliance between her and Emperor Kai, the people of Earth become extremely wary of all Lunars. Emperor Kai holds a royal ball at the end of the novel, where the world discovers that Cinder is not only Lunar, but a cyborg, and Queen Levana ensures that the world believes Cinder to be a dangerous fugitive.

Big Idea Question

In the novel Cinder by Marissa Meyer, a forbidden love story is introduced. Similar to the Disney® movie Cinderella, there is a common girl who falls in love with the prince and doesn’t reveal to him who she really is until after he falls in love with her. Since this theme is seen throughout popular movies and stories throughout history, and even in today’s novel, it can be assumed that a forbidden love story is one of readers’ favorites. The idea of a royal marrying, or simply falling in love with, a commoner, would have been considered a major faux pas in the days when the version of Cinderella most people know was first written back in the 1650s. This circumstance would have appealed to people in the 1600s due to the scandal potentially associated with the romance, and also appeals to readers today for the “fairy tale” and “tragic” aspect associated with the love story. Another example of the forbidden love story is the extremely popular tragic play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. There are examples found throughout history, and each culture or country has an author known for a work featuring a forbidden love. It adds a ­­notion of excitement and mystery to the novel, as the couple doesn’t always necessarily end up together. At the end of Cinder, the readers are left wondering if Emperor Kai and Cinder will end up together, because Cinder is forced to become a fugitive, running from the law, and Emperor Kai is left behind to remain engaged to Queen Levana and is hurt and angry by Cinder’s deceit, when he learns she lied to him about being a cyborg and hides her Lunar heritage from him.

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Cinder's Timeline

Peony contracts letumosis

Emperor Kai asks Cinder to attend his ball

Emperor Kai agrees to a marriage alliance with Queen Levana

Queen Levana discovers Cinder's true identity

Cinder meets Emperor Kai

Cinder is entered in the cyborg draft for letumosis cure testing

Peony dies from letumosis

Cinder discovers she is the lost Lunar princess Selene and neice to Queen Levana

Cinder escapes to Africa to avoid Queen Levana's wrath

Summary

In the novel Cinder by Marissa Meyer, the reader is introduced to the main character, a cyborg mechanic named Cinder. Cinder is discriminated against and hated purely for the fact she is a cyborg, which leaves her to become very independent and rely on only two friends, her android Iko and her stepsister Peony. Cinder typically keeps to herself, until a fateful day when Peony contracts a very common and very deadly disease known as letumosis. Letumosis has been ravaging the Earth, claiming every human victim who has come to contract the disease. Cinder’s path crosses with the handsome and kind Emperor Kai’s as she searches desperately for a cure for Peony. Cinder learns that she is the true heir to the moon colony, Luna, and begins to plot a way to retake her rightful place as heir to Luna’s throne, saving Emperor Kai from a deadly marriage and the Earth from a dangerous dictatorship.

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