Sheri S. Tepper's Grass examines the themes of exploration and first-contact between cultures that have pervaded the texts so far in this class. This time the new frontier is the appropriately grassy world Grass, and the aliens are the indigenous Hippae, who the local aristocracy treat like revered horse-gods. The main character, Marjorie, plays the role of a beleaguered mother, who is bounced back and forth between senseless male-dominated hierarchical societies. The one extreme, Terra, is ruled by a hegemonic church-sect. The frontier, Grass, is dominated by a hypnotized isolationist ruling class. Feminist agenda aside, Tepper shows us that the male-dominated societies in her book are closed-off, overly-bureaucratic, corrupt, socially backward, fundamentalist, and ineffective. When it comes to diplomacy and saving humankind from plague, the male-dominated ruling class needs the help of those it disenfranchises.
The most helpful people to Marjorie's mission on Grass, aside from a few dissenting aristocrats, are from the lower classes. Marjorie naturally sympathizes with these people, as she does with the outcast third children on Terra. They in turn offer their help in solving the planet's mysteries. Here another disenfranchised class proves its worth. The bons live in a closed-off, isolated society, and they disdain any foreigners or commoners. Tepper shows, through the class dynamics of the book, which incorporates people like Sebastian Mechanic from the lower classes as well as ones like Sylvan to help Marjorie in her endeavor, the benefits of a more integrated class system. A state that incorporates outsiders like women and commoners into its society will be more likely to have eased diplomatic relations with other nations. The fox-hunt is a basic model of this idea. The foxen, powerful and sentient creatures, are revealed to be victims after years of persecution. Likewise, the powerful Hippae prove to be demonic oppressors.
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I, like Chicodelabarba, found the class and gender relations in Grass to be very interesting. They constituted a huge part of the story and provided the backdrop for Marjorie to struggle against both systems of repression. The male-dominated societies of Terra and Grass create direct opposition for Marjorie, who is clearly a very strong woman. This situation creates the possibility for Marjorie to take on the role of heroine in order to overcome the oppression she sees around her, oppression that comes from human forces, such as Sanctity, and non-human forces in the case of the Hippae and their control over the bons. As Chicodelabarba points out, Marjorie's sympathies before coming to Grass have prepared her for the fight against domination. In addition, her experience as a woman in a male-dominated society has also prepared her to act as an emancipator and hero. I found this interaction between the existing social structures and Marjorie's character to be a key piece of Tepper's story.
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