A lot of YA and FSF books I love have a chosen one, or someone fated in some way. One person who alone has to defeat a powerful evil. Or in fantasy romance, who is destined for a single partner. Harry Potter, Tris from Divergent, Rand al’Thor in Wheel of Time, even Ender from Ender’s Game… all of them are single-handedly expected to turn the tide in some significant way. 

The idea that one person should somehow by themselves be burdened to change the world, or that one person is meant for someone… well, in real life, that gets a hard pass from me.

Chosen ones in real life don’t exist.

But what about Malala Yousafzai, Rosa Parks, or Greta Thunberg, you might say? Well, in spite of all the good they do individually, the power they have lies in the support they have from others.

When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus, she went to jail. And that could just have been it. But instead, the entire community decided not to take the bus anymore. They walked and cycled and drove everywhere, for weeks.

When Greta Thunberg decided to take a holiday from school for her climate protest, she could have just been one girl. But people started to follow her example, and it grew into a movement.

If not for that collective action, would we know their names?

That’s not to say one person can’t make a difference. Anyone can be a catalyst, give a push, or start a movement. But they don’t create a revolution by themselves. That takes all of us.

My issue is not with the trope, but with what it allows us to think.

The idea that some people are just singular, set apart, different from the get-go, not like us–also allows for the idea that we can’t do what they do. And true, not everyone has the same skill set. Not everyone can make the same difference. But the choice to try is always open to us. We get to choose what we do with our time and our skills.

If you want to read a great book that turns the chosen trope on its head, you should definitely check out So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole.

What are you doing with your time?

Let me know in the comments.