50 pages 1 hour read

Artemis

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017

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Character Analysis

Jasmine “Jazz” Bashara

Content Warning: This section references sexual assault/sex with a minor.

Artemis’s protagonist and narrator is Jasmine “Jazz” Bashara, an unlikely hero full of sarcasm and intelligence. Jazz is a Saudi Arabian citizen but has lived on Artemis since she was six; she and her father, Ammar, immigrated to the lunar settlement when she was a child after her mother left. Jazz was raised by her devoutly Muslim father and excelled in school, though she habitually avoids pressure and high expectations. Jazz’s oldest friend is her pen pal from Kenya, Kelvin. In her second letter to Kelvin, she expresses her life’s ambition: “[W]hen I grow up I want to be rich” (22).

Jazz’s youth was fraught with impulsive decisions and teenage rebellion, centering on substance use and a sexual relationship with a man she later discovered to be a pedophile. Her recklessness resulted in the loss of her father’s workshop, and Jazz carries the shame and guilt of this moment into adulthood, where it influences many of her actions. The debt to her father hangs over her, driving her to agree to Trond’s sabotage contract. Her ex-boyfriend’s involvement in the incident also impacts her ability to trust others—as does the infidelity of a later boyfriend, Tyler. As of the beginning of the novel, Jazz has turned inward and become fiercely independent, working with Kelvin to start smuggling.

However, Jazz’s desire to become an EVA master suggests a wish to reenter society, and the novel follows Jazz as she faces her traumas not only to connect with others but to save all of Artemis. She learns to reach out of her shell to rally disparate individuals for a common goal. She makes her father proud, settles her debts, reforges friendships, and learns to cooperate with authority figures. Jazz realizes that she doesn’t have to do everything on her own and undergoes The Hero’s Journey: Rebirth Through Self-Sacrifice.

Trond Landvik

Trond Landvik is a Norwegian telecommunication billionaire who desires the best things money can buy. He owns a home that Jazz describes as “stupidly-huge, considering it was just him, his daughter, and his live-in maid” (13). Trond has a penchant for contraband, including Dominican cigars and butane lighters. He also prefers to wear sweatpants and bathrobes over suits and ties. His decision to relocate to the moon shows his love for his daughter, Lene, who was paralyzed in the same car accident that killed his wife. Lene can move more freely on the moon than she could on Earth and therefore enjoys greater independence in Artemis.

As a businessman, Trond is cutthroat: He says that his “whole job is exploiting underutilized resources” (45). He sees an opportunity to make money and takes it, no matter the legality or cost, as when he partners with Administrator Ngugi to take out Sanchez. Trond sees this takeover as good business with a high risk and high reward. He does not account for Jin Chu, the greedy employee who causes the central conflict in the novel.

Ammar Bashara

Ammar is Jazz’s hard-working single father. He is a master welder, but he refuses to join the guild. His fierce independence and business ethic are famous on Artemis and considerably impact Jazz’s own views, as Rudy observes: “I’ve known you since you were a little delinquent. You don’t want to admit it, but you’re just like your father. You have his business ethics […] a Bashara never reneges on a deal” (135).

Though Jazz and Ammar’s relationship deteriorated after the fire in the workshop, he still cares deeply for her. He offers her space but also supports her throughout the mission to save her life and Artemis from O Palácio. When the sabotage is over and Artemis is safe, Jazz’s first act is to buy her father a shop to make up for the one he lost. Ammar considers the gift and tells Jazz, “[W]e’ve fought at times, of course […] And there are certainly aspects of your life that I wish were different. But in the grand scheme of things, you became a strong, self-reliant woman and I’m proud of you” (295). Ammar reconciles with Jazz, even going so far as buying Svoboda a beer—something he normally would not do as a Muslim. He reaches past his preferences to connect with his daughter.

Fidelis Ngugi

Fidelis Ngugi serves as the administrator of the Artemis colony. She built the entire space program in Kenya, securing funding for the infrastructure that made Kenya desirable to private investors. For this reason, Jazz deeply admires the administrator, saying that “she convinced fifty corporations from thirty-four countries to dump billions of dollars into creating KSC” (37). Her drive is equally important in the day-to-day running of Artemis, as she keeps any one group from gaining control.

This same ambition is also Ngugi’s weakness, as her desire to grow the Artemisian economy places her at odds with others. She and Rudy don’t always see eye to eye, as Rudy focuses on adherence to the law above all other concerns. Jazz and Ngugi likewise disagree on methodology—Ngugi is lukewarm on Jazz’s smuggling—but Jazz believes that Ngugi is more of an ally than an adversary. Both women are deeply invested in Artemis’s success.

Martin Svoboda

Martin Svoboda is a Ukrainian scientist who works in a lab in Artemis. Svoboda bubbles with excitement at the chance to inspect new technology, build new devices, and dive into technical details. When Jazz gathers a group to discuss blowing the smelting factory, Svoboda brings “a digital projector and roll-up screen,” and she describes him as “happy as a pig in shit” (213).

Jazz initially sees Svoboda as a friend, but the two demonstrate potential for more from their first scene in the book, when Svoboda asks Jazz to try his reusable condom. Though he’s ostensibly seeking testing data, he also wants to see if Jazz is having sex with anyone. This awkward request leads Jazz to tell him that he needs lessons in how to talk to women. The pair’s romantic relationship blooms as Jazz reaches out to Svoboda in her greatest despair, seeking shelter with him when she’s on the run. She knows that she can trust and rely upon him.

Svoboda and Jazz share their first kiss shortly after she wakes from her near-death experience. Svoboda kisses Jazz on the cheek as she is in her hospital bed—a bold act that surprises Jazz and immediately embarrasses Svoboda. Jazz doesn’t let him finish his apology but reaches up and kisses him. She lets her guard down, trusting him with her love and affection.

Rudy DuBois

Rudy serves as the single sanctioned law enforcement officer on Artemis. His primary directive is to keep Artemis safe and functioning. Readers’ first introduction to him is Jazz’s highly sexualized description of him:

[He’s] a seriously good-looking man. He’s two meters tall and blond as a Hitler wet dream. He quit the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ten years ago to become Artemis’s head of security, but he still wears the uniform every day. And it looks good on him. Really good. I don’t like the guy, but… you know…if I could do it without consequences (24).

Jazz’s description illustrates Rudy’s conventionally heroic qualities, which appear again and again in the narrative. Rudy hunts down criminals with single-minded intensity. He has been after Jazz, for example, since the fire at her father’s shop, but he prioritizes murderers over petty criminals, as when he leaps out the window of a third-floor restaurant in pursuit of a killer. As “what passes for law” in the libertarian environment of Artemis (24), Rudy often plays the role of judge and jury as well as cop: He metes out justice in a way comparable to Batman or an Old West sheriff.

Though Weir sets Rudy up as the pinnacle of strength and justice, the novel’s climax subverts any expectations that he is its hero. When Jazz rescues Artemis from the chloroform leak she created, she enters Rudy’s office to find him passed out on his desk. Jazz becomes the ultimate hero as she rescues Artemis and Rudy from the poison; she even does what Rudy would have wanted by placing Lefty in handcuffs instead of killing him or leaving him free. Rudy serves the narrative role of showcasing Jazz’s growth.

Dale Shapiro

Dale starts the book as Jazz’s enemy, the revelation that Dale was sleeping with Jazz’s boyfriend having caused seemingly irreparable damage to their friendship. However, their friendship rekindles after Dale helps Jazz escape after her first sabotage. She offers him money for his silence, but Dale just wants to meet at the pub once a week; he understands her business ethic will prevent her from reneging on the deal. His knowledge of her character also shows as they discuss Jazz’s initial contract with Trond. He notes, “[I]t’s not your style. It was risky—and you’re really smart. You don’t take risks unless you have to” (184). Dale knows that desperation is the only thing that would cause Jazz to risk everything, though he doesn’t know about her profound shame and sense of debt to her father.

Dale serves as Jazz’s sidekick through the final mission. He keeps her safe and saves her life. Dale and Jazz’s friendship also illustrates the diversity of Artemis. Jazz is a Saudi citizen with a devoutly Muslim father, while Dale is a practicing Jew who goes to synagogue every Sabbath.

Bob Lewis

Bob Lewis is a former United States marine and the head trainer of Artemis’s EVA Guild. His job is to enforce the rules that keep Artemis safe from human error. His strong sense of duty underscores Jazz’s self-interest by contrast: Bob’s role in the narrative is to demonstrate Jazz’s lack of accountability.

The opening scene of the novel underscores this difference in values. Jazz’s risk-taking behavior causes Bob to fail her on the EVA master test. He tells her, “[T]his is a results-oriented profession. The moon’s a mean old bitch. She doesn’t care why your suit fails. She just kills you when is does. You should have inspected your gear better” (4). Jazz’s anger at this pronouncement leaves her fuming. She does not accept any responsibility for the failure. Instead, she blames Bob for enforcing an “arbitrary guild rule” (5). As Jazz matures, however, she starts to understand Bob’s perspective. She values his support and comes to agree with him about her suit. Weir uses the contrast between Bob and Jazz to illustrate the latter’s growth over the course of the narrative.

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