Operation: Twisted Arm

This science fiction novella explores the postcolonial tensions that can exist between a settler population and the native population of the land they have colonized. It uses the science fiction genre to translate modern issues into a fully fictionalized setting and is written in novella form to best fit the form of the story. This novella is accompanied by a Critical Introduction which explains the methodology and rationale for many of the choices made in its construction, and references both literary works read in preparation for this project as well as works by other writers regarding fiction writing techniques. The story itself follows an apprentice investigator sent to locate a kidnapped prince, only to himself become captured by a terrorist group fighting for rights for the planet’s native population. The story explores the ideologies behind both occupying government and native partisan as the investigator attempts to rescue the prince and escape alive. This story specifically addresses the damaging nature of violence as a tool for enacting political change, the ways in which bigotry alters a population's perception and allows violence to appear justifiable, and other abuses that extend from bigotry as a social and political tool necessary to maintain a colonial or postcolonial system.