The last major theme of OSAF that I would like to cover is betrayal. Betrayal runs rampant throughout the entire story, though the most shocking instance occurs at the end (spoilers).
From the very beginning, Fan's departure from B-Mor is seen as betrayal by some. She abandons her duty, abandons the fish that are the very pride of B-Mor and its reason for existence. At the same time, B-Mor betrays Reg by giving him away to the Charter villages, to the experimenters who see him as nothing more than a guinea pig. We move on through Quig's tragic past and his ultimately turning Fan over to Vik, not to mention the creepy Circus Family and Fan's supposed near betrayal of Quig. And finally, we run into the ultimate betrayal, where Bo Liwei, Fan's blood relative, uses her as nothing more than an instrument to be used for his own success.
Why is betrayal so prevalent in this story? As I have mentioned in my previous few posts, I again hypothesize that this is a product of the society of OSAF and its shift toward the ultimate pursuit of material success. The scariest prospect is that our society today is seemingly veering toward a future like this as we push ourselves harder and harder to succeed with each generation. I suppose that this is one of the greatest strengths of OSAF: its ability to be just relatable enough to the real world to see obvious parallels, yet unrealistic enough to appreciate it as a piece of fiction.
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