investment ’ in other bodies , and to view their own with ‘ indifference .’ 41 The promotion of sex by Hailsham ’ s guardians blurs the boundaries between bodies , and Hailsham students do not come to view their own bodies as being worthy of the protection other human bodies receive . 42 This is eerily similar to the way characters in Riverdale come together in chanting ‘ join us ’ when trying to convince Betty to join The Farm : it demonstrates a reduction in individual thought and language capabilities , with their bodily organs soon also being shared . 43 In encouraging ‘ togetherness ,’ Hailsham and The Farm reduce individual abilities to think and behave independently , making characters less likely to view their individual selves as being of worth , and more likely to consent to their continued dehumanisation : they have been conditioned to believe that their existence is ‘ posthuman ,’ and that they exist only to serve the physical needs of those deemed more ‘ worthy .’
The Manipulation of Trauma I will now examine the role of trauma in creating the posthuman in these texts , with it often being used to make characters feel like they will be safest inside these isolated communities . As aforementioned , Cheryl Blossom — a character who in Riverdale initially infiltrated The Farm undercover before deciding to truthfully join it — has experienced unprecedented levels of grief and trauma throughout her relatively short life . 44 As the bildungsroman is , most importantly , a tale of ‘ formation ,’ the stakes seem all the higher for Cheryl at this point in Riverdale ’ s run . 45 At the upper end of her teenage years , Cheryl is trying desperately to reverse the negative formation of her life so far before reaching adulthood , making her all the more susceptible to manipulation . Coming from an unstable home with an abusive mother , Cheryl tries to commit suicide by drowning at the end of season one , with this experience referred to as a ‘ baptism ’ by Edgar upon her initial interview at The Farm . 46 This reference to baptism suggests that members of The Farm are expected to undergo trauma before joining , furthering the notion that these texts use the manipulation of traumatised figures to create the ‘ posthuman .’
The very fact that these characters experience profound and lasting trauma which impacts upon their behaviour supports Tonia Payne ’ s argument that posthuman texts force us to consider
41
Matthew Eatough , ‘ The Time that Remains : Organ Donation , Temporal Duration , and Bildung in Kazuo Ishiguro ’ s Never Let Me Go .’ Literature and Medicine , 29 ( 1 ) ( 2011 ), 145
42
Ishiguro , Never Let Me Go , 93
43
Aguirre-Sacasa , ‘ Season 3 , Episode 19 : Fear the Reaper ,’ 31:01 , Riverdale
44
Aguirre-Sacasa , ‘ Season 3 , Episode 17 : The Raid ,’ Riverdale
45
Tobias Boes . Formative Fictions : Nationalism , Cosmopolitanism , and the “ Bildungsroman ” ( New York , Cornell University Press , 2012 ), 1
46
Aguirre-Sacasa , ‘ Season 1 , Episode 13 : The Sweet Hereafter ’; ‘ Season 3 , Episode 17 : The Raid ,’ 15:30 , Riverdale