Artemis

“It’s pricey to get here and expensive as hell to live here. But a city can’t just be rich tourists and eccentric billionaires. It needs working-class people too. You don’t expect J. Worthalot Richbastard III to clean his own toilet, do you?”

Jazz describes the economic disparities in Artemis, including herself among the working-class people—a fact she clearly resents, as evidenced by her snide caricature of the rich. This quote shows the level of service-based industry that exists in Artemis.

“Sex is totally different in one-sixth G. It’s great for couples who’ve been married a long time. They get to rediscover sex together—it’s like new.”

Jazz often makes sexual comments. She establishes herself as “one of the boys” by showcasing her interest in sexual activity while simultaneously separating herself from the pool of available women.

“And you can’t raise a baby here, anyway. It is terrible for bone and muscle development. When I moved here I was six years old—that was the minimum age for residency back then. Since then they’ve bumped it up to twelve.”

This is an example of foreshadowing. If Jazz were to be deported to Earth, she would suffer extreme gravity sickness. Weir explains the effects here to contextualize the threat of deportation that Jazz faces later in the book.

“My entire net worth was about 2.5 percent of my goal of 416,922 slugs. That’s what I wanted. That’s what I needed. Nothing was more important.”

This quote shows Jazz’s motivations for smuggling and sabotage. Her desire to repay her father and achieve financial independence drives her to take the risky contract with Trond. Jazz prioritizes this above all other needs, including health and safety—an example of Moral Relativism in Relative Gravity.

“Fidelis Ngugi is, simply put, the reason Artemis exists. When she was Kenya’s minister of finance, she created the country’s space industry from scratch. Kenya has one—and only one—natural resource to offer space companies: the equator. Spacecraft launched from the equator could take full advantage of the Earth’s rotation to save fuel. But Ngugi realized they could offer something more: policy. Western nations drowned commercial space companies in red tape. Ngugi said, ‘Fuck that, how about we don’t?’”

Jazz describes Ngugi’s accomplishments with reverence and admiration. She idolizes this woman, not least for her willingness to bend the rules in pursuit of success.

“Lying to Dad transported me back to my teenage years. And let me tell you: there’s no one I hated more than teenage Jazz Bashara. That stupid bitch made every bad decision a stupid bitch could make. She’s responsible for where I am today.”

Jazz’s relationship with her father is fraught with mistrust, guilt, and shame. Jazz desperately wants to reconcile but thinks it is impossible without repaying him for what she destroyed. This passage illustrates Jazz’s desire to please Ammar and make up for her previous bad decisions. It also suggests her willingness to grow; she no longer wants to be her teenage self, even referring to her as a different person.

“No chitchat, no bullshit, no pretense of friendship. Just goods and services exchanged for money. The perfect business partner.”

Jazz’s fierce independence guides every decision she makes. She isolates herself and trusts no one. Weir uses this interaction to underscore that point: Jazz borrows what she needs (an HIB) from a woman who shames her for having many sexual partners.

“Gunter Eichel had emigrated to Artemis ten years earlier with his stepsister, Ilsa. They came because they were ostracized in Germany for being a couple. Yes, really. That’s why they emigrated. We don’t care what people do, sex-wise, as long as everyone’s a consenting adult. (Though some folks do stretch the definition of ‘adult.’)”

The libertarian governing of Artemis is central to the novel’s themes. Weir uses this passage to show the sexually permissive environment and also to foreshadow Sean’s pedophilic behavior.

“You’re my only friend with boobs.”

Svoboda, as well as almost every other character, comments constantly on Jazz’s gender. Jazz’s objectification contrasts with her own sexual jokes, suggesting that the latter are compensation—a way to separate herself from the passivity of objectification.

“I’d done a million valve installations with Dad as a kid. But never in an EVA suit. And unlike the cut, this time I was melting stock metal to make a seal.”

Jazz has absolute confidence in her ability to do a task, even if she has never done it before. Though she is talented, her self-assurance sometimes leads her into danger.

“Last month Sean got a visit from an angry mob. About fifteen guys. They beat the shit out of him. He wouldn’t talk about it afterward, but I knew what it was about. It’s a thing people do here. It’s called a ‘morals brigade.’”

The encounter between Sean and the outraged citizenry highlights the theme of vigilante justice. Sean does not face deportation as there is no age of consent law, but he does face the consequences imposed by his victim’s family.

“I can’t go back to dad. I just can’t. The fire destroyed all the equipment he’d bought. And he had to pay for the damage to the room itself. Now he can’t expand the business at all. Hell, he can barely keep afloat. How can I go crawling back after doing something like that?

I ruined my father with my stupidity.”

Jazz’s desperation to make money stems from the shame and guilt she feels over these mistakes. Jazz does not understand the love her father has for her. She does not trust him to forgive her; she continues to struggle economically rather than face the shame of returning to him.

“I stood at one of the harvesters and looked to the other twenty meters away. This would be tricky. A long-forgotten part of my brain piped up. Was this really a good idea? (One million slugs.) Yup! I’m fine!”

Jazz realizes that destroying the harvesters is terribly risky. She knows she should turn back, but she pushes herself forward, desperate to repay her father and rid herself of the shame she carries.

“Sure, I was ditching the horny businessman, but I hadn’t taken his money. I was ethically in the clear.”

Jazz’s moral relativism is evident in this passage. She is pretending to be a sex worker, breaking into a hotel room, and running from Rudy. Yet she considers herself to be morally in the clear because she doesn’t have a deal with any of the stakeholders.

“One of the downsides of having almost no laws; monopolies and pressure tactics.”

The guilds are a central symbol of the libertarianism that rules Artemis. The Electrician’s Guild does not like that Tyler operates on his own as they lose out on a cut of his business. Jazz and Ammar are similarly independent, in both business and attitude.

“Earth has huge data cables. They run across entire continents, under the oceans, all over the world. Just think of how much simpler it would be without all those repeaters mucking shit up. Oh! And it would have very few transmission errors. That means more bandwidth […] How much do you think the entire planet Earth’s communication network is worth? Because that’s roughly how much ZAFO is going to make its owners. Yeah. That’s murderin’ money.”

This moment of exposition shows the motivation of Trond, Jin Chu, Ngugi, and O Palácio. The monetary gain and the power that come with that will shape the entire future of Artemis and impact Earth. Jazz has just learned the stakes of the game she has been playing.

“She looked to the ceiling. ‘Between their financial base and physical enforcers, they’ll own the city. Think Chicago in the 1920s, but a hundred times worse. I’ll be powerless.’”

Administrator Ngugi outlines the stakes for Jazz. She knows that O Palácio will take control of the colony and that the citizens will suffer as a result. She tells Jazz that her complicity in Sanchez Aluminum sabotage is for the greater good.

“The sky is not the limit.”

Engraved on Trond’s watch, this saying encompasses the optimism of space travel. In taking up the watch, Lene also takes up the burden of her father’s empire and faces a crime syndicate, knowing that it is what he would have wanted. Lene draws strength from carrying on her father’s legacy.

“Dad always said you were the most honest businessman he’d ever worked with.”

Jazz carries on her father’s legacy of ethical business practices, which is mirrored in Lene’s acceptance of her father’s debts. The statement’s irony lies in the fact that Jazz is a criminal but morally superior to those profiting within the boundaries of the law. Lene also uses the term “businessman” to refer to Jazz, further showing how little Jazz’s gender factors into her dealings with others.

“The rage boiled inside. I stepped forward with the sharp end of the pipe ahead of me […] I stomped on his right upper arm with my heel. The bones crunched underneath. That was more my style. I didn’t have time to waste, but I couldn’t let that asshole escape again. I dragged his unconscious body into Rudy’s office. I shoved Rudy aside and rummaged through his desk until I found handcuffs. I handcuffed Alvarez’s good arm to the air-shelter handle and threw the key out into the hall.”

This passage demonstrates Jazz’s moral growth. She has every opportunity to kill the man who has hunted her, but she instead breaks his arm. The break is morally questionable, but she goes out of her way to see that he is secure and will face Rudy’s justice.

“Yes, but only through luck. Once people woke up they checked on their neighbors. If it weren’t for our tight-knit community, that wouldn’t have happened.”

The poison gas causes no lasting damage to the Artemisians. The libertarian community regulates itself, in keeping with the theme of moral relativism and vigilante justice.

“‘Okay, good.’ He leaned down and kissed my cheek, almost as an afterthought. I had no idea what possessed him to do that—honestly I didn’t think he had it in him. His bravery didn’t last long, though. Once he realized what he’d done, his face became a mask of terror. ‘Oh shit! I’m sorry! I wasn’t thinking—’

I laughed. The look in the poor guy’s eyes…I couldn’t help it. ‘Relax, Svobo. It’s just a peck on the cheek. It’s nothing to get worked up about.’

‘R-Right. Yeah.’

I put my hand on the nape of his neck, pulled his head to mine, and kissed him full on the lips. A good, long kiss with no ambiguity. When we disengaged, he looked hopelessly confused.

‘Now, that,’ I said. ‘That you can get worked up about.’”

Jazz’s budding romance with Svoboda illustrates how she has learned to open up and re-enter the world. She believes in her ability to trust and love. She also knows that she will survive if the relationship does not end well.

“‘Yes, collapse. An economy is a living thing. It’s born full of vitality and dies once it’s rigid and worn out. Then, through necessity, people break into smaller economic groups and the cycle begins anew, but with more economies. Baby economies, like Artemis is right now.’

‘Huh,’ I said. ‘And if you want to make babies, somebody’s got to get fucked.’”

Jazz’s informal speech and sex jokes show up even when discussing the fate of her home city with its de facto mayor. The concluding interaction between Jazz and Ngugi shows how the relationship between them has gained transparency and is now one of equals. Jazz no longer hero-worships her but sees her as a force for Artemis’s good.