Leviathan Gender Quotes

Jaspert tied his airman's neckerchief. "Get your slops on and we'll see what you look like. All that studying's going to waste if your tailoring don't persuade them."

Deryn stared sullenly down at the pile of borrowed clothes. After all her studying and everything she'd learned when her father was alive, the middy's test would be easy. But what was in her head wouldn't matter unless she could fool the Air Service boffins into believing her name was Dylan, not Deryn. (3.16-17)

Since getting on the bus with Jaspert, Deryn's skin had itched with wondering what she looked like to strangers. Could they see through her boy's slops and shorn hair? Did they really think she was a young recruit on his way to the air proving ground? Or did she look like some lassie with a few screws loose, playing dress-up in her brother's old clothes? (3.30)

Deryn felt brilliant, rising through the air at the center of everyone's attention, like an acrobat aloft on a swing. She wanted to make a speech:

"Hey, all you sods, I can fly and you can't! A natural airman, in case you haven't noticed. And in conclusion, I'd like to add that I'm a girl and you can all get stuffed!" (4.42-43)

Her eyes darted back and forth between the rolled-up yellow cloth and the approaching storm, wondering what a boy would do. (4.69)

Jaspert had been right: Her diddies weren't the tricky part. Water was heavy, so bathing on an airship was done quick with rags and a pail. And the toilets aboard the Leviathan ("heads" in Service-speak) were in the dark gastric channel, which carried off clart to turn it into ballast and hydrogen. So hiding her body was easy… It was her brain she'd had to shift. (11.22)

It was bloody exhausting, being a boy.

Not that all of it was bad. Her airman's uniform was miles better than any girl's clothes. The boots clomped gloriously as she stormed to signals practice or firefighting drills, and the jacket had a dozen pockets, including special compartments for her command whistle and rigging knife. And Deryn didn't mind the constant practice in useful skills like knife throwing, swearing, and not showing pain when punched.

But how did boys keep this up their whole barking lives? (11.24-26)

Deryn groaned. Her aching muscles could've done with another minute's rest. But she'd laughed at Newkirk, so the endless competition was on again. She hoisted her feed bag and followed him toward the bow.

Barking hard work, being a boy. (11.44-45)

The captain hadn't said anything about who'd been aboard longest. He was looking at airmanship, so he wanted to keep his best men.

And that's exactly what she was, man or not. (15.40-41)

Deryn took the bag and bowed again. "Of course, ma'am. Sorry to be so thick. It's just that… no one told me you were a lady."

Dr. Barlow laughed. "Not to worry, young man. The subject has occasionally been debated."

With that she turned away and disappeared through the gatehouse door, leaving Deryn holding the heavy valise and wondering if she was seeing things. She'd never heard of a lady boffin before—or a female diplomat, for that matter. The only women who tangled with foreign affairs were spies, she'd always reckoned.

But Dr. Barlow didn't quite have the air of a spy. She seemed a bit too loud for a job like that. (16.16-19)

Deryn's mouth dropped open. She'd almost forgotten—the Air Service wouldn't hang a woman, would they? Not even a common soldier. They'd boot her out, certainly, take away everything she'd ever wanted—her home on this airship, the sky itself. But they'd never execute a fifteen-year-old girl. It would be too barking embarrassing. (40.80)