Docile includes graphic sexual content and depictions of physical and emotional abuse, often without consent. Be mindful of content warnings and triggers before going in.
K.M. Szpara delves into the intricacies of capitalism in a world not too far off from our own in Docile, an alternate history science fiction parable told in two parts under the tagline: “There is no consent under capitalism.”
Armed with seven rights to protect his identity and well-being, Elisha Wilder packs up a lone family photograph and makes the twelve-hour trek from his farmhouse on the outskirts of the city to the Office of Debt Resolution (ODR) to become a Docile, a cog in the wage gap, an indentured servant tied down by classism and capitalism. With three million in inherited debt – a culmination of medical bills and student loans passed down the family line – Elisha and other poor, working-class families wage war against the privileged upper crust, freedom and economic stability near-impossible life goals. With only two options and no real agency, Elisha visits the ODR, fake-ID and consent forms in hand, to give up his life to absolve his family of debt on one condition: invocation of Seventh right, “to refuse or demand Dociline, and at any time to change your mind.”
But when the Next of Kin laws went into effect, all their debt passed down to their kids after they died, and to their kids, accumulating over decades before people got smart about that kind of thing and stopped getting married. Combine that with credit card debts, student loans, utilities, mortgages, and health care, and suddenly you’re living in the outer counties of Maryland, four million under.
– excerpt from K.M. Szpara’s Docile
As Elisha undergoes careful grooming at ODR headquarters to prepare for Patron interviews, Alex Bishop III is introduced, an insightful counter POV as the next in line to inherit Bishop Laboratories, where the drug that dulls the senses, wipes the mind and ensures complacency was invented. Dociline, a legacy of power imbalance and manipulation wrapped up in a bow; a drug to “make thing easier” for Debtors by stripping them of their free-will and agency, the very thing that sustains the Bishop family name. Implemented officially in Maryland, Dociline is considered a saving grace to many, and it is Alex’s mission to perfect the latest formula. Pressured to marry, Alex has no choice but to prove himself a capable company head by training the perfect Docile instead. When privileged standards collide with classism, Alex and Elisha inadvertently meet, debt resolution hanging in the balance as the Bishop heir throws away pre-approved “candidates” in favor of Elisha, equality discarded in the face of human commodity.
Elisha is given a choice to decide his own Patron, but the moment he walks into the ODR he is objectified, a thing to be used with cool indifference and commanded at will. There’s a spark with Alex, a semblance of equality that connects the duo, however brief, sending them down a tumultuous path when Elisha invokes Seventh right following their mutual agreement. Keeping in mind his disabled, docile mother, submissive and robotic in her speech and actions, Elisha refuses Dociline, sparking a new storyline: one that pushes boundaries and explores personal right and privilege, showcasing how both are influenced by agency in the creation of Elisha, perfect Docile.
Szpara spares no one in his description of the process. Over six months, Alex “trains” Elisha, intent on proving his worth to his father and Bishop Laboratories. Elisha is stripped of free-will without the dimming effects of Dociline. Alex enforces a series of scaling punishments, each more brutal than the last: commands written in the form of repetitive lines; pain in the form of grains of uncooked rice spread out, bearing the entire weight of Elisha’s body as he kneels on them; an hour of solitary confinement in a small cubicle embedded in the floor of a bedroom closet. Curious yet attentive, Elisha is groomed from head to toe, mannerisms ingrained through manipulation tactics, a system of reward and punishment to achieve the desired effect: submission, on all counts.
Elisha must look and act perfect. He is trained classically, body and mind – to cook and clean, play piano, and train, alternating between gym sessions and daily runs. He is taught to quell his inquisitive nature, to accept and act. Emotions must be tamped down, and Elisha is forced to submit: physically, sexually, emotionally. Though Alex treats him with care and exhibits very real desire in his rewards and inclinations, their relationship is forged on a lie, Elisha given no say in the matter. While he experiences sexual attraction and pleasure toward Alex, his lack of agency raises important questions on the nature of consent and rape. Szpara toes the line delicately, offering a fresh perspective in Elisha’s plight. While the media often portrays nonconsensual sex to be a thing of violence, it can still be a thing of pleasure without consent. In Alex, Szpara plays with boundaries, alternating between compassion and cruelty, urging the reader to question the definition of manipulation and abuse in sexual and romantic relationships. It is in this back and forth that he lulls the reader into a false sense of security alongside Elisha, testing the boundaries of consent as the duo’s relationship evolves into something akin to romantic love.
Just as Elisha learns to love and accept Alex, to live for Alex, the reader does too. For all of the abuse that Elisha is put through, Szpara counters it with a moment of compassion, a glimpse into Alex’s mind as he wars with morality and expectation. Even when Elisha’s rage simmers out, the reader’s remains on behalf of his well-being and identity, Docile an exercise in persuasion as Szpara lays bare Alex’s insecurities. Though Alex comes from privilege, a thing that sparks red-hot anger and infuriation, especially when he denies Elisha’s experiences, Szpara urges you to sympathize with him by plumbing the depths of his relationships and upbringing in alternating chapters, made all the more powerful when Alex realizes his mistakes.
Despite that, Alex is never truly forgiven. Though Szpara offers Alex a plausible redemption arc, he never forgets the manipulation tactics that made love possible between Alex and Elisha, delving into deep-seated trauma and insecurity as Elisha attempts to tackle life on his own when the contract goes up in flames, Alex achieving the impossible: a Docile without Dociline. It is in proclamation of love that Alex realizes the truth of his actions, and lets Elisha go.
Fast-paced and unabashedly queer, Szpara delves into a multitude of dark, difficult topics, laying bear trauma and insecurity in Elisha’s transformation, made possible by curated brainwashing. He does not sugarcoat or create false platitudes, instead delving into harrowing topics and suicidal ideation in Elisha’s grooming, following Elisha as he attempts to regain himself with the help of Empower Maryland, an opposition group intent on assisting communities by providing basic needs, outreach and support for Debtors who feel their rights have been broken.
In Szpara’s pocket world, wage inequality rings true, crippling family debt the product of promised futures with no payoff or security. Although he forgoes U.S. history, Szpara intentionally creates an open-ended narrative on the wage gap, urging the reader to form their own opinions on the nature of consent and classism in a world crippled by financial inequality and privilege, more a parable than an examination of political and social history. Compulsively readable, Docile engages, examines and pushes back against the nature of consent in a world where sex sells and romance is questionable.
Without shying away from the erotic or abusive, Szpara lulls the reader into a false sense of security, manipulating them alongside Elisha all while urging them to consider the possibility of romance. At turns thought-provoking yet sensual, Docile offers a gripping examination of consent and privilege in a surprisingly plausible alternate history. Mysterious and open-ended, Docile is a roller coaster of emotion, controversial and daring, urging readers to consider the distinction between want and need, expectation and reality, compassion and consent.
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