ABSTRACT
“The Monster or the (Wo)Man in Victor LaValle’s Destroyer” argues that a Black feminist theory’s perspective on monstrousness offers a helpful framework for teaching students about race and justice. Destroyer tells the story of a Black woman who uses science to bring her son back from the dead after he is killed by police. This chapter explores the concept of monstrousness through Black feminist theory: specifically, Hortense Spillers’ suggestion that Black women are monstrous and that monstrousness holds a transformative power. The activities presented prompt students to understand what “monstrous” means outside the definition of an enemy meant to destroy. The Black woman protagonist in Destroyer is monstrous, and Destroyer offers lessons in the transformative power of monsters that students can apply to history and the present.
