Sparkle Valley Philosophy: Inzos

Oct 29, 2022

2 min read

Updated: Oct 5

When Fear Becomes Identity

Old fears are pernicious. They’re banked, and the fact that they’re old tells you all you need to know. Inzos reach back and grab these old fears—something that you thought was dead and buried—and bring them back to life.

It could be an embarrassment, a failure, an insecurity, anything where you felt emotional pain. Anything you’d rather forget. That’s the Inzos playground.

Abigail runs from an Inzo in the Forest of Memories

Because when they are there (and they often travel in groups) suddenly that memory is not just something that happened. It's something that starts to define you. And that's what makes them so dangerous.

The Trap: Memory becomes Identity

They make you remember, and then that memory turns into a prediction. Now you’re not in the past anymore, and it’s shaping what you expect to happen next. It takes over, crowds everything else out, and starts to become who you are. That’s what the Inzos do.

Major Bob talks about it in Book 1 after Abigail's encounter with the Queen of Mean. He realizes that the Inzos’ real trick is identity.

"She trapped you inside the self she wants you to believe in."

The Beast’s Tool

That's the move. And now you can see why the Beast loves them and uses them as a tool. Think of it this way: the Beast is operating in the background, the master manipulator. The Inzos are making it personal. They're reaching into your memory and turning old pain into identity.

So if the Blue Flower is trying to make you feel and reach toward meaning, the Inzos are trying to convince you that meaning is pain, and that pain is the deepest truth.

Diabolical.

But here's something important about the Inzos.

They only get stronger when you let them, when you fear them. As Abigail discovers, they weaken when you face them. And that tells you everything you need to know. You need to confront these creatures.

Because the real danger isn't fear.

It's letting old wounds become your identity..