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LITR 4632: Literature of the Future  |
Final Exam Essays 2013 Sample answers
for Essay 2:
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Elizabeth L. Suffron
5 July 2013
Change:
The Never Ending Story
Originally, my paper explored literature parallels of the Gospel. While
this topic continues to tickle my interest, I find my first midterm essay
possessing an analysis quite common among my musings:
change. Whether reading Facebook postings, blogs, AOL articles, or books,
change reflects the real story within. Lives forever change. We exist second to
second without realizing the many subtle changes leading to new experiences day
after day. Future Literature explores this thought to the max! From alien
contact and off planet adventures to societies engrossed in advancing technology
while another fights for survival in rough environments, stark extremes pushes
literary plots forward in the quest for change. Either through decline or
progress, a main character or people rise up, bound by ideals and desire,
forging paths to a “better place.” Yet, more than living conditions, the frame
of mind plays a demanding role in such uprisings. Values set the tone revealing
motives which turn to ideas, and ideas into action leading characters along a
journey of liberation. Still, is there peace in the end? Does the cycle cease?
If one man’s utopia is another’s dystopia, is a “better place” obtainable?
Fantasies such as The Parable of the Sower, Time Machine, and Stone Lives
suggest, not a linear line of progress, but a cycle of ongoing change. The only
exception to this rule is the book of Revelation. This text presents the final
battle between sinners where, by the second coming of Christ, God’s reign is
established. Those whose faith is pure live forever with God while those
opposing His truth are cast into the pit for all eternity. Therefore, unless a
Revelation-type apocalypse takes place, change is not only inevitable, it is a
never ending cycle.
When it comes to the idea of change, either through evolution or
apocalyptic forces, one must first identify the need of change. Conflict
provides the greatest tool for such methods, giving the reader “an event or
sequence of expectations,” flooding the black and white pages with purpose
(White, online). Some plots automatically thrust the reader into a world of
dysfunction as in Stone Lives, where people willingly risk life for money while
others lack for nothing. Opening with “Odors boil around the Immigration
Office,” readers automatically experience a place of foul sights and smell (SL,
178). Known as the “Bungle,” Stone’s existence is synonymous with strife as he
fights for the basic necessities of food and water. In others, like Parable of
the Sower, memories of a “better time” hold no hope for improvement. Violence is
a way of life as neighbor attacks neighbor and the thought of loving others is
drowned out by the need to survive. As daughter of a Baptist Minister, Lauren
lives in an already troubling time that worsens dramatically with each turn of
the page. Traveling north, journaling along the way, she jots down the only seen
truth: God is change. Both
character’s reality, in their own way, develop a connection between fantasy and
“the real world,” through the thread of suffering. So, by producing a shared
humanistic quality of sympathy and/or empathy we see, from the very beginning, a
need for change.
While the demand for altering a community or society may be apparent,
there’s another scenario of transformation used to build upon the need of
change. This tool comes in the form of a journey or quest. Embarking on a
voyage, readers, through characters, are met with conviction-challenging
episodes. No longer exists the dichotomy between good and evil but, rather, the
evolutionary adaptation of survival. Therefore, questioning perceptions provides
the second greatest element when seeking to understand the need for change. The
Time Machine interprets this strategy well by incorporating the method of
telling a story within a story, or framing. Traveling to the year 802,701 AD,
the time traveler encounters the Eloi, a race of light skinned people possessing
childlike characterisitcs. Deeming these “very beautiful” inhabitants harmless,
our traveler assesses the surroundings and concludes all to be the fruits of
communism (Wells, 28). However, his initial perception of reality is found
wanting as he comes upon ventilation wells propelling new thoughts and questions
concerning the Eloi. Instead of “an automatic civilization and a decadent
humanity,” perhaps another explanation exists (Wells, 53). Further investigation
of these tunnels spurs a reformation of logical ideas in which an “artificial
underworld...was necessary to the comfort of the daylight race” (Wells, 61).
Returning to the Victorian Era, the traveler shares this information with fellow
scientist and friends. The narrator framing the tale reflects upon his friends
interpretation of the future and, examining the “strange white flowers,” finds
himself incapable of accepting the predicted outcome. To him, the future remains
“black and blank” (Wells, 120). Thus, perceptual extremes continue for both
narrators as each strive to make sense of the “Golden Age” world. Thusly, by
greying areas of perception, interpretation of change is left to each individual
and, as such, evolution carries people along in its wake. Essentially, whatever
the course, people adapt to the environment, just as the time traveler, due to
“endless possibilities of our ever expanding world” presenting new and unique
scenarios (Paula Upham, 2007).
Interpreting a shift in realities presents many possibilities, but the
final change is one that cannot be undone. When possibilities are endless,
stories have no end. Recalling the texts mentioned thus far, we can see how each
conclusion gives way to more questions than answers. While the characters
experience an apocalyptic “ending” of sorts, doesn’t mean a utopia is
established. Rather, each transcend to a new reality where “endless
possibilities” continue to exist. From Lauren to Stone to the Time Traveler,
while espousing ideals for a new world/life, are not removed from the turmoil of
pain and strife. Why? Because people are flawed. Humanity, at its best,
tolerates hardships but even then, conflict arises creating opposition within
mankind. Arguments of right and wrong fuel battles and wars, all in the name of
what each side deems “best.” Until this flaw is removed, change will forever
continue. In the book of Revelation, however, counters worldly strength and
weakness through God the Creator, the “Alpha and Omega, the first and last, the
beginning and the end” (ESV, Revelation 22:13). Such an important detail should
not be overlooked. In our other literary tellings, while heroic and inspiring,
rely on human nature to guide steps and procure change. God does not possess
such flaws as He is perfect, therefore, only His truth can prevail. Perceptions
in Revelation remain black and white, not grey. The finality of this one and
only apocalypse is firmly stated by God saying, “It is done!” (ESV, Revelation
21:6), successfully ending the cycle of change.
Returning to a secular sense of evolutionary and apocalyptic change,
there will always be a need for such outcomes. Whether through a society
suppressed by a tyrannical government or advances in technology creating an
information dependent people, individuals need progress in order to keep
balance. Wells’ understanding of creation and evolution is that “Strength is the
outcome of need; ...Under new conditions of perfect comfort and security, that
restless energy, that with us is strength, would become weakness” (Wells,
39,41). With this in mind, can change ever cease in which perfection is found?
Simple. The answer is no because change is inevitable, a never ending
cycle...until God creates the new world.
