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LITR 4368 Literature of the Future 
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Sample answers
for Essay 1:
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Timothy Morrow
23
April 2016
Whether High or Low: Humans will Adapt
Within the typical narratives of Science Fiction, there is a section
coined as “Scenarios of the Future.” Residing in this categorization are both
High and Low tech scenarios. With High tech, humanity in the future is infused
with technology and the virtual-reality world. This scenario of the future is
appealing to readers today who have similar integration of technology in their
lives. Adria Weger remarks on this in the 2013 essay, “Get Plugged-In: High and
Low Tech Intermingle in Literature” stating,
“Almost every household possesses not only one but multiple personal computers,
laptops, or tablets. Smart phones replaced corded telephones; Siri answers any
question we ask.” People presently already rely heavily on technology as well as
the virtual internet world to get through their day-to-day lives. In a way, with
smartphones, much of people’s attention and consciousness’s are on their
devices. Although there is a lot of popularity towards High tech, there is
another scenario of the future which has its own attributes to consider. The Low
tech scenario of the future shows how, although time will continue forward,
people will live more moderately than the stereotypical Pop-culture Sci-Fi
adventure novel. Low tech narratives deal primarily more with an idea or the
conflict of the protagonist rather than flashy technologies. By looking at the
short stories, “Johnny Mnemonic”, “Speech Sounds” and “Drapes and Folds”, it is
clear that although the stories differ on being either High or Low tech
scenarios of the future, they all contain an essential aspect of humanity:
adaptation.
Humanity will continue to mold and adapt to their environment, whether it
be in the deserts of Mars or the dystopian technologically advanced future. This
is true in the short story, “Johnny Mnemonic.” In it the protagonist lives in a
Dystopian world with little job security or opportunities. In order to have a
stable job, Johnny gets his childhood memories erased in order to have space for
him to carry vital information for the Triad.
Johnny remarks on his current state when he says, “I had hundreds of
megabytes stashed in my head on an idiot / savant* basis, information I had no
conscious access to” (Gibson). In the world that Gibson writes, people in the
black market have filled in the gap of Man and Machine, using both to their
advantage. Johnny, wishing to stay afloat, evolved from a regular human being,
to one who can store megabytes of information in his mind, for a price. As
technology advances, Johnny, among many people in Gibson’s fictional world, has
transcended mentally into using his body not only for the physical world, but
also to work with machines as walking talking memory cards. Rather than falling
into poverty like many in the High tech landscape, Johnny adapts to the
ever-changing world of technology and becomes one with the current way of the
world.
Although it could be argued whether Audrey Ferber’s short story, “Drapes
and Folds” is High tech, Low tech, or both, what can’t be argued is the element
of humanity adapting to their environment within the story. The story centers on
the female protagonist, Pearl, who is struggling to adapt to the new society’s
movement away from certain fabrics and clothing of self-expression, while also
moving towards a world of cyborg humans. In the story, Pearl’s friend, Dianna,
shows up to persuade her to give up her fabrics to the government before they
catch her breaking the FrabricLaws. Ironically, although Pearl is trying to get
her friend to move on to with the ways of the society they live in, as a retired
dancer, she still keeps her feet, while many have replaced them with robotics.
Dianna observes her friend’s limbs as she states, “I stared at her feet:
bunions, varicose veins, yellow toe-nails. They were her rebellion. I’d had mine
replaced with moulded volymer Orthopeds or “wheelies,” as the kid’s called them,
decades ago” (Ferber). Both women find
it hard to adapt to the world they are living in. The fabric for Dianna is as
close to her humanity as Pearl’s feet are to her. The change in both is
inevitable. The evolution of the society pushes in the direction of less
expressionism and more bionic limbs. In an evolutionary scope, both women in the
story will have to eventually give up their “humanity” in order to live in their
new society. The theme of humanity evolving is vastly prominent in Audrey
Ferber’s short tale.
Although the short
story “Speech Sounds” by Octavia Butler is written in the style of a Low tech
scenario, much like “Drapes and Folds,” Butler’s story shows the evolution of
humanity, and how change creates a dynamically evolved culture.
In “Speech Sounds”, the protagonist Rye lives in a world which, because
of a terrible illness, most people have lost the ability to talk. Although Rye
can still speak, she keeps that ability secret in order to not stand out in this
post-apocalyptic world. Rye had to learn and adapt to her environment, and learn
the gesture language which evolved from the chaos of society not being able to
communicate. Rye, when wanting to find out whether she and Obsidian were an
item, “held up her index and second fingers tight together, just to be sure”
(Butler). Rye, as well as the rest of the word had to throw away what they knew
about communication and adapt to the new world, where gestures and grunts are
the form of discussion. Since communication is a key to human interaction, Rye’s
evolution and changing to the society of chimp-like communication was vital for
her survival. In the same way that Low Tech Science Fiction is about human
attributes and virtue rather than flashy technology, “Speech Sounds” depicts Rye
as a survivor who adapts adequately to her new world environment.
In conclusion, although the short stories “Speech Sounds”, “Drapes and
Folds”, “Johnny Mnemonic” can be categorized into separate areas of High or Low
tech scenarios of the future, they all have one thing in common, the theme of
humanity adapting. With “Johnny
Mnemonic” the protagonist must mold his body to technology, in order to survive
the dystopian world he lives in. In order to make financial stability, Johnny
adapts to his world and deletes his childhood memories to have space for the
vital Triad information. In “Drapes and Folds” Dianna struggles to evolve with
her society’s new law against fabric. Her friend Pearl equally acts in defiance
with her feet, refusing to replace them with bionic wheels like the rest of the
world. With “Speech Sounds” Rye, although being able to speak easily must adapt
to the new world of muteness and communicate with society with hand gestures and
grunts in order to hide her now special ability to speak. In order to find
companionship with Obsidian, she must communicate in a sign language-like
manner. Although these narratives are vastly different in their own ways, they
share the theme of survival which resonates in all of humanity’s stories.
