LITR 4632: Literature of the Future

Sample Student final exams 2007

Laura Moran

1 July 2007

Part I

Virtually or Actually: Keeping it Real

While some the narratives we have studied this semester deal with themes of utopia and dystopia and others bring up the possibility of choosing between a virtual reality and an actual existence, a common thread that keeps one grounded is that of the middle group; the heart of humanity, however it may be portrayed in each story. The difference is not in wealth or status, yet in the way people interact with one another. I first noticed this division of class while watching the 1973 movie, Soylent Green, as a possible Future Vision Presentation. In the film, there are definite upper and lower classes; the affluent can actually buy groceries (which are expensive and difficult to obtain) and sometimes even black-market beef, while the lowest class begs for handouts and sleeps on the street. Meanwhile, there are another subset of people, while not well off, are not sleeping on the street. What sets this minute group apart is that they work together. This particular film focuses on two friends who have pooled their limited resources in an attempt to beat the odds. Even though this is merely one example, I found examples throughout this course where the common thread that runs throughout the stories in this course is that the people who put other people first are the true survivors. Whether or not the future will bring virtual realities to our lives and alien beings to our planet, I believe that humans will remain basically the same. There will always be those who wish to be in control, those who depend on others, and those who are willing to help. My vision for the future is that while technology will alter our world, human beings will remain basically the same – human.

Even though the literature in this class is futuristic, the characters keeping the stories on an even keel are the ones who seem most familiar to the reader. While they may set out to do the extraordinary, it is usually ordinary characteristics that make them special. As I mentioned in my midterm, in Parable we watch Lauren first disguise herself as a man in order to keep only herself alive, then her transformation into a sharing woman who learns that not only can she survive easier with the help of others if she learns to trust them. Although she had been prepared for some time, sure that an apocalyptic event would force her into some sort of action, she had not counted on her family being killed. I also feel that human emotion and the need to connect with nature will keep us from going completely into a virtual existence. Sara Brito touches on this aspect in her 2005 final essay:

In “The Onion and I” the reader sees change and diversity though the father and son trying to perfect the onion in the matrix world. The dad, though he cannot express it because of his lack of right words, needs the onion to have a contingent variable to be considered perfect. He even keeps the odd onions he had grown that resembled people created through natural evolution or mutation. The father, as a farmer, knows that in nature contingency happens and it can be beautiful. While the matrix becomes the farmer’s wife’s utopia, the farmer sees the matrix as a dystopia because it is unnatural. In essence, each of us has a goal, something we want. If it can be achieved, the world is friendly and utopian; however if it cannot be achieved our world becomes a dystopia.

While I agree with Brito’s summation of “Onion”, I do not see eye to eye with her last sentence. I think that humans tend to keep trying until they are at least happy with their world; that no one settles for dystopia in life and even though I do predict that there will be people who prefer virtual reality to reality, I think there will always be those would keep at least one foot in the real world.

In “Cyberfiddle”, the narrator has the ability to have anything he wants “holoed” or “synthed” for him. He needs tools and in order to build a violin the old-fashioned way. He isn’t sure why it must be done that way but is determined to go against all the high technology available at his fingertips and put in the manual labor required for the task at hand. As a result he makes an instrument capable of bringing tears to his hi-tech eyes. In one of our class discussions, a class member remarked that while technology continues to advance at a rapid pace in the narratives, humans seem to remain the same. I think that, while humans are the ones responsible for the swift scientific leaps and bounds, people refuse to learn from the mistakes of others, giving them a distinct disadvantage from machines where growth is concerned. Although there are millions of self-help books written, one might read what is the right path to follow, yet one rarely does anything that goes against one’s gut feelings. While there may be people who would be content to live in a virtually stimulated world, I think that many humans feel that they simply must experience life first hand, taking their own risks and learning their own lessons. In my vision of the future I do see virtually reality as an option, just not the only option.

Even though humans are in favor of making life easier, they are resistant to change. In “Poplar Street”, the adults, assuming that they are still in control of the situation refuse to see the larger picture: the aliens are now in charge and are not leaving until they are finished with their experiment. Not seeing the obvious flaw in their quest to take back their block, they remain in and fine-tune their positions of what they perceive as a well thought out power play. It takes an as yet unbiased youth, Sunny, to see past the differences in her neighbors and the aliens and simply cooperate with the new authority figures. In “Newton’s Sleep”, the technology-minded characters have boldly left Earth’s problems behind, yet cling nostalgically to backdrops and textures reminding them of the home planet. While the simple reminders of home might be comforting for a short time for their conscience minds, their collective subconscious simply takes over and they begin to see visions from the world they escaped from in the form of hallucinations. The solution here may have been to find something halfway between both worlds rather than erasing the bad part of the past and literally painting over it with memories.

Where the majority might want change, most do not want to part with what is comfortable. “Drapes and Folds” shows a multi-generational gap and what might happen when the bulk of society decides what is good for everyone concerned. The narrative also shows that a piece of each generation may be passed on, despite the odds. While the protagonist, Pearl, tries to keep tabs on her old friend Diana and find a way to hide her much coveted fabric, her bio-genetically engineered “granddaughter”, Xera, rolls about carrying bits of Pearl’s past to and fro. The reader is led to believe that all is not lost with the fabric of the past when Xera sputters the simple word “Gran” as Pearl’s possessions are hauled away. This narrative makes a good point in that no matter how far technology may advance the human race, humans still enjoy the touch and feel of fabrics and the flavors of food and drink.

Consequently, while technology strives to improve the future, the malfunctions that accompany it may remind one that simple pleasures are sometimes the best, as in “House of Bones”.  Finding himself tossed unceremoniously into the past, the storyteller adapts quite easily and finds he enjoys the simple life of his prehistoric hosts immensely. Where advanced technology has failed him, primitive ingenuity fascinates him. When put to a test, the narrator relies on his human instincts, rather than what he imagines his new-found leader expects of him, and is pleasantly surprised to find out that these earliest of people and he have much in common. Wanting to fit in rather than impress, he quietly awaits the day that he might share some of the simpler inventions from his world, such as bridges and beer, with his new family.

Advanced to the point of simplicity, the community in “Chocco” has learned what too much technology and not enough forethought can do to a population. Cleverly told through two young men competing to hold the village’s memories, the reader of this tale finds out what an imaginary future people can see in what could be this generation’s hindsight. The story strikes close to home in many of its references, such as, “It is mystifying why, as their fuels ran out, they evidently took no serious steps toward utilizing solar energy.” In the student future vision presentation of The Celestine Prophecy we once again see a return to an uncomplicated outlook for future ages, or perhaps a simpler eternity. While it may take an apocalyptic event for a nation to even consider scaling back, books and stories written on the subject let one see that many people are thinking about what the future holds -- whether that means superior quality of life for a select few or a crumbling planet for everyone.