LITR 4632: Literature of the Future

Sample Student final exams 2007

 Pam Richey

Future’s Connection with the Past

            If there is one thing that has struck me over and over again in this course (particularly the second half), it is the connection between the past, the present and the future. The more we read the more I began to see a pattern forming. Many of the stories seemed to be cautionary tales warning against losing our connection with the past. In the stories dealing with the high-tech visions of the future there is a sense that the past has been lost or is in the process of being lost. The stories that relate a vision of a low-tech future tell us of a future that has reconnected with the past or has taken pains to maintain the connection with its own history.

Cyberfiddle is a typical example of a vision of a high-tech future. In Cyberfiddle, Humanity has shut itself off from the Outside that is being destroyed by acid rain and pollution. The world of before is considered null, silly, nonsense as is seen by the teachers answers to Pryor’s questions about the government buildings and the Ancients. But, there are at least a few humans that believe that the past is worth searching. Carmen Memoranda is created to search the past to find “…the moment Humanity flipped its wig.” “Enter Carmen Memoranda. A few humans entertain the idea there is an answer to this puzzle.” It is through searching the past that Pryor finds the Manual that leads him Outside and to the wood that was once trees and ultimately ends in his recreating the violin. In his quest to reconnect with the past Pryor rediscovers his soul, “…and his soul soars on…to the stars and beyond.”

On the other hand, in “Chocco,” a low-tech vision of the future, the characters take another view of history. “For without reliable memories a people cannot find its way into the future.” The story revolves around the choosing of a Memory Keeper who would not only keep the stories of the people, but would teach the people about the past. In the guise of the Memory Keeper, history is given a place of reverence in the culture of the story. In their connection to history, they are more able to avoid the pitfalls of those who came before them, namely the “Machine People.” In this story there is the underlying idea that a free and working knowledge of the past allows us to be more in tune with each other and with the world around us.

But there is a middle ground between these two extremes. In Drapes and Folds the elements of the high-tech and the low-tech vision merge. In this story, the last remnants of Pearl’s past are being ripped from her. Pearl has spent her life surrounded by fabric. She associates them with memory and her personal past. Maybe because even her granddaughter, an amalgamation of human and machine, is disconnected from her, Pearl searches for anything to explain her life and her work. It is only when her granddaughter connects with Pearl that she is able to salvage even the smallest piece of her history. But, in salvaging that piece she creates a bond with her granddaughter that promises to keep her history alive. Much like Xera, there are two elements at odds with one another: the government that acts like a machine ripping out Pearl’s personal history in the form of fabric and Pearl who is frantic to save even the smallest tangible bit of her personal history.

             In the same vein, Men on the Moon is a merger between the low- and high-tech visions. Unlike Drapes, Men on the Moon begins when the future is starting to unfold. Amarosho is bewildered by the need to study the moon in order to answer the question where did we come from? His connection with the past allowed him to see not only the futility in searching the moon for answers we should be looking for here on Earth, but also the arrogance in claiming the moon as the settlers once claimed America. In both Drapes and Men, one person sees the need for a connection with history while the rest are busy tossing it out on the rubbish heap.

            If these are cautionary tales, we must listen to what they are telling us. As we gain technology, we as humanity have a tendency to lose sight of the past. But losing sight of the past is a dangerous thing. The past teaches how to connect with the Earth as well as with each other. As Travis Kelly in the 2003 class stated, “So long as people are able to remember the past, they will use it to confront the unknown territory of the future.”