LITR 4632 Literature of the Future

Sample Student final exams 2009

Josh Hughey

9 July 2009

Technology, Destroyer of Men

            The subject of the future is like any other.  Everyone has his or her own view as to what changes will occur as well as when these changes will begin.  There are, however, people like myself who know that no one can really know anything with certainty.  Literature is a very useful tool for it provides a lasting account of one person’s view of a possible future.  When literature is written about the past it can do one of two things.  It can make us feel nostalgic toward the warmth of simpler times or it can remind us of how far we’ve advanced both culturally and technologically.  Likewise, when literature is written about the future it can do one of two things.  It can be supportive in affirming our culture as a whole today or, and this is much more common, it can criticize today’s society through portrayal of an undesirable future.  It should be mentioned that there is a third possibility.  A story could have absolutely nothing to say about current society and be written for the pure enjoyment of reading fiction.  This, however, is highly unlikely.  For an author of fiction to write without any critical reference to his or her own time or culture is very rare in my experience. 

            Now it is simply a matter of determining, through literature, which apparent direction our world is headed and whether or not that direction is the right choice.  Perhaps the sharpest contrast between the many cultures and societies of the world today lies in their degree of technology.  In more modernized countries, such as Japan, the ability to control computers by thought alone is being developed.  In contrast to this there are many communities and countries, both small and large, all across the world that are technologically in the same state they have been in for hundreds or thousands of years.  The things we take for granted, such as television, are completely unknown or unattainable to a large portion of the world’s population.  Having said all this, it seems to me that literature of the future can be used to criticize the world today through its portrayal of possible futures as a result of advancing technology.  To put this in the form of a question: is our rapidly advancing technology good or bad for the world?

            The most logical starting point for this question would be to examine which technologies would lead to the various futures of different texts.  To begin I will examine “Chocco.”  The story makes no secret of the fact that we, current humans, are the “machine people” referred to in the text.  It is difficult, from reading the story, to determine which, if any, technology directly leads to the demise of current society or whether it is a combination of several factors.  The problem is that the story takes place so far into the future that the characters do not know exactly what happened, just as we do not know exactly what happened a thousand years ago.  What can be determined, though, is that a huge factor in deciding our demise is any technology that is meant to harm the earth or other people.  The story mentions large stockpiles of weapons and machines of war as well as our farming methods, which rarely include crop rotation to give the earth time to heal and regain nutrients.  Though the characters do not know without a doubt what destroys our society we can use their observations to decide for ourselves based on what we know of the world today.  Given the fact that many countries do have large stockpiles of weapons and many are also constantly at war, then technologies of war seem a likely candidate for our demise.  Also, due to businesses having greater concern for profit and immediate success rather than the consumer and a long sustainable business, current harsh agricultural practices seem a possible candidate as well, especially with the exploding population.

            Another story that demonstrates the possible terrible outcomes of technological advancement is “Drapes and Folds.”  Like “Chocco” it deals with capitalism versus compassion, though capitalism is really replaced by the government seeking the cheapest and quickest ways to solve problems.  In the interest of saving time and money the government engineers humongous chickens with many extra parts in order to feed more people.  In doing this, however, through the use of hormones horrible infant deformities were caused leading to the forced termination of the children.  The government also outlaws all fabric in support of a uniform hygienic bodysuit.  They do this without concern of the citizen’s desire for freedom or expression in an effort to preserve their own power and the human race.  The irony is that in trying to preserve the human race they are taking away everything which makes us human, that is our expression of individuality.  This story touches on an important sub-subject.  That is forced technological advancement.  Perhaps it is not the technology that is bad for us, but developing it too fast and forcing everyone to take part.  War is forced on us because the government or few individuals in power decide so.  Harsh farming methods are forced on us because large farms produce the majority of our food and without them we would not have enough to eat.  In addition to this there are also active efforts by “civilized” societies to modernize “primitive” societies.  All of this forced technological advancement leads to civil unrest as well as actual physical danger for the citizens of the world.

            There is also the view that too much technology is inhuman.  One example of this view is “The Onion and I.”  Living in cyberspace, as in the story, may be safer and less stressful than living in the real world but it just isn’t the same.  Technology cannot make an organic world out of mechanical parts, only a simulation.  And, as demonstrated in the story, a simulation can never feel entirely real.  Humans are animals after all.  Animals all evolved in the real world to live in the real world.  Perhaps in time we could evolve to live in a cyber world, but that would take a very long time.  An example of this is “The Logical Legend of Heliopause and Cyberfiddle.”  Even in what is apparently the very distant future all humans have still not evolved to be completely able to live a virtual existence.  This is exhibited in the main characters desire to physically forge a violin and learn to play it.  Also, in relation to technology above, the earth has been completely stripped of all its natural resources, including all animals and trees.

            It seems to me that all literature that takes place in the future is critical of the rapid advancement of technology.  It is either critical of current advancements and how they will ultimately destroy the world, or if the world is worsened for reasons not our fault, it is critical of the new inhuman technology that could be created to remedy the problem.  As much technology as there is in literature of the future, and as much good as some of it does, it seems to be some form of technology or desire to achieve it that eventually leads to our downfall our demise.