LITR 4632: Literature of
the Future
Sample Student Midterms 2007
Lindsey Kerckhoff
18 June 2007
Multiple Decisions with Multiple Results
Literature of the future offers different approaches to the genre of science fiction. This course has opened my eyes to a genre that I originally perceived as stories full of extravagant creatures and world changing events that could never really happen. I have learned to consider that in science fiction the end of humankind does not have to come from an alien invasion but can come from humans themselves. One of my favorite examples of human self destruction was from Jenna Zucha’s presentation on Idiocracy, where she presented the idea of humans being destroyed by their own decisions and actions. I had never nor do I think I would have considered this possibility before this course.
Narratives affect our culture by allowing people to shape their attitudes toward the future; they are a way to make people open their eyes to different possibilities. Stories allow one to wonder and think and this is why they are such an important part of our culture. Stories give people a way to shape their reality. In Literature for the future the three primary narratives are apocalyptic, evolutionary, and alternative futures.
In apocalyptic narratives there is a linear history or the world has a definite starting and stopping point. This type of narrative is often very dramatic and the current world falls apart and a new world takes its place. In Revelation the world comes to an end and the focus then turns to heaven or a new world. The focus in revelation is a matter of is one going to be saved or damned and what will happen to the soul after the apocalypse. Majority of people believe the ideas that Revelation presents because they have faith in the bible and this helps Revelation become a prophecy instead of just a story. Revelation is such an attractive story because it provides people with the idea that good will prevail over evil and this provides people with hope.
An evolutionary narrative also provides people with hope that things will change for the better although this is not always the case. Unlike apocalyptic, evolutionary narratives move in a cyclical pattern and tends to be most represented in a story through different generations. In the novel, The Time Machine and the story “Bears Discover Fire” the reader can see many traits of evolution. Time Machine takes a time traveler into the future where humans have evolved into Eloi and Morlocks. Although humans as we know them are not around in the future the Eloi still appear very human like and I think this shows that it is hard for humans now to imagine a time that they will not be around and evolution makes people face that idea, where as apocalyptic narratives make this idea easier to accept because there a quick event that will destroy everyone and everything. At first I did not see any traces of apocalypse in the novel; however, I really liked William’s idea in class that time itself could be the destroyer of the world instead of some instant end. In “Bears Discover Fire” bears have actually learned how to start and use fire. This story does not only show the evolution of the bears but provides many different generations take on this phenomena. The story has a grandmother, son and grandson and they make up the cyclical cycle of generations.
In Parable of Sower and “Stone Lives” there are elements of both apocalyptic and evolutionary narratives. These two works do not fit neatly in to one type of narrative. Parable begins with a world that is on the brink of change. The story is very dramatic and the idea of apocalypse is long standing, it is not going to end quickly. The story ends with a new world beginning and there are children present which gives the hope of a new generation that will carry on the ideas of Earthseed, Lauren’s prophecy. “The thrust of this story remains romantic though it abandons the Apocalyptic idea of justice for all evil and Biblical retribution brought about by the omnipotent God. Eternal reward is substituted or replaced by survival” (Midterm example X-2003). In “Stone Lives” the main character futuristic world comes to an end after an explosion and it is his job to rebuild it. This is a perfect blend of apocalypse and evolution. The old gets destroyed to make way for the new cycle. “Stone” provides the instant end and drama that most people associate with apocalypse but is does not end civilization as a whole which is evolutionary.
Alternative futures provide a narrative that branches off into many paths. There are different futures existing at once. In “Mozart in Mirrorshades” and “Better Be Ready ‘bout Half Past Eight” there is not a threat of the world ending completely but one thinks seriously about their choices and consequences. “Mozart” takes place in the past and the people from real time which is the future are going to the past to get oil and other resources. This type of narrative often uses a lot of metaphors. In “Mozart” Rice, the man from real time, calls his disturbing the past “shuffling the deck of history” (230) and this comparison makes what he is actually doing seem less threatening. Changing history can have devastating effects but he makes it sound like a game. In “Better Be Ready” Zach’s decision to become a women affects the way Byron sees his own life. It even causes him to question his own gender issues. This story is the perfect example of how one’s choices can affect others future as well as their own. Alternative narratives have the power to make one really examine their choices and think about the future more then the other two narratives because it provides people with many different decisions to make.
This course has really opened my eyes to the way humans interact and how we have become so reliant on technology and not how we will evolve as people relating to one another. The alternative narratives have really opened my mind up to the possibility of multiple decisions with multiple results and the idea that many futures can be taking place at once. I think this idea of the future branching off will stay with me because at times I feel that I have grasped it and then it escaped me again with the next story we read. This course has changed my whole opinion of what science fiction is and I think that the literature in this genre is much more realistic and complex then I believed it to be.
Start time: 9:30
End time: 11:45