LITR 4632: Literature of the Future

Student Midterms 2011: Sample Essay 1

Katherine Fellows
24 June 2011

Narrative Forms for Visions of the Future

          So far, in Literature of the Future, we have encountered three narrative classifications under which all our assigned texts fall: creation/apocalypse, evolutionary, and alternative. First, we discussed the creation/apocalypse narrative. Generally, stories following this narrative are presumed to have been divinely inspired or otherwise revealed to the author by supernatural means. Because these stories are derived from dubious or unverifiable sources, any apocalyptic assumptions or assertions made within them are difficult to disprove; there is usually no empirical evidence offered in support—the narratives’ claims are based on belief rather than objective observation—so there is usually no method of scientifically or logically countering an apocalyptic claim. Creation/apocalypse stories focus on short timescales approximately six thousand to ten thousand years long, which are somewhat easy for humans to comprehend, and they most often follow a linear timeline that closely resembles a story. This often means that, when an apocalypse fails to arrive, the creation/apocalypse narrative is passed to the next generation, creating a general perception of moral decline towards an assured destruction.

          This semester, the Bible’s Genesis and Revelation best exemplify the creation/apocalypse narrative structure. Together, these texts provide a relatable if not comforting story for believers. In Genesis, the author supplies readers with a self-centric creation story; God creates man and woman in His image, and humankind rules over the other living things on Earth. Humanity lives peacefully and without toil in a life made specifically for us, but Adam and Eve soon fall, sparking a moral decline. Revelation depicts the ultimate consequence of that decline—that those who follow God will be saved and redeemed, while those who fail to do so will suffer. Combined, Genesis and Revelation portray a clear set of consequences for readers: follow God, or face the repercussions. The texts impose an understandable system where there once was none, but they provide no observable evidentiary support; the Bible relies on the faith and belief of its readers.

          Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower provides a more modern, relatable vision of apocalypse. Humanity’s apathy with the earth’s well-being leads the population down a steep route of moral decline. Ironically, water, the key to life, is scarcer than gasoline, a commodity that quite literally results from the deaths of earlier organisms. People are raped and beaten in the streets, the elderly are robbed of their possessions, and communities must band together to prevent their neighborhoods from being pillaged and burned to the ground. Lauren, the lead character, is hypersensitive to the suffering of other people, which ultimately leads her to escape the apocalypse and establish a new community free from the chaos of the old.

          Second, we discussed the evolutionary narrative. Unlike creation/apocalypse narratives, evolutionary narratives originate from empirical evidence, observation, and experimentation. Evolutionary narratives can be disproven through science and logic, but they are more often clarified or improved when new evidence is found. Rather than follow a familiar story-like timeline, evolutionary narratives assume complex, cyclical timelines over periods anywhere from ten thousand to twenty billion years long, which typically makes them unapproachable and difficult for laymen to comprehend. Evolutionary narratives are commonly deduced from a multitude of sources, as opposed to a single text—or, perhaps, several texts—used to support creation/apocalypse narratives. This means that evolutionary narratives are consistently accepted by scientists familiar with the supporting evidence but unpopular amongst the general public.

          Perhaps the most obvious example of the evolutionary narrative in this semester’s texts lies within H.G. Wells’s The Time Machine. After regaining access to his time machine, the time traveler journeys further into the future. Despite the apocalyptic struggle between the Eloi and the Morlock, Earth continues to support life, albeit nonhuman. Where a green valley previously laid, beaches appear, crawling with crab-like creatures. Eventually, these too succumb to either extinction or evolution, replaced with a black, unrecognizable, football-shaped animal with tentacles. This story is possibly less comforting than the story of Genesis and Revelation; it reveals that, in the end, all creatures are replaced, and it provides no consolation for death or unethical behavior. In the Bible, humankind rules over the animals, but in The Time Machine, humankind fails and is exchanged for them.

          In addition to creation/apocalypse traits, Butler’s Parable of the Sower displays some evolutionary traits, as well. Lauren’s hypersensitivity—her increased perception of emotional suffering—could be construed as a last remaining sense of empathy from more ethical times, but it could also be interpreted as an evolutionary adaptation to the suffering of those around her. According to Paul Acevedo’s “Myriad Possibilities” midterm (2009), “[h]er remarkable adaptive ability allows her to survive and build a new family and a new religion.” This versatility, then, could serve as evidence of an evolutionary narrative in Parable of the Sower.

          Last, we discussed the alternative narrative. Alternative narratives stand somewhat aside from creation/apocalypse and evolutionary narratives; they are loosely drawn from abstract mathematical and physical concepts and thus present flexible, even more complex timelines than in an evolutionary narrative. Alternative narratives gather support from probabilistic thinking, often assuming that, when faced with a choice, with each un-chosen option creates the possibility of another reality or timeline; forking paths, branching trees, and mazes are popular metaphors. While perhaps difficult for lay-readers to understand, alternative narratives are popular because they offer a vision of what life could have been, had one person chosen differently. Alternative narratives are novel and allow for imaginative thinking.

          Jorge Luis Borge’s “Garden of Forking Paths” is perhaps the most iconic example of an alternative narrative; Ts’ui Pên writes “a cyclic volume, […] [a] book whose last page was identical with the first, a book which had the possibility of continuing indefinitely.” He creates a labyrinth within his story, depicting the various realities that could result after making different choices. In William Gibson’s “Gernsback Continuum,” Parker attains a glimpse of a potential future through his architectural photography—“zeppelin docks and mad neon spires,” “roads of crystal,” and “giant wing-liners”—yet he decides his current reality is preferable. However, Bruce Sterling and Lewis Shiner’s “Mozart in Mirrorshades” depicts an alternative future narrative more approachable for everyday readers, much as Parable of the Sower does for the apocalypse narrative. The authors explain rather clearly, “When you go back and mess with the past, another branch of history splits off from the main trunk. Well, this world is just one of those branches,” while also subtlety recognizing the roots of the story’s premise by mentioning “temporal physics,” “time holes and parallel worlds.” Sterling and Shiner recognize the potential for an apocalyptic narrative—Jefferson argues, “Leaving you free to rape and pillage here at will! While your own world is untouched and secure!”—but, ultimately, the story remains primarily alternative.

          These three narratives of the futures, then, are not entirely exclusive; as shown by Parable of the Sower, two or more primary narratives can be interwoven to form a preferred storyline. Creation/apocalypse and evolutionary narratives can, in fact, coexist peacefully, and alternative narratives can manifest themselves in any number of formats. All three narratives can potentially be equally useful, but which narrative an author finds preferable depends upon the premise of each individual story.