LITR 4632: Literature of the Future

Student Midterms 2013 assignment Sample Student Submission

Katasha DeRouen

Summer 2013

A Symbolic Reading

In futuristic narrative literature symbols are often utilized to correlate ideas based on conceptual theories. Static symbols aid in the reader’s ability to connect the present or past with innovative situations suggested within the passage. In the texts, The Parable of the Sower, Revelation, and The Time Machine time is strongly portrayed throughout the readings symbolizing various narrative theories. Mozart in Mirrorshades, Genesis, and Stone Lives utilize animalistic symbols paralleling certain animals with decline and evolution.

Symbols of Time

The Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler parallels time with the concept of rebirth/growth. Time, for Lauren, is defined as her current existence. She is confined behind the walls of a minutely secure community with modest resources for survival and security; this is her reality, her time. Lauren’s ambition to leave her society and begin a new religion signifies rebirth. She constantly refers to the imminent time whence she will leave her people and begin a new religion based on growth. Lauren writes, “We are Earthlife maturing, Earthlife preparing to fall away from the parent world” (151). The use of the words ‘maturing’ and ‘parent’ in the above quote suggests Butler’s embedded theory of rebirth/growth. Parable displays the narrative theory of change through the use of time as a symbol of rebirth.

Revelation, as translated through the King James Version of the Bible, also depicts time as a connecting symbol to various narrative theories. A very profound correlation to time involves the denotation of linear events within the text. Futuristic narratives often employ the idea that time, human existence has a birth and a death. The Bible explores this notion of time with a beginning, Genesis, and an end, Revelation.The book of Revelation outlines the Lord’s existence as “Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last” (22.13), hinting towards a linear timeline. Further analysis of this infamous line from the scripture allows the reader to conclude that life, no matter the middle, will begin and end.

H.G.Wells’ The Time Machine is also a piece that uses time as an aspectual symbol of narrative theories. Here, Time is presented as a dimension; Wells’ custom of capitalizing Time throughout the text defines it as such. In analyzing the actual Time (as a dimension), the reader is able to connect time to the sublime. A common depiction of the sublime is through the description of beauty. Beauty is a social quality; when men, women, or animals emit a sense of joy and pleasure in beholding them, they implore sentiments of tenderness and affection towards them, almost always resulting in a kind relationship (Dr. White 4632 definition of sublime/beauty). Wells’ description of the Eloi, “pretty little people” (29), solidifies the beauty aspect of the sublime. He forms a welcoming relationship with the Eloi, as he enjoys a conversational feast amongst them. Interpretively, the Time Traveler not only travels through time, but he is hoisted into a very different dimension, upon which he connects Time to the sublime.

Animalistic Symbols

Mozart in Mirrorshades, by Bruce Sterling and Lewis Shiner conveys an account with the infamous Mozart of the past through the eyes of Rice, a refinery employee who travels back in time to intertwine the past with present industrialism. An animal, per se Mozart, demands to be referred to as “Wolf”, claiming the name sounds more modern (228). However, one may interpret the command as a foreshadowing of animalistic traits soon to arise within Mozart. Wolves are personified as sly (trickster, if you will) and vicious. At story’s end, the plot reveals “Wolf” is responsible for the decline of Salzburg… he is true to the metaphor, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. While everyone in the city admired Mozart for his talents, he was ultimately connected to the decline of the time.   

Genesis, as translated through the King James Version of the Bible, describes the introduction of the serpent into the Garden, “Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, has God said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden” (3.1). The animal in this text, again sly and deceiving, is able to convince Eve to accept temptation in eating from the forbidden tree, thus prompting the demise of primal human existence. Eve, accepting the persuasive advances of the serpent caused her and Adam to view themselves in a different manner than intended; they recognized nakedness and began to hide themselves from one another and the will of God.The serpent was a symbol of evil power and deception from the underworld. The serpent represents decline in this scripture. 

Paul Di Filippo’s Stone Lives, also utilizes animalistic symbols within the text. The title character is introduced to the reader with a handicap, the inability to see. His vision has been withheld on an experimental basis; he is to view the makeshift society through the eyes of an unbiased person. Within the passage, the reader encounters an exotic animal, “a small animal, a lemur or tarsier. Its big luminous eyes, its long tail arcs in a spiral” (188). Here, the animal is described as having large eyes, the very sense that has handicapped Stone. The terms small and confined are indicative of the FEZ, the semi-private society. Filippo describes the animal’s eyes as luminous, which denotes a bright vision, while the end of the animal, its long spiracle tail identifies with futuristic evolution. Thus, one may conclude that the animal in this piece symbolizes Stone, and a future vision for the compound.

Often in futuristic narrative literature symbols are utilized to connect ideas based on conceptual theories. Static symbols are a constant aid to the reader’s ability to unite the author’s literary vision in depicting the past, present, and future.

Evolving to What?

In my quest to broaden my intellectual interests, I opted to venture into Literature of the Future. My ability to comprehend and remain abreast on futuristic readings is often prohibited by personal interest, and level of believability. Admittedly, I am not fond of the Sci-Fi genre in its entirety; however, I am extremely interested in certain aspects of the genre that directly shape the evolution of our world. As a future educator, I find particular interest in the progress of our present into the future. I do consider the future as a book being written now, and further developed based on society’s present choices.

In a classroom setting, students’ attitudes toward reading may vary intensely. Thus, a successful teacher must employ the ability to engage all students. Futuristic literature may be utilized as a means to both inform and entertain student readers. Through recent experience I have found students respond to content that directly effects them, or that they can relate to.

The narrative Better Be Ready ‘Bout Half Past Eight, reads as a story of the present. At the time it was written it may have been viewed as an alternative future narrative, but presently, in today’s society alternative genders are prominent, a stern reality. Ethically, alternate realities may conflict with alternate moralities, but at the end of the day an educator is responsible for the holistic well being of the student, thus passing judgment is not inclusive to this practice. Many students may find themselves faced with the choice of transforming themselves into the person they feel they are, and with today’s technological advances this process is seemingly attainable.

In contrasting evolution as a cyclical pattern, I shall revert to my grandmother’s time. Her life was filled with laundry, cooking, and the sullen memories of slavery. To place myself in her time, I (she) would have never been able to grasp the fact that there is an African-American President of the United States. Relying on the future as a cyclical pattern is not an accurate adjustment. In the time of slavery, how could my grandmother fathom what has come to be a reality? Hence when referencing evolutionary texts, I disagree with a number of points within Pamela Richey’s statement from her essay The Future: What Our Fears, Hopes and Choices Create, “… in evolutionary narratives, the future is being written and the story has a cyclic pattern (life is a cycle).” I view the future as unwritten, yet shaped by our past.